United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, § 5H1.6 (2008).

“Family responsibilities that are complied with may be relevant to the
determination of the amount of restitution or fine.”
United States Sentencing Commission, Report to Congress: Downward Departures from
the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (October 2003).

Available at: www.ussc.gov/departrpt03/departrpt03.pdf

“Almost all (90%) of offenders in the family ties departure sample provided
caregiving and/or financial support to family members. Nearly two-thirds
(61.9%) of these offenders, however, were not the sole provider of such
support to dependents.” Id.at 51.

Child Welfare League of America, What Happens to Children? (2005).
Available at: http://www.cwla.org/programs/incarcerated/
whathappens.htm

When a parent is incarcerated, (1) children’s lives are disrupted; (2) children
often lose contact with their parents; (3) prison visits are difficult (4) most
children live in poverty before, during and after their parents incarceration; (5)
children experience difficult memories; and (6) children are at an increased
risk for poor academic treatment, truancy, dropping out of school, gang
involvement, early pregnancy, drug abuse, and delinquency.

Marc Mauer and Meda Chesney-Lind, Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences
of Mass Imprisonment (2005).

“Examines the financially encumbered families who must travel hundreds of
miles as a result of the rural prison movement, and the communities deprived
of young men who would otherwise be starting families and careers.”
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Risk
Factors for Delinquency: An Overview (2001).

Aggression, anti-social behavior, substance abuse, linked to poverty, antisocial
parents, broken home, separation from parents, physical and
emotional abuse, and neglect. Id. at 4.

Federal Interagency on Forum on Child and Family Statistics, America’s Children: Key
National Indicators of Well-Being (2005).

“Violence affects the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of young
people who experience, witness or fell threatened by it. . . . such violence can
adversely affect victims’ mental health and development and increase the
likelihood that they themselves will commit acts of serious violence. Id. at 44.
The Sentencing Project, Incarceration and Crime: A Complex Relationship
Available at: http://www.sentencingproject.org/pdfs/incarceration-crime.pdf
“The persistent removal of persons from the community to prison and their
eventual return as a destabilizing effect that has been demonstrated to fray
family and community bonds, and contribute to an increase in recidivism and
future criminality.” Id. at 7.

Nora V. Demleitner, Smart Public Policy: Replacing Imprisonment with Targeted Nonprison
Sentences and Collateral Sanctions, 58 Stan. L. Rev. 338 (2005).

“More than half of the women incarcerated in federal prisons have children,
and more than eighty percent of them lived with their children prior to
incarceration. Because of the sparseness of federal women’s prisons, most
of the women are housed far from their families, making it more difficult for
them to stay in regular, close contact with their children. Longer prison terms
often automatically end parental rights. On the other hand, children of
incarcerated parents are more likely to experience a host of negative
consequences, including a greater likelihood of going to prison themselves.”
Id. at 352.

“Since many of the offenders with young children also constitute lower
recidivism risks in light of their offense of conviction and their prior criminal
records, sentencing judges should at least be allowed to consider the impact
of a prison sentence on families and minor children. For that reason, more
offenders with heavy family responsibilities, and especially those with minor
children, should be eligible for intermediate sanctions.” Id. at 352.

Ross D. Parke and K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young
Children, from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Conference “From Prison to
Home” (2001).

Available at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/
“Over 50% of the children of incarcerated parents had school problems, such
as poor grades or instances of aggression.”

“70% of young children with incarcerated mothers had emotional or
psychological problems.

Children exhibit internalizing problems, such as anxiety, withdrawal,
hypervigilance, depression, shame and guilt.”

“Many of the problems associated with either separation from the parent or
co-detention can be avoided by provision of some form of community-based
sentencing, instead of prison-based incarceration. These alternatives include
house arrest, half-way houses where mother and children reside, and day
programs in which mothers attend programs in a correctional institution
during the day but are permitted to return home at night. Devine (1997)
surveyed 24 community-based programs for mothers and children in 14
states. Community sentencing programs yielded reduced recidivism and
increased family preservation — outcomes that have positive implications for
children's adjustment. In view of the cost effectiveness achieved by reducing
the number of incarcerated women, it is surprising that these types of
programs are available to only a small percentage of women violators.
Because the vast majority of offenses committed by women are relatively
minor and non-violent (e.g., drugs, prostitution), alternatives to regular
incarceration merit more consideration.”

Creasie Finney Hairston, PhD, Prisoners and Families: Parenting Issues During
Incarceration, from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Conference “From Prison
to Home” (2001).

Available at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/

“Most families experience financial losses as a result of parental incarceration
and the loss is greatest for those families who try to maintain the convicted
individual as a family member.”