How children with a parent in prison are supported, and why it matters

On 21 January, one of our previous committee members, Dr Stephanie Bennett, attended the House of Lords to highlight the need for additional help for the children of prisoners.  

Dr Bennett, senior lecturer in criminology and forensic psychology at the University of Chichester, published research in November 2024 describing the needs and types of support available for these children, alongside co-authors Professor Jane Payler and Professor Victoria Cooper of the Open University Children's Research Centre. 

The three academics presented this research to policy makers at the Westminster conference. 

Dr Bennett said: 

"It was fantastic to be able to shine a spotlight on the issue of identification and support for children who have a parent in prison. 

"Currently, the exact number of children in England and Wales who have a parent in prison is unknown, and therefore many children and families may be missing out on the very support they need at an extremely challenging time in their lives. 

"It was really promising to hear directly from officials at the Ministry of Justice that there is a commitment to identify children of prisoners and provide support to those in custody and their families. 

"Our hope is that a statutory mechanism for the identification of children will be rolled out, enabling families to be offered the support they need in a timely way to enable the best possible outcomes for the whole family." 

In England and Wales, most recent estimates show that between 1 October 2021 and 1 October 2022, there were 192,912 children with a parent in prison (Government UK, 2024).

Dr Bennett said: "It is proposed that rather than basing figures on estimates, radical change is needed in terms of recording and storing information about how many children are impacted by parental imprisonment in real-time so that responsive support can be made available for the children and their families when they need it. 

"Parental imprisonment can impact negatively on the societal, institutional and personal aspects of children's development. However, our research has found that when children are supported through family-centred, relationship-focused, strengths-based services, they can engage more fully in the institutions and social situations of their daily lives." 

Pictured left to right are Professor Victoria Cooper, Dr Stephanie Bennett and Professor Jane Payler.

Others in attendance alongside the academic and education professionals included The Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE, Katie Light and Francesca Burt of the Ministry of Justice, and Caroline Nokes MP. 

For more information about the Families First intervention evaluated as part of the research study, see www.yss.org.uk/families-first.