A commitment to identify and support children with a parent in prison was included in Labour’s Election Manifesto, and Lord Timpson has stated it is one of his own ‘top priorities’ as Prisons’ Minister.
Labour’s Manifesto focused on the need to identify and support children under the aim of reducing reoffending, as research does show that children with a parent in prison are more likely to go onto offend themselves.
It is crucial to emphasise however that parental imprisonment does not have to be deterministic in future outcomes for children and young people. Early, targeted support for children with a parent in prison, can mitigate the impact of their parent’s imprisonment so they are able to break the cycle of intergenerational offending and flourish into adulthood.
There are also a myriad of other reasons to identify and support children with a parent in prison, including reducing social isolation, shame and stigma often associated with their parent’s offending. Most importantly, children continue to be left completely alone, without an adult in the house, after their parent is sent to prison. This is a serious safeguarding issue that requires urgent attention.
Last week, in response to being asked ‘what steps they are taking to identify and support the children of prisoners’, the Ministry of Justice said they are ‘working closely with the Department for Education to determine how to effectively identify these children and provide support.’
Fortunately, this does not need to be a lengthy consultation, as there already is a mechanism of identification and support ready to be put in place. In collaboration with ourselves, the Thames Valley Police have created Operation Paramount – the first-ever mechanism of identification and support for children with a parent in prison.
Paramount cross-references HMPPS data with existing police data to identify children left behind right from the point an individual enters the prison system. Data which has previously only been used to track a prisoner’s movement through and eventual release from prison, is now being used to identify vulnerable family members left behind at the point of their imprisonment.
As an organisation, we would like to see this mechanism rolled out and replicated across the country, with schools being notified if one of their pupils has a parent in prison.
We already hold a ready-made solution to the issue of identifying children with a parent in prison. The data mechanism exists and is in operation in certain areas of the country.
We know as an organisation that simple support can empower these young individuals to thrive and break free from cycles of disadvantage. We now have a potential mechanism ready to be rolled out to ensure that this support is offered to every child impacted by parental imprisonment. We just need the political willpower to make this happen.