Barnardo's to roll out prisoner family support scheme

The move follows evaluation of a Barnardo's pilot scheme in Bristol, Isle of Wight and south-east Wales that found it had successfully improved family life for those taking part.

Social isolation, stress and poverty are among the issues the scheme, called Community Support for Offenders’ Families, aims to address.

The evaluation of the pilot, which has been joint funded with the National Offender Management Service, found nine out of 10 families involved saw improved contact between their children and the parent in prison.

Three out of four of those who took part had better access to family support and the same proportion saw a reduction in stress.

The findings follow recent moves by both Labour and the government to look at improving support for prisoners’ families in an effort to break the cycle of offending – research by Barnardo’s and the Prison Family Support Alliance shows two-thirds of boys with a father in prison will go on to offend themselves.

Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “Children who have family members in prison are some of the most overlooked and isolated in the UK. The disruption and distress this causes when growing up can ruin their life chances.

“We are finding new ways of working that improve and build relations between offenders and their families and helping to embed this thinking within the new probation service for England.”

Support offered through the scheme is tailored to each families’ needs and can include therapy for families or children, as well as advocacy with prison services to improve visiting times and access.  

In each area that participated, Barnardo’s also held meetings, training and other networking events to help those who have contact with children, such as teachers, to better understand life with a parent in prison. Across the three pilot areas, 25 one-day training sessions took place, involving 362 professionals who have contact with children.

The evaluation report says a key factor in the success of the pilot was families feeling that they could “talk freely to project workers without being judged”, which helped to overcome a sense of stigma many felt.