There are an estimated 310,000 children affected by parental imprisonment each year. These children and their families are more likely than their peers to suffer poor physical and mental health, isolation, stigma and poverty. As often the first universal service children come into contact with, health services and professionals such as midwives, GPs, health visitors, CAMHS practitioners and so on, are key in helping to identify and meet the needs of this group of children and their families.
Find out more about how NICCO can assist health professionals to support these children in our Health briefing, or download a free copy of our comprehensive handbook for community health practitioners.
The following list provides links to key research, great practice models, important policy and helpful resources which are specific to helping you support the children and families of offenders.
Resources for children & families
There are many more age appropriate resources for children, parents and other family members to be used independently or with a professional which offer information around the practical and emotional aspects of a loved one's arrest, trial, sentencing, prison sentence, release and resettlement listed on NICCO. We feature a few in the list.
National Offenders’ Families Helpline - Free and confidential information service providing basic advice, emotional support, and signposting to local services. Their website includes simple information sheets to print for offenders' families on all issues relating to a loved one's involvement with the criminal justice system.
Assisted Prison Visits Scheme - information and contact details for applying for funds to cover the travel cost of prison visits for families on benefits.
Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration - A toolkit produced by Sesame Street with multimedia resources for children, family members and professionals. It includes activities, stories and videos (with clips from Sesame Street) for children exploring issues and feelings around having a parent in prison.
The Outsiders series from APF includes quotes from families and prisoners and focus on Preparing for release, Sent to prison, Living with separation, Telling the children.
Resources for health professionals
There are more informative, interactive and simple resources for health professionals such as SCIE guidelines, videos detailing children's stories and much more listed on NICCO. We feature a few in the list below.
Children of Prisoners: A guide for community health practitioners - a comprehensive NICCO guide designed for all community health professionals, including midwives, health visitors and school nurses, to inform and develop their work.
Supporting children and families affected by a family member’s offending – A Practitioner’s Guide – An accessible and comprehensive Guide for multi-agency frontline practitioners including tools, resource lists and practice tips to support effective community-based interventions with offenders’ children and families.
Quality Statements & Toolkit - this comprehensive and easy-to-use resource enables multi-agency professionals to assess and develop their practice with children of offenders. Informed by research, it includes many good practice examples and a work plan template to set action points for your service.
Children of Prisoners, Maintaining family ties- Key SCIE guide intended for multiagency professionals across the UK.
SCIE- E-learning - these 3 interactive tools help health professionals gain an understanding of an offender’s journey through the CJS and impacts of this on their children and families.
27,000 voices- Film which uses many children of prisoners’ voices to demonstrate their different experiences of prisoners children and can be used in awareness raising.
Supporting Prisoners Families - these practical leaflets suggest what GP Surgeries and Health Centres, Midwives and Health Visitors can do on the ground to support these families.
Background information- Research and Policy
There is a range of research and policy concerning offenders' children and families health and wellbeing including safeguarding guidelines, listed on NICCO. We feature a few below.
Poverty and disadvantage among prisoners' families - this pivotal research highlights the higher rates of poor mental and physical health in prisoners’ children.
COPING. Children of prisoners: mitigation's and interventions to strengthen mental health - this new pan European research looks at resilience and challenges for this group’s mental wellbeing.
Every Night You Cry: The realities of having a parent in prison- Barnardo’s research which uses the Every Child Matters outcomes (including Being Healthy) to theme interviews with children and mothers with a father in prison.
Risk and protective factors in the resettlement of imprisoned fathers with their families- Longitudinal study looks at health as an outcome for families.
Examples of Practice
There are more multi agency frameworks and practice models about health services' work with offenders' children and families listed on NICCO. We feature a few in the list below.
Bristol Strategy and Action Plan for Supporting Children and Families of Offenders- this was developed in part by health professionals.
Training
Hidden Sentence Training - This has been developed by Action for Prisoners’ Families for multi-agency professionals, and gives an overview of issues which prisoners’ families routinely face. See a list of all training featured on NICCO, or find training in your local area by using NICCO’s search by region function on the home page.
