These days, Dr. Rosemary Martoma, a Boca Raton pediatrician, is treating something other than kids’ physical ailments.
It’s what she calls “the silent epidemic” of children living with the trauma of having an incarcerated parent.
In 2016, she and her children, Joshua, Ava and David, started the nonprofit KidsMates to raise awareness of the adverse impact of parental incarceration on children and to promote changes within institutions important to their welfare, such as healthcare and education.
The family’s motivation for KidsMates was personal. The children were all under age 10 when their father, Mathew Martoma, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2014 for insider trading.
“We went through a very public trial. It was humiliating,” Dr. Martoma recalls. “Our children went to school and were asked about it constantly. Parental incarceration is different because of the stigma. It’s not just emotional. It’s financial, and it’s social. There were lots of things we had to climatize to.”
She discovered that resources for kids in these circumstances were scarce, even though 2.7 million children nationwide have an incarcerated parent. The medical profession categorizes it as a child stressor that can cause long-lasting physical and mental problems.
KidsMates began with a book drive that the Martoma kids launched for the stark prison visiting room where they saw their dad every week.
“The initiative was so successful that it soon expanded nationwide,” Dr. Martoma says. “We sent thousands of books to 23 states with federal prison visiting rooms.”
She and her kids, now ages 15, 13 and 11, populate KidsMates.org with articles, graphics and tips on coping. Dr. Martoma wrote the American Academy of Pediatrics’ first guidelines on the subject, and she and her children speak about the issue at conferences.
“We’re figuring out some things that are really important to share,” she says.
What do kids with a parent in prison need most? Supportive adults who can help them build resilience so they can thrive, says Dr. Martoma.
She wants to expand the mission of KidsMates to help as many disadvantaged children as possible: “It comes down to showing kindness to these children – just a little bit of support.”
For more information, visit kidsmates.org.