It may seem like an unlikely pairing: Fun-loving Sesame Street characters talking about the serious topic of “incarceration.”

However, Sesame Workshop — the non-profit organization which runs Sesame Street — has introduced honest and frank discussions about other tough subjects before, such as divorce and suicide.

Now, with 2 million Americans locked up in the nation’s prison system, Sesame Workshop decided the time had come to unveil a free online educational kit titled “Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration.”

As part of a larger focus on children’s resiliency, the kit provides resources for families with children aged 3-8 as they try to cope with a parent’s incarceration.

“As we started to look at this topic, we realized there were very limited resources,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, a child education specialist who oversaw the research and execution of this project.

“We wanted to help children know they are not alone and it’s not their fault. They can ask questions.”

With stigma and shame attached to being in jail, the caregivers need answers too, she said.

“They are not alone either and there are ways they can connect with the resources,” said Betancourt, a licensed bilingual speech and language pathologist and educational therapist, with a specialty in treating families and children with psychiatric disorders.

The topic is introduced honestly and simply as “adults breaking grown-up laws and as a result of that there are consequences for that,” Betancourt said.

Children and caregivers are left behind, she added.

There were two key elements that needed to be addressed in this kit:

Talking about the situation of a parent in jail.

Dealing with the child’s point of view about the questions or challenges they face.

Betancourt called it a “surprising” statistic that one in 28 children is impacted in the United States.

“I think it’s bringing awareness that this child could be your next door neighbour, or could be in your school,” she told the Star in a telephone interview from New York.

The program aims to encourage talk about the subject because hiding the issue doesn’t do the child any good, she said.

“Children have many questions and one of the things that may often happen is that they feel it may be their fault,” she said.

“By not talking about it, you have children growing up with these unanswered questions and later in life it can affect them. We hear from adults to this day and they are living with the consequences.”

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Children can go through a number of emotions when a parent is in custody such as stress, fear, shame, sadness, and frustration.

The kit includes a video episode about a young Muppet named Alex whose dad is in jail.

The “Little Children, Big Challenges” kit offers suggestions if a parent is convicted and in jail, and also for a parent who hasn’t been convicted.

If the parent is convicted and incarcerated, you might say: “Daddy is in a place called prison for a while. Grown-ups sometimes go to prison when they break a rule called a law. He is not there because of anything you did. This is not your fault.”

A suggested response if the parent has not been convicted, but is in jail: “Daddy is in a place called jail. Here’s there because he may have broken an important grown-up rule called the law. Right now people are trying to figure out what happened.”

The question also contains the same “Mommy” responses.

The kit also lets the child know that they can visit their parent once in a while and to let them know when.

Between visits, the child is encouraged to write letters, draw pictures and talk on the phone.

If the child is not allowed visits, parents are encouraged to draw pictures and write letters. If there are legal reasons why contact is not allowed, “it is important to follow that advice.”

The kit was launched June 12 at the White House.

The goal of this initiative, which includes a mobile app, goes beyond the kit. The creators hope to hear and connect with others, such as the family court system in the U.S., to share the resources.