“It’s kind of an invisible issue that we’re trying to raise awareness around,” said producer Tricia Long.

Twelve children are shown in the film and all of their parents are currently or have been incarcerated.

“We have about six thousand children a year in Vermont who experience a parent being incarcerated,” Long said.

Long said children whose parents participate in Resilience Beyond Incarceration have greater high school graduation rates and a lower chance of going to jail themselves.

According to the film, in Vermont, roughly 6,000 kids, one in 17, are affected by at least one parent in jail, and 40 percent of Vermonters are “hanging on the edge of catastrophe.”

When a parent is incarcerated, there is more than a physical absence. I’m talking with Resilience Beyond Incarceration Program Director Tricia Long and filmmaker Brad Salon about their new film “Downstream.”

This documentary shares the stories of those left behind when a parent goes to prison. Vermont children and caregivers share their experiences, revealing the complex and emotional terrain they navigate.

Downstream: The Effects of Parental Incarcerationis an hour long film that shares the stories of young people like Haylee, who says in the movie:

“Honestly, my best friend in elementary school stopped being my friend for a little bit because her mom told her that she shouldn’t be my friend because somehow what my mom did made me a bad person. And that was really hard.”

Downstream is a one hour documentary featuring the compelling stories of those left behing when a parent goes to prison.

Vermont children and caregivers share their experiences, revealing the complex and emotional terrain they navigate in the wake of a parent’s incarceration.