barnardo’s reg. charity nos: 216250 and sc037605 pops reg. charity no: 1048152 funded by...

Barnardo’s Reg. Charity Nos: 216250 and SC037605 POPS Reg. Charity No: 1048152

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i-HOPNE2015 in partnership with

Supporting all professionals to work with offenders’ children and their families in the North EastWednesday 25th November 2015

@barnardos_ihop

#iHOPNE2015 #childrenofoffenders

http://www.education.gov.uk/


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Welcome Jenny Mooney, Chair

Governing Governor, HMP Holme House



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@nepacsinfo#iHOPNE2015 #childrenofoffenders



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Welcome Barry Coppinger



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Professor Adele JonesUniversity of Huddersfield


The COPING project has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement no 241988

COPINGChildren of Prisoners, Interventions and

Mitigations for Mental Health

Professor Adele JonesThe Centre for Applied Child, Family and Youth Research

The University of Huddersfield


Context

Paucity of research into the consequences of parental incarceration

General lack of policy interest in the plight of children of prisoners

Worldwide, unprecedented numbers of people are being imprisoned and in many countries incarceration is on the increase. More parents than ever are locked up.

Impact on children is little recognized

Statistics on children affected not gath ered

Stigma forces children to keep the imprisonment a secret

Chil dren’s rights subsumed by the greater powers of the criminal justice systemChildren vulnerable and

marginalised


COPING CONSORTIUM

Universities

University of Huddersfield, UK Dresden Technical University, Germany Karolinska Institute, Sweden Universitatea Alexandra Ioan Cuza, Romania

NGOs - National

Partners of Prisoners and Families Support (POPS) UK

Treffpunkt e.V. Grrmany Asociatia Alternative Sociale, Romaina Bryggan, Sweden

NGOs – European & Global

COPE (Children of Prisoners, Europe), France Quaker United Nations Office, Geneva,

Switzerland


A child-centred research strategy

A child-centred, interdisciplinary and multi-sector approach to identifying the mental health needs and resilience of children of prisoners and the most promising policy and intervention responses.

Carried out in Germany, Romania, Sweden and the UK, the

research reflected a spectrum of different incarceration levels, welfare policies, penal codes and services for vulnerable

children


A mixed-methods, sequential design

Survey (the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Kidscreen, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire) - over 1000 children, aged 7-17 (plus parent/carers) across the four countries surveyed to ascertain coping strategies and mental health problems. Results compared with population norms

In-depth interviews - smaller groups of children and parents interviewed to explore the impact of parental imprisonment

Stakeholder consultation-to broaden the evidence about the needs of children consultations with stakeholders (prison staff, NGOs, SWs, carers, schools, residential workers)

Mapping interventions - Health care and community based services and interventions identified, mapped and documented


Limitations

Reaching an ‘invisible’ population

Sampling bias and representativeness

Pre-existing social conditions

Minoritized children Ethical challenges Socio-cultural factors Practical and logistical

challenges

Children’s drawings courtesy

of COPE


Some Key Findings

Children of prisoners need to count! Children impacted by ambiguous loss Significantly greater risk of suffering mental health

difficulties (25% rising to 50%) Key resilience factors: children’s innate qualities; stability

in caregiving; maintaining relationships with imprisoned parent; support from extended family; open communication

Significant gender differences – both in relation to children and, parents

Imprisoned fathers important role models for their sons Children impacted by circles of stigma Prison visiting environments and family-friendly

programmes make a big difference


Agencies

Governments overall neglectful of this group of children NGOs leading the field in terms of practice and pushing for

recognition Relationship between NGOs and prisons in some

instances evidence exemplary models of partnerships Some excellent services and initiatives exist but these are

subject to vagaries of insecure funding, the lottery of geographical location, marginalisation, low visibility and difficulties of access

Schools have considerable potential to contribute to emotional well-being – a means of mainstreaming non-stigmatising support. We found evidence of schools which were punitive and reinforced stigma & isolation and others which were very supportive


Seeking help

Agencies

GPs

Schools

Family


Recommendations for improvements in policy & practice

1. Child- friendly Criminal Justice Systems

2. Maintaining Contact with the Parent in Prison

3. Advice and Support to Parents and Care Givers

4. The Role of the School

5. Public Awareness & Policy Recognition


Recommendations: Sentencing & Imprisonment

Courts should take the child’s best

interest in to account at the time of

sentencing and in decisions on

imprisonment.

Assess the impact of the parent’s sentence on the child & consider:

If the arrested parent is the child’s sole or joint carer

Residency arrangements for the child following sentencing

The proximity of the child’s residence to prison

The opportunity for the child to be represented and heard


Maintaining Contact with a Parent in Prison

The Issues:

Maintaining the parent - child relationship builds resilience

A child has the right to stay in contact with both parents (CRC)

Face- ‐to- ‐face contact enhances coping skills

The first prison visit is crucial in reassuring children of parent’s safety

Initial visits often take long to arrange

Prison visiting environments vary

Prison staff not always behaving in child- ‐ friendly manner

Telephone contact expensive and often restricted to outgoing calls


Contact

Minimum standards on visiting facilities needed Prisons should provide age-appropriate activities that

both occupy children during visits and foster interaction between children and their imprisoned parent

Prisoners should be able to both make affordable outgoing calls, and receive incoming calls from their family in their own language

Both children and parents benefit when imprisoned parents are supported in maintaining their parenting role while in prison, even if this is diminished

Small Changes..

BIG IMPACT!


Open communication

Children do better when they are given truthful information

Parents should share responsibility for providing information from the start of the process to its eventual conclusion

Decisions about how much children should be told should be reached in the best interests of the children (not those of parents)


Inter-agency collaboration is key

Four points for intervention

Arrest

Sentence

Prison

Release


Conclusion

Arrest and search policies and procedures need to align with the CRC

Best interests of affected children in parental sentencing (e.g. the proximity of the prison to the child’s home)

Adoption of Child Impact Assessments prior to sentence (e.g. status of the offender in relation to the child i.e. sole or joint carer, location of child’s residence, caregiving arrangements for the child following a custodial sentence)


Children’s rights

Maintaining contact with an imprisoned parent - right of the child rather than as a privilege for the offender

Right to maintain contact during remand as well as imprisonment

Informed about the purpose & nature of searches – carried out in child-sensitive ways

Restrictions on physical interaction kept to a minimum


Research report, conference presentations and research

instruments available at:

http://www.coping-project.eu

http://www.coping-project.eu/


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Rebecca CheungSenior i-HOP Engagement Officer



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Potential for poorer outcomes: 25% of children of prisoners at higher risk of mental health issues.*

No routine identification ~200,000 children affected by

parental incarceration each year Stigma and isolation

What’s the need?

Image courtesy of NEPACS

How many children are affected across the North East?

*The COPING Project; Interventions and Mitigations to Strengthen Mental Health 2012



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i-HOP: Who are we?



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National one-stop information and advice service for professionals working with children and families of offenders providing:

Web-based knowledge hub Rolling programme of awareness raising

workshops Direct engagement with LAs to develop

strategic responses. Quality Assurance Tool Standards and Monitoring Toolkit

Partnership between Barnardo’s and POPS

Introducing i-HOP



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Raise Awareness at Practitioner Level

Tackle Stigma Multi-agency Response Engage User Voice Strategic Approach

Moving Forward



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Workshop 1: IdentificationWorkshop Facilitator: Stephen Sinnott, POPSLocation: Meeting Room 1

Workshop 2: Workforce Development Workshop Facilitator: Elle Laporte Butchart, NEPACS Location: Meeting Room 2

Workshop 3: Sustaining Awareness ‘Champions Scheme’Workshop Facilitator: Polly Wright, Barnardo’sLocation: Meeting Room 3

Workshop 4: Developing a strategic approachWorkshop Facilitator: Helen Attewell, NEPACS and Rob Brown, Stronger Communities (Middlesbrough)Location: Training Suite

Workshops



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The Voice of the Child



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Coffee Break



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Helen AttewellCEO, NEPACS



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Planning for the futureHow do we score?



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Planning for the futureApplying knowledge, building a plan



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Planning for the futureNext Steps?



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Questions to the Panel


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