Susan Burton talked about how she first started 5 homes for 700 women. 200 children were reunited with their parents. I decided to research more about their relationships. I found out that 2.7 children under the age of 18 have one or more parents in the incarceration system. These parents are usually imprisoned for minor drug related charges. These children are more likely to experience poverty, unstable housing, and psychological and social problems. 14,000 or more children annually enter the foster care system. Many enter juvenile detentions or prison themselves. Communication is scarce between children and parents, including visitations. Children of the former imprisoned parents are affected as well. Parents with drug felonies have their benefits from federal social welfare programs taken away. The criminal justice reform affects children more than the public thinks, including myself. I wanted to show that even though only the parent is incarcerated, the child is affected just as much.
Are you planning to leave these faces blank? I think you should. It's haunting in an "insert your face here" way. This is an intelligent sketch, and conceptually air tight. Really excellent. If you can make those height marker numbers feel more blocky/institutional and less hand-drawn, you'll be in good shape.
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