This report seeks to analyse the findings of the most recent set of Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) annual reports to analyse and evaluate the consistency, or lack thereof, of the experiences of children and families with a parent currently serving a sentence in a UK prison. The report shines a light on the most egregious examples of prisons failing to recognise the importance of family contact, whilst also noting that some institutions ‘do it right’. Children with a parent in prison are wholly innocent, and it is grossly unfair that the experiences of these children should depend so heavily on where a parent is ordered to carry out their sentence.
