hundreds before them have been drawn to this artist. whether it will inspire artists 400 years from now is uncertain there is our website, aljazeera.com. . >> thanks for joining us on "america tonight", i'm melissa chan. we looked at crime and punishment with an eye to the victims, there are hidden victims, those that the justice system didn't intend to punish,

but who suffered anyway. consider that a third of the people in prison are women, and most of them are mothers. tonight we consider what happens to the kids when their mothers go to prison. here is "america tonight"s sheila macvicar. >> reporter: it's a long journey into night to new york burro burrows. this family makes the trek five times a week. when the children's afterschool programme ends, this disming mother heads home with her -- this single mother heads home with her daughters. it will take one bus ride and two trains. for 17-year-old arlene, it's a physical and emotional journey to be there. it began by doing hard time. >> can you tell me what took you to prison?

>> i was home, sleep with my children, and just like any other night their father he did whatever he did on the streets, and would come home late. you know, we were going through domestic violence. he came in 1:00a.m.. drunk and belligerent. his eyes were a shade that i never saw before. it was like death. ha wants to have sex with me. because i don't want to have sex i'm accused of being a cheater whore. >> reporter: arlene's girls, 2 and 4, were in the apartment. >> the children woke up. i put them back into their room. i always grabbed the knife for protection. he started to hit me. he started to punch me in the head. i couldn't take it. i swung the nice in attempts of getting him off -- knife in attempts of getting him off me. he fell in front of me bleeding. there was so much blood.

i called the cops. they took me out in the ambulance. once the kids came out of their room, they walked around in a pool of blood. >> reporter: as their daughters watched arlene was arrested and charged with murder 25 years to life. their daughters were placed in doctor's care. i remember them asking when was i coming home. the hardest part was the visit at the end. >> reporter: when you had to say good by. >> that was the hardest part. when the kids left, and the door shut. because i would stay in my sell for the rest of the day. >> arlene did two years at rikers island in new york, before her charge was reduced to manslaughter, because of years

of domestic abuse. afterwards, she was sentenced to five years probation. >> >> reporter: how did your relationship with your daughters changes while you were in prison, at rikers? >> there was a big gap. one minute my tooth was falling out, the next someone was graduating kindergarten. >> it was hard trying to parent through the phone. i missed the birthdays. i missed graduations and the sleep. it was so difficult. trying to tell a child to do certain things so that they won'tened up the same place you are -- won't end up the same place you are. >> reporter: more than a million women in the u.s. are serving time. like arlene, many are victims of domestic abuse. more than 2.5 million children have an incarcerated parent.

8 million have a parent under correctional supervision. children are the victims of criminal justice. >> you would be surprised the amount of individuals i speak with that say "i never taught of that population." >> to those that say the parent made a decision, they have some... ..it's their fault that the child is dealing with the issue or challenge. basement. >> sharon is the founder of children of promise, nyc. a unique nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children deal with the drama of having a parent in prison. >> no one thinks 62% of the women in state prison, and 58% in federal prison have a child under the age of 18. the child wears the burred in, you have lost your mum, and you have not received support and sympathy.

children of promise, nyc runs an afterschool programme aimed at providing an emotionally safe space and therapy. for the children of incarcerated mums and dads to help them handle confuse and anger. it takes a long time to learn what we were feeling. what would you do? what is your action. >> i throw a lot of tantrums. >> yes, you would, where would you throw them? >> in class. i want to know a lot about my mother. armani is the oldest daughter and like others is working through her feelings. >> what is the feeling that you have connected to the thoughts connected to your mother. >> sad. >> son staff children promise a psychiatrist and licensed clinical social workers.

they lead the children to share emotions with each other. and on this day with "america tonight". . >> you are nodding. what would happen. >> i was in class, and i got uch. and if anyone said anything to me, i'd blackout. i fought a lot. not knowing there was a way to get over it. >> i would blackout after i go crazy, i don't remember a thing that happened. >> like how? >> in school, for career day. i want my mum to come. she couldn't. everyone asked me why didn't i have a parent. >> listen how this 8-year-old processed his mum's absence. >> i thought if i did what my mum did, i would be able to be there. >> reporter: when you look at

