Funding outcome

Every year, hundreds of Albertan children lose a parent to drug poisoning or have a parent be taken away to prison. Many children experience both. These losses are the result of decades of policies that have left families, particularly Indigenous families, deeply vulnerable to both the toxic drug crisis and mass incarceration. These events can be particularly hard on children. When a parent goes to prison or dies, the children left behind often do not get much support. Losing a parent this way can seriously affect a child's health, safety, and future. Currently, we know very little about how many children are affected or what happens to their health and wellbeing in the years that follow. This study will be the first to estimate how many Albertan children have lost a parent to drug poisoning, including in the dangerous period immediately following a parent's release from prison. We will then follow-up to see whether these children are more likely to end up in the emergency room, from accidents, self-harm, or other injuries, compared to children who haven't experienced this kind of loss. The findings of this work will be shared in academic papers and to incarcerated parents through ‘Light Fires’, a University of Alberta-based team that focuses on promoting relationships between parents who are incarcerated and their children through prison-based art and education. Together, we will design two decks of playing cards — one for parents inside the prison, and one to send to their children as part of a care package. The cards will share our findings in plain language, with artwork made by the parents themselves, and are meant to help parents and children stay connected even while apart.