The Nation’s Leading Organization Advancing the Wellbeing of Children and Young Adults with Incarcerated Parents.
WHO WE ARE
“The first of its kind.
WE GOT US NOW is the nation’s leading nonprofit (501c3) nonpartisan organization advancing the wellbeing of children and young adults with incarcerated parents. ”
EBONY UNDERWOOD, FOUNDER & CEO OF WE GOT US NOW
This is not a monolithic issue.
“WE GOT US NOW was established to recognize ALL children and young adults who’ve experienced having a parent(s) in local jails, state prisons and federal correctional facilities to ensure that,”
We are the collective authors of our personal narratives.
We work to eliminate the trauma, stigma, shame of parental incarceration
We expose the carceral mechanisms that continue to harm children of incarcerated parents.
We seek justice and accountability for our marginalized population.
ABOUT THE 10 MILLION
“We represent an invisible population of children & young adults impacted by parental incarceration.
There are over 10M of us Nationwide.
We endure the Collateral Consequences of mass incarceration in the United States.
Our Stories are often Unknown & Untold, Our Traumas are Misdiagnosed & Overlooked,
Our Futures are often Misrepresented and Our Experiences are Unheard…
We will No Longer be Silenced by our Pain.
- Ebony Underwood, Founder & CEO of WE GOT US NOW
GET INVOLVED
“Mass Incarceration is a Tsunami that has ripped apart families & destroyed communities”
MAKE AN IMPACT
OUR MISSION
“WE GOT US NOW is a national nonpartisan 501(c)3 innovation hub led by the lived expertise of directly impacted young adults who experienced decades of parental incarceration. Utilizing 4 guiding principles, to ENGAGE, EDUCATE, ELEVATE & EMPOWER, our mission is to transform systems’ capacity to advance the well-being of children and young adults with incarcerated parents from the cradle to career.
We do this in two ways:
1) Innovative Models of Excellence - by building strategic partnerships across sectors, cultivating subject matter experts through a proven leadership model and, elevating asset-based narratives through public awareness campaigns; 2) Catalyzing the Ecosystem - by engaging communities and stakeholders, systematically across research, policy, and practice to strengthen field infrastructure and align systems around what works.
This allows us to make our work visible and ensure that the voices of our historically invisible population are at the forefront of policies, practices and new initiatives that will help keep families connected and advance all facets of well-being for children with incarcerated parents for as long as jails and prisons exist. ”