by Gabrielle Fimbres
TUCSON - Aminah Elem draws a picture of a pretty princess, climbing the stairs to her sparkly pink castle.
"She's going to jump, swoosh, into the water," says the girl with eyes the color of chocolate.
While Aminah, 5, dreams of princesses and castles, her grandparents are guiding her toward a path different from the one chosen by her parents, who are in prison.
The Tucson child is one of 3 million in the U.S. and 95,669 in Arizona with a parent behind bars.
Statistically, Aminah is more likely to be locked up some day. Children with a parent in prison are as much as seven times more likely to be incarcerated, according to Pima Prevention Partnership's Arizona Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights Project.
But Aminah's grandparents, Linda and Richard Napoli, are helping her create a different future for herself.
"We are trying to break the cycle," said Linda Napoli, 62.
Linda and Richard, who is 67 and disabled, have helped raise Aminah since she was a baby.
Aminah's mother, Melinda Elem, 35, is serving a life sentence for conspiring to have a woman she believed was pregnant with her husband's child to be murdered in 2003. The woman was not injured.
Aminah's father, Tyrone Elem, 30, is in prison for drugs and is due to be released in 2015.
To help Aminah understand emotions over her parents' incarceration, she is part of the Shooting Stars program at the KARE Family Center.
KARE is a program of the Arizona's Children Association and Casey Family Programs.
The free program offers support to children with parents in prison and their caregivers - often their grandparents. Adults meet to talk about their struggles and concerns during a meeting of "Outmates," for people with a loved one in prison. Children gather in another room for an art and writing project, led by Tucson author Marge Pellegrino.
At a recent meeting, Pellegrino helped kids make pop-up books about their dreams.
"We use expressive arts to help children deal with issues in their lives regarding the incarceration of a parent," said Nikki Byrd, who started the program four years ago. "We're letting kids know there are other choices in the world other than doing drugs, getting arrested and going to prison."
Children often have profound problems.
"Some unfortunately are drug babies and have their own issues," Byrd said.
Aminah's grandmother said the program is empowering.
"If it wasn't for the KARE Center, I don't think I'd be able to cope," Napoli said.
The center also provides therapy for Aminah.
The Napolis believe it is important for Aminah to stay connected to her parents.
They take her to see her mother in Goodyear once a month and her father, who is in Buckeye, every three months. KARE helps the family pay for gas money and lunch.
Aminah treasures photos of her parents.
"I feel sad sometimes because I miss Mommy and Daddy. I want them to come home with me."
Byrd said statistics show that parents and children fare better if a strong connection is maintained.
Providing children with resources makes it less likely they will be incarcerated, Byrd said. And it eases the transition when the parent is released.
"You may think that a parent is the most terrible parent in the world, but to the child it's their mom or dad," Byrd said. "They love them."