The Candle
By Jessie Mabrey
What happens to the children when their parents are incarcerated?
Children of incarcerated parents may look fine from the outside, but they are often dealing with trauma and anxiety from their parents’ confinement. Through The Candle, Jessie shows us the overlooked impact of incarceration on children and their village.
Jessie has over 15 years experience supporting women impacted by homelessness, addiction, domestic violence, and mental health challenges. She is a member of National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network (GMHCN), National Incarceration Association (NIA), and Family Unification Network. Jessie is also a Certified Peer Specialist, Certified Forensic Peer Mentor and Certified Stephen Minister.
About the Issue
Children with incarcerated parents often face significant mental health challenges, disrupted family lives, and social stigma, which can impact their behavior and educational outcomes.
The loss of a parent’s income and potential termination of parental rights due to foster care or child support issues can compound these difficulties. Additionally, these children may have experienced trauma related to their parent’s arrest or other adverse childhood experiences, such as exposure to violence or substance abuse.
We need more support systems for children of incarcerated parents.
10,000,000
More than 10 million children have experienced parental incarceration at some point in their childhoods.
via youth.gov
3
Children of incarcerated parents are 3 times more likely to become justice-involved than children of parents who haven’t been incarcerated.
Take Action
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Buy Jaylayne
Jessie’s children’s book follows a young family fighting for love while both parents are incarcerated
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Download The Recipe
An accompaniment to the short film, The Candle, The Recipe is a guide developed for churches, schools, community organizations, nonprofits and policymakers to support children of incarcerated parents.
IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS
Through her campaign, Jessie invited audiences to build stronger communities of support for caregivers and children impacted by incarceration, ensuring every child has a safe and welcoming place to turn.
She continues to encourage adults to create healing spaces for the child within themselves, especially those who grew up with an incarcerated parent, and support family unification policies in Montana and Georgia, as well as family-based treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration.
Campaign highlights:
Led outreach at the 2024 National Returning Citizens Conference, engaging 10–15 policy leaders.
Created a post-screening resource guide for churches and communities supporting children of incarcerated parents.
Featured on the ACE-ing Grief podcast with the Executive Director of Rainbows for All Children.
Jessie built new partnerships with the Montana Department of Corrections, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Forever Families, and facilitated a 6-hour event in Montana for corrections officers and donors focused on family reunification and reentry.
The Candle was selected by multiple film festivals, including the Charlotte Black Film Festival, Independent Shorts Awards and the Worldwide Women’s Film Festival.
Special thanks to the following partner organizations:
Maternal World Health
Healthy Minds
Montana Department of Corrections
Big Brothers Big Sisters
NIA
Forever Families
Worldwide Women’s Film Festival
