On January 30-31, 2002, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored the From Prisons to Home Conference held at the National Institutes of Health. The purpose of the conference was to bring together the research, policy, and practice communities to share promising strategies, identify research needs, and inform Federal program and policy development for children and families affected by the incarceration of a parent. This background paper is divided into the following four sections providing different perspectives on the impact of incarceration and reentry: 1) Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Individual Prisoners; 2) Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children; 3) Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Families; and 4) Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Communities. At least two papers from prominent researchers were commissioned for each perspective. For each section, the paper provides an overview of the issues and an abstract of the papers that were commissioned. It is intended that a final report will be published following the conference that will include discussions from this background paper, the commissioned papers, and the conferences sessions. Endnotes, 7 figures, and 5 tables