Parents Behind Bars: "The growth of incarceration in America has intergenerational impacts that policy makers will have to confront. According to this analysis, more than 1.2 million inmates — over half of the 2.3 million people behind bars — are parents of children under age 18. This includes more than 120,000 mothers and more than 1.1 million fathers. The racial concentration that characterizes incarceration rates also extends to incarcerated parents.

"Every 3 minutes a child is arrested for a drug offense."

Permanent Bans on Public Housing for Drugs: "In determining eligibility for Section 8 and other federally assisted housing, the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996⁴⁰ and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998⁴¹ require local housing authorities to permanently bar individuals convicted of certain sex offenses and methamphetamine production on public housing premises.⁴² The federal laws also give local public housing agencies discretion to deny eligibility to virtually anyone with a criminal background, including: 1)

Number of Children in the United States: "According to the 2010 census, there were 74.2 million children in the United States, 1.9 million more than in 2000. This number is projected to increase to 87.8 million in 2030. There were approximately equal numbers of children in three age groups: 0–5 (25.5 million), 6–11 (24.3 million), and 12–17 (24.8 million) years of age in 2009 (the latest data year available by age at time of publication)."

Risks and Determinants of Initiation of Tobacco Use: "Other studies that have assessed initiation of multiple substances confirm the observation that adverse childhood family conditions are associated with a greater likelihood of initiation of cigarette use (13, 14). Conversely, positive parental-adolescent relationships have been associated with a lower risk of cigarette use (15), although this finding is not universal across studies (16).

Risk Factors for Substance Use by Young People: "The risk factors were stronger predictors of substance use outcomes compared to the protective factors, regardless of grade level or substance use type. In particular, the individual and peer risk factors were strongly related to lifetime and recent use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Among the protective factors, the strongest associations with substance use were found in the community domain. Several age-related differences in the associations were also found, suggesting that family and community factors were more salient among younger grades whereas peer and school factors were stronger among older adolescents."

"• In 2012, past month use of illicit drugs and cigarettes and binge alcohol use were lower among youths aged 12 to 17 who reported that their parents always or sometimes engaged in supportive or monitoring behaviors than among youths whose parents seldom or never engaged in such behaviors. For instance, the rate of past month use of any illicit drug in 2012 was 7.6 percent for youths whose parents always or sometimes helped with homework compared with 18.1 percent among youths who indicated that their parents seldom or never helped.

Public Housing Authorities and the "One Strike" Policy: The 1998 amendments of the 1996 Extension Act provisions on ineligibility of illegal drug users and alcohol abusers confirm that a PHA or owner may deny admission or terminate assistance for the whole household that includes a person involved in the proscribed activity. With respect to a PHA or owner's discretion to consider rehabilitation for a household member with the offending substance abuse problem, the rule would permit a PHA or owner to hold the whole household responsible for that member's successful rehabilitation as a condition for continued occupancy and avoidance of eviction.