What Age is the Youth Track for?
The Youth Track is for young people aged 13-25yrs who have lived experience, past or present, of parental incarceration. Young people who are 13-17yrs require parental consent to participate in the conference.
This track will run alongside the main conference where adults in the field come together to discuss the latest research, policies and practices.
Children who are 13-17yrs old will not attend any of the adult forums. However, their views might be shared (anonymously) via a young adult who is 18+ to the adult audience.
How will my child be protected and supported in the Youth Track?
The Youth Track will be led by a team of experienced youth leaders who are experts in the field of parental incarceration.
1. Dr Lorna Brookes is on the board for INCCIP and runs a specialist project called Time-Matters that supports children with a parent in prison in the UK. She has over 13 years’ experience directly supporting children and families who are impacted by parental imprisonment in the local community. www.timemattersuk.com
2. Dr. Jessica Reid is also a board member for INCCIP and runs a charitable organization called Kids with Incarcerated Parents (KIP) Canada that supports children and youth who have experienced a parent being involved in the justice system. www.kipcanada.org
3. Dr. Katie Kramer is Co-Founder and CEO for The Bridging Group in Oakland, CA who has over 30 years experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating social services and public health programs that serve individuals, children, and families affected by the criminal justice system and wrote her dissertation on model practices to better support children with incarcerated parents. thebridginggroup.com
Information sharing: No photos or videos of the discussions will be taken in the Youth Track. However, comments made by the young people who attend may be quoted, anonymously and with permission from the group, in our INCCIP conference social media and in follow up reports.
Feeling comfortable and protected: A nominated “Safe-Guardian” will be present throughout the Youth Track. The young people will be made aware that if they are at any time uncomfortable and would like to talk to the “safe guardian” in a breakout room this will be available to them.
Expected conduct: All young people who attend will be expected to abide by a code of conduct. This is found overleaf. Parents need to sign that their child has read, understood and agrees to abide by the Youth Track Community Contract.
The Youth Track Whatsapp Group: Before the conference begins or at the start of day 1 of the conference, registered young people will be invited to share their cell phone numbers in a youth track WhatsApp group. This is so that they can communicate to one another across the conference, sending one another reminders about events, invitations to the social activities and words of kindness and encouragement. This will be overseen by the youth leaders. Please indicate below in the consent form, your preference for your child being included or not included in the Whatsapp Group. If you would like your child’s name and number to be in the WhatsApp group, please fill in this section in the consent form.