Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Sam MonaghanExecutive Director of Children’s Services

Barnardo’s

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

About Barnardo’s: No child left behind

• Almost 150 years• 900 services• 200,000 children, young people and families• Our focus: the most vulnerable:

– child sexual exploitation– children leaving care– early intervention– children affected by parental imprisonment

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Children with a parent in prison

• 200,000 children+ children in England and Wales– Two and a half times the number of children in

care• Half a million child visits in 2014• 25% of men in Young Offenders Institutions are or

are shortly to become fathers

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Outcomes and outlook

• No systematic identification• No systematic support• Bullying and stigma• Mental health and behavioural difficulties

65% of boys with a parent in prison go on to offend themselves

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Reducing re-offending

• Maintaining family ties reduces the likelihood of reoffending by 39%

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Tackling the Problem

• Barnardo’s has 20 years’ experience in this field• Currently run 13 specialist services in England and

Wales• Prison visits• “Through the gate”• Community Support for Offenders’ Families (CSOF)• ‘Hidden sentence’ training• I-HOP

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Working in prisons

• Critical part of rehabilitation• Practice is variable• “Core” not “extra”• Integrated approach• New research

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Effective family engagement in prisons

• Over 25 years experience

• ‘cultural shift’

• Work in South West prisons

• Building relationships

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

What have we learnt

• Tenacity - keep going despite barriers!

• Support of Governor is gold dust!

• Gain the empathy of prison staff

• Navigating the complex world of children and family services

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Family Ties

“An offender’s family are the most effective resettlement agency.”HM Criminal Justice Joint Inspection on Resettlement by Prison, Probation & Ofsted Inspectorates,2014

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Wider changes

• Tackling re-offending and intergenerational offending

• Joint working from pre-arrest to reintegration into the community

• Role of Government: we need national leadership on identification and support

Barnardo’s Registered Charity Nos. 216250 and SC037605

Conclusion

• Supporting children and families of offenders goes hand in hand with reducing re-offending

• It also helps tackle intergenerational offending and disadvantage

• Key to this is effective partnership working