If your incarcerated loved one is one of the 6-10 percent of incarcerated individuals who are intellectually/developmentally disabled (I/DD) you are not alone. My son is one of them. Statistics show that 1-3 percent of Americans are intellectually disabled, but experts claim that within our prisons, that number is somewhere between 6-10 percent.

Some of the issues that need to be addressed for this population are safe housing while incarcerated, appropriate assessments from pre-sentence through reentry, and programming that is meaningful to this population.

I am new to actively advocating, but as the mother of an incarcerated individual who is I/DD, I am personally motivated to make sure these changes happen - for my son - and for others like him. If you're incarcerated loved one is one of the 6-10% who are I/DD, I'd be happy to hear from you. Contact me at ErinA@AAA4IDD.org.