About Us

This report would not have been possible without the hard work, advice, and support of the full FWD.us team and many advisors. In particular, we would like to thank members of our advisory council and the researchers who contributed to the development and analysis of the survey. We are deeply grateful to the people who shared their experiences and stories with us through the survey, focus groups, and interviews.

Authors

Brian Elderbroom, Peter Mayer, and Felicity Rose

Contributors

Liza Cobey, Precious Edmonds, Ashley Gantt, Tinsae Gebriel, Jamil Hamilton, Josie Halpern-Finnerty, Rena Karefa-Johnson, Famata Jalloh, Elissa Johnson, Peter Mayer, jasmine Sankofa, Alison Silveira, Zoë Towns

Design

Precision Strategies

Adam Luck, Former Chairman of the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole

Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director, The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

Bruce Western, President-Elect, Russell Sage Foundation

Jeff Korzenik, Author and Economist

John Legend, Artist and Activist

Jose Saldana, Director, Release Aging People in Prison Campaign (RAPP)

Norris Henderson, Founder and Executive Director, VOTE and Voters Organized to Educate

Yumeka Rushing, Chief Strategy Officer, NAACP

Christopher Wildeman, Duke University

Garrett Baker, Duke University

Sarah Jobe, Duke University

Sarah Sernaker, Cornell University

NORC at the University of Chicago

Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises

Celine Nehme, Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Nancy A. Parker, Detroit Justice

Sam Lewis, Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Equity and Transformation

FAMM

Homeboy Industries

National Council of Incarcerated Women and Girls

Root & Rebound

Promise of Justice Initiative

Voice of the Experienced (VOTE)

Survey

In partnership with a research team based out of Duke University and NORC at the University of Chicago, FWD.us surveyed 1,604 adults age 18 or older who self-reported as having an immediate family member (a parent, child, sibling, grandchild, spouse, or co-parent) currently or recently incarcerated for at least three months. Responses were collected through the NORC AmeriSpeak panel which is representative of the U.S. household population.

The survey was conducted online and by phone in English and Spanish in September of 2023 and respondents were asked about a wide range of costs associated with family member incarceration. Respondents were asked about their costs related to up to two incarcerated family members, resulting in a total of 2,118 relationship-level responses. The survey asked only about family incarceration since 2016 in order to reduce recall bias in survey responses.

Survey data was cleaned to account for outlier responses, create combined cost measures, normalize to monthly and annual scales, and isolate the final analysis sample. The cleaning and transformation methodology was developed in partnership with researchers at Duke University. More details of the cleaning will be available in their forthcoming paper.

Total annual costs across the country were calculated by multiplying average costs for those who reported any costs by the percentage of people who reported any costs and then by the share of people with a currently incarcerated family member calculated from the Family History of Incarceration (FamHIS) survey conducted in 2018 adjusted for the change in incarceration rates since 2018 and reduced for household size, multiplied by the current adult population of the United States. See the full report Methodology for full calculations. The survey instrument is available here.

Other Research Estimates

In partnership with academics at Duke University, FWD.us also created new estimates of the national impact of families on other consequences of incarceration beyond the direct spending component estimated through the survey. These are attempts to put dollar figures on impacts that have been documented in the literature but not quantified in this way, or else to nationalize individual cost estimates. See the full Methodology section in the report for more details.

Qualitative Research

FWD.us conducted eight focus groups online and in person to include the voices of directly impacted people in this report. These focus groups were conducted in partnership with community organizations that work with formerly incarcerated people and their families in California, Connecticut, Illinois, and South Carolina, and serving people involved with the federal prison system. A total of 114 people participated across all focus groups. Some focus group participants were contacted for follow-up interviews. Focus groups and interviews were recorded with permission, and all quotes used in this report were confirmed with participants.

FWD.us Education Fund is a non-profit organization that believes America's families, communities, and economy thrive when more individuals are able to achieve their full potential. For too long, our broken immigration and criminal justice systems have locked too many people out of the American dream. We seek to raise awareness and educate the public and policymakers about policies and programs that work to achieve meaningful reforms.