the kids, what's the need you see? >> i'm 8 years old and i'm pised off i don't have my mum, and the only way to express the anger is to lash out. i don't know how to express it in words. sharon came to this after a career on wall street, in part because she lived with the stigma of incarceration. >> on saturday morning as i left my home. secret. >> why is it important to support families like this. outcome. >> the goal is so that children that attend the programme are not involved in the criminal justice system. and the mechanism that will ensure that that cycle does not continue. is the support that we provide that young person as well as the family. we need to support the young person, so they can deal with

the stigma and the shame. and for many, the stigma of having a parent in prison. in addition, children promised nyc are activities. >> i never got to see him. >> art therapy. and music class. and, of course, the opportunity to be part of a team. >> did anyone have anything else they wanted to share. >> there's supervised letter writing. notes to a parent, a written life line between parent and child. >> my mum told me when i'm 21, you are going to be... okay. >> what we are talking about are some of the big feelings that come up when we write letters to loved ones. what are some feelings that come up.

behind that, i'm doing really good, and i miss you. >> what is the most important thing that you want your daughters to know about you? >> that i never gave up. i'm not giving up. i'm struggling now. every day now. so they won't. they need higher education. i need them to see if mummy did it, so can they. >> arlene earned her g.e.d. there were no prison guards telling her when to get up. three months ago arlene's family moved into her own house. the first time they moved. >> when released she was homeless. she couldn't provide stability for her daughters and kept them at her mothers. she tucked them into bed and woke them.

the hours between were a nightmare. she slept where she could. train. she distributed herself as zombieified. >> my big old bed. and it's mine, it's mine. on rikers island, you know, we had a cot. it was a thin piece of got like you know the metal frame end. i suffer from back pains now. the kids are coming here at 4 o'clock in the morning, trying to either wake me up or join in the bed with me. >> arlene credits children of

promise with helping her and her girls adjust. she's determined to help others deal with prison trauma of their own, encouraging them to stay positive, and communicate with their kids on a daily basis. >> my mummy was craig. >> reporter: armani and her lessons. >> but they were tears of what? >> joy. >> those are the tears we cry now, right. >> that's what my mum taught me. >> it's not bad to cry. >> no. i'm just trying to say you are human. break it in the pan. >> arlene is determined to teacher girls to be independent. >> it's a lesson she's learning and is humbled by the opportunity for the family to get it right. >> i always wanted to walk without being handcuffed to someone.

without wearing a jump suit or a co telling me to get in line. that's what i wanted. just to walk down the block. and to be with my children and my children be with me. that was my biggest dream. >> next, cruelty and corruption behind bars, one of the biggest sheriff's departments and what prison. >> and a look inside america's special ward for a young patient. we have a preview on that. hot on the website now - tragic history, could the next american resident carry out plans to deport foreign nationals and u.s. citizens? turns out it has been done before. the proof at aljazeera.com/americatonight.

>> these people have decided that today they will be arrested. >> i know that i'm being surveilled. >> people are not getting the care that they need. >> this is a crime against humanity. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> explosions going on... we're not quite sure - >> is that an i.e.d.?

[ ♪ ] "america tonight". the miracles of modern medicine lead us to believe doctors can gix anything. there are medical mysteries that the best physicians cannot unravel. lisa fletcher had a look inside the one treatment center in america where doctors are faced

with answering the unanswerable questions about diseases with no known cure. >> reporter: this is building 10, a surprisingly generic name for the facility at the epic center for research for rare, unidentified and untreatable diseases. it is here where scientists are scrambling to find a cure for a fatal condition called mean and pick. destroying memory, motor skills and the lives of kids like 15-year-old julia cane. how does it make you feel. what is it doing to you. >> it burns up cholesterol. causes me to not memorize like other people memorize. and it causes me to not walk

right like my walking is not stable. my handwriting is sometimes sloppy. >> reporter: do you remember life before, do you remember different? >> if i looked at something, then something was coming up, i'd probably remember it. but just sitting here, i can't think of anything that i did when i was little. >> reporter: and you can see all of "america tonight"s lisa fletcher's report wednesday on . >> that's "america tonight" for this evening. tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americatonight. talk to us on twitter and facebook and cut back. we'll have more "america tonight"

tomorrow. >> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight the real deal. you can't deny that donald trump looks like the republican nominee for the white house. like it or not. get real, republican party, one day after his super tuesday victories there is no denying that donald trump is now real