Children of prison inmates suffer from a range of physical and mental problems and are likely to become criminals themselves when efforts are not made to reunify them with their parents, a newly formed state task force heard yesterday.

The children have problems in school, are depressed, have difficulty sleeping, cannot concentrate and display delinquent and aggressive behavior, said Tom Lengyel, research director for the Alliance of Families and the author of a 2003 study about the issue in Hawai'i's prison system.

The plight of these children is tied to a growing population of female inmates in Hawai'i and is underscored by a lack of answers to some basic questions, including how many inmates are parents, how many children they have and who is caring for them, Lengyel said.

By applying national proportions to prisoner counts, Lengyel estimated that Hawai'i has 3,000 parents behind bars and that they have about 6,500 children in the community. More than 700 of them are women, which is 15 percent more than when he did his study in 2003.

"This is a serious matter," Lengyel told the task force, which was mandated by the Legislature this year to develop programs and support services for children of incarcerated parents. "It is going to cost Hawai'i in the long run if you dissolve the connection between parents and their children. It pays to support the relationships between incarcerated parents and their children."

Lengyel said the social cost of locking someone up is twice the direct cost of keeping them behind bars. A recent analysis of the state's 712 drug felons found that the cost of locking them up and the social costs involved — all tied to the average prison sentence — would be $223 million for the state, Lengyel said.

Prisoners with children have limited contact with their offspring, especially when the prisoners are housed at Mainland institutions, he said. More than 1,800 of the state's 3,700 prison inmates are serving their time in Mainland prisons and Lengyel urged the state Department of Public Safety to make these placements based on the best interests of the family instead of economic or administrative convenience.

A wide array of state agencies are on the task force, including representatives of state human services, corrections, education, health and the courts. But several nonprofit social-services groups, halfway houses and child-welfare advocates joined as well. The group must submit a report to lawmakers next session.

Yesterday, they also listened to success stories from California as well as Hawai'i.

Sharrell Blakeley, assistant director for the Department of Public Social Services in Riverside County, Calif., said officials in her state have stressed family relationships. There are three prisons built specifically for women and their children and each of California's 33 prisons has "visiting centers," where children are counseled before and after meeting with incarcerated parents, she said.

One program popular among inmates — especially those serving long sentences and life without parole — lets them record farewell letters on cassette tapes that are then sent to their children, Blakeley said.

"There has to be closure for the child outside," she said.

Ted Sakai, warden of the Waiawa Correctional Facility, said the prison has a program in which fathers are allowed supervised play with their younger children and many enroll in a course in which "they learn what it means to be a father."

And a joint program between the prison and Read to Me International allows inmates to record themselves reading to their children, Sakai said. The prison then sends the book and the tape to the family.

"The child gets to hear the inmate's voice," he said. "It is really very powerful."

Lorraine Robinson, executive director of Ka Hale Ho'ala Hou No Na Wahine, a program that helps women inmates transition from prison to the community, said strengthening families burdened by this kind of emotional stress will benefit the entire community.

"Children tend to follow their parents into prison," she said. "If we can address the families, then we can stop the revolving door."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.