Category: CAPPTIVE

“Devastating” impact of Covid-19 restrictions on women prisoners’ mental health

Women in prison have revealed the devastating impact of Covid-19 restrictions on their mental health and wellbeing, in a briefing launched today by the Prison Reform Trust.

Based on evidence from women in prison from May 2020 to May 2021, as well as supporting evidence from HM Inspectorate of Prisons and other sources, the briefing looks at women’s experiences of prison during the first and second waves of the pandemic.

It highlights the consequences for women of a restricted regime amounting to ‘prolonged solitary confinement’, where they were often locked up for 23 hours a day without access to work, training or rehabilitation, and were not able to receive visits from family and loved ones.

One woman said:

“Never in the six years of my sentence so far has lockdown been this severe or long…Mental health is deteriorating for me and [those] around me. Most were coping but over the past 2 to 3 weeks there is a lot of unrest. The worst cases are getting put in seg and we hear the screaming which is awful.”

Another woman said:

“Mental health is a massive issue here in prisons and there is no duty of care for it, we are simply given a colouring pack. Depression, anxiety, discomfort, boredom and comfort eating, the ladies are piling the weight on. I feel I’m in the passenger seat of an out of control car are we are about to hit a brick wall.”

The importance of family contact, especially with children, emerges as a particularly important theme in the report. At the time the evidence was gathered for the briefing, social visits were suspended, and although measures to compensate for the lack of face-to-face visits were put in place, these were unable to fully make up for the loss.

One woman said:

“Personally I feel contact with family/friends is really hard. To start with, we were only allowed 10 mins phone time a day, which has now progressed to 20 mins a day, which isn’t enough…I think everyone’s main issue is family contact and maintaining family ties. This includes family members outside. They find it upsetting and are as frustrated as us.”

A family member of a woman in prison reported:

“Video calls are 30 mins but only once a month. Her visit entitlement is almost once a week so this is a far cry from that and there has been four months without any contact.”

Some women also felt that technology for video calls was designed to give priority to security rather than enhancing ties between mothers and their young children.

One woman said:

“I have spoken to a number of the ladies who have experienced purple visits and the overall feedback was ‘brilliant’. [But…] the software is extremely sensitive and freezes quite a bit…The women and their family members find this frustrating.”

The briefing highlights areas of good practice, implemented by individual establishments, to make the situation more bearable. These include increased provision to call and write to family members, access to exercise and other activities, and kindness from staff.

As prisons emerge from pandemic restrictions, the briefing suggests what prisons should do as they restore a normal regime. These include:

Increase the number and duration of visits, providing open air visits and physical contact; but maintain phone credits and video calls

Provide support in the aftermath of visits that leave painful emotions
Enable staff and prisoners to discuss how they have been affected by the pandemic and the regime
Run wing meetings to gather the views of prisoners about what is most important to them and how to proceed
Create or maintain peer support workers and Covid-19 wellbeing reps and support them in their roles
Encourage officers to maintain empathy and caring in their work with prisoners

Explore how the recovery process needs to differ for women
Raise the level of mental health support in prison permanently.

Commenting, Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“As prisons emerge from Covid-19 restrictions, recovery plans must be based on evidence about how women have been affected. Recovery in prisons is going slower than in the community, and is even more fragile. It’s crucial that the measures taken to mitigate the impact on women and their families—such as additional phone credit—are not wound down, and that women in prison are involved in planning for what comes next. But this report should also cause the government to rethink its plans to expose even more women, typically convicted of non-violent crime, to the needless suffering of imprisonment.”

Click here to download a copy of the briefing.

A CAPPTIVE snapshot of life under Covid

Prisoners’ mental health suffering under conditions of “prolonged solitary confinement”

People in prison have revealed the devastating impact of Covid-19 restrictions on their mental health and wellbeing, in a briefing launched today by the Prison Reform Trust which examines the issue of prisoners’ health during the pandemic.

Based on evidence received from prisoners and their families from June to the present day, the briefing highlights the consequences for prisoners of being locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day for the past 10 months under conditions which amount to “prolonged solitary confinement”.

It also highlights measures taken by prisons which had made the situation more bearable. These include kindness and empathy from staff, access to exercise and other activities, mental health support, good communications and effective precautions against the disease.