Parental Rights in Prison Project

O'Brien, Kate; King, Hannah

Abstract

The aim of the Parental Rights in Prison Project (PRiP) was to support incarcerated parents who wished to sustain their relationship with their children who are in the care of the local authority, care of family and significant others or adopted and to provide them with legal advice and support around their rights as parents. The project was funded by HMPPS and took place from January 2021 – December 2022. Initially established in HMP Low Newton prison, the project expanded to also support fathers in HMP Kirklevington and HMP Durham in year two. The funding paid for one full-time project coordinator (PRiPC) who provided ongoing specialist family support following intervention from the family support workers, Drug and Recovery Team (DART) family support worker or HMPPS prison family support worker. Her role was to undertake complex core family work. She also supports mothers in custody with additional issues such as safeguarding, looked after children, social care involvement, care proceedings, the perinatal pathway, post-adoption support and liaising with professionals including schools, social workers, family law solicitors as well helping maintain family ties. The PRiP Project was externally evaluated using a mixed methods approach and ran alongside delivery of the intervention. The evaluation focused on mothers only, and delivery of the PRiP Project at HMP Low Newton. We engaged with a total of 23 mothers2 during the evaluation period which ran for eighteen months. Underpinning the evaluation were indepth interviews with 18 mothers and 7 prison staff members, analysis of 10 case-studies written by the PRiPC and impact data collected by the PRiPC; and a participatory theatre project involving 7 mothers which is ongoing.

Citation

O'Brien, K., & King, H. (2023). Parental Rights in Prison Project. Durham University: NEPACS/Durham University

• Report Type: Research Report
• Online Publication Date: Jan 22, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 22, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 14, 2024
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2160453