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The disaster that can be the children left behind when one or more parent is sent to jail or prison is one of the least-known in a society already racked with poverty, unemployment and disproportionate education resources. Think about it:

According to several studies, most kids left behind when one (or more?) parent(s) are sent off to prison are also often left for others to care for, but the effect on their welfare is rarely known unless they're placed in some sort of foster care - or what is termed "out-of-home placement."

Beyond the obvious deprivation of what may have been (or not) adequate food, shelter, clothing and education is the emotional and societal toll taken by children who must walk through a world where they, too, might be blamed or ridiculed for having a parent behind bars, not to mention the pure trauma of parental "abandonment."

Several state and local advocate agencies are taking on this issue - an issue that goes well beyond the usual child welfare schemes of state and county authorities and case workers - and trying to consolidate their efforts to give rise to legislative remedies for this unseen population of young people.

TTT's ANDY DRISCOLL and LYNNELL MICKELSEN talk with at least one legislator and several advocates in the field of criminal justice to find out just what is going on in this obscure arena of Children of Incarcerated Parents.