IN WHOSE BEST INTEREST - THE IMPACT OF CHANGING PUBLIC-POLICY ON RELATIVES CARING FOR CHILDREN WITH INCARCERATED PARENTS

Changes in criminal justice policy have resulted in the incarceration of an unprecedented number of parents. Consequently, more children tha n ever before are living with grandparents and other relatives while t heir parents are imprisoned. Historically, child welfare and criminal justice policy have been treated as distinct and unrelated areas of po licy. This article discusses the interdependence of criminal justice p olicy, welfare reform legislation, and kinship foster care, and the im pact of this interdependence on children whose parents are in jail or in prison.