OWEN GILL CHILDREN AND FAMILIES AFFECTED BY IMPRISONMENT. CHALLENGES FOR PRACTICE

BARNARDO’S S.W. CONSULTATIONS AND EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE Consultations with children and parents. Gathering practice based information from Barnardo’s ECHO(Empowering the Children of Offenders)services. Research on ‘reach’ for Children’s Centres and collecting case material for handbook.

CHALLENGE 1:WORKING WITH FAMILY’S RESILIENCE Parents supporting their children in really difficult circumstances. A model which combines strengths and pressures.

CHALLENGE 2: SERVICES REACHING THIS ‘INVISIBLE’ GROUP Parents in Children’s Centres ‘reach’ areas wary of who in communities knows. On the move-transience. Restrictions in networks. Need to make links into communities, messages about Children’s Centres, using community networks etc

CHALLENGE 3. WORKING AT THE PRACTICAL AND EMOTIONAL LEVELS Families appreciate workers who can talk to children or help them to talk to children Families appreciate workers who know the system well enough to support them and explain Often bewildered by making contacts, how to visit etc. Impact on young children Addressing poverty-imprisonment links

CHALLENGE 4 : WORKING FOR CONTINUITY IN THE CHILD’S LIFE Services that can stay with the child as the parent goes through imprisonment and returns to community. This continuity involves working to involve the wider resources and networks in the child’s world

CHALLENGE 5: MAKING LINKS BETWEEN DIFFERENT SERVICES Links Between prison, probation services etc and children’s services. Linking professional cultures with a joint understanding and language. Recognising commonalities. Practical ways forward. Children centre staff involved with prison, probation staff using Children’s Centres etc

BUT UNDERLYING ALL THIS IS THE KEY CHALLENGE…… To imagine the world of the child