Good for Jeff Adachi

In "When children pay the price of a parent's incarceration", the San Francisco Public Defender writes:

In 2003, the San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership created a "bill of rights" that ensures children will be kept safe and informed at the time of the parent's arrest and able to maintain a meaningful relationship in the event that the parent is incarcerated.

Last week, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed a resolution, sponsored by Supervisor Bevan Dufty, supporting the children's bill of rights. "For me, this is a life-and-death issue," Emani Davis, whose father is serving a 110-year prison sentence, told the board at a hearing. "I would not be standing here today if it were not for the commitment of many, many people pushing for the maintenance of my relationship with my father."

Local agencies are already working to make the rights a reality for San Francisco children. Last year, through the support of the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the San Francisco Public Defender's office instituted a program to help incarcerated parents and their children obtain family services, working closely with a sheriff's program that allows prisoners regular contact visits with infants and young children...

I admire Jeff Adachi immensely, and we need more initiatives like this one. When I read this though, I thought about one missing element: the parents; parents who become criminal defendants, and the choices they make before they are arrested and incarcerated.

Would that my clients who are moms and dads would pause a moment to think about the effect of their actions on their children. I know, things like methamphetamine and alcohol can fry that parental circuit, but I wish that all of my clients who have kids cared as much about their well-being as Jeff Adachi so clearly does. In a better world, the care that Adachi shows for his clients' children would be more than matched by their parents themselves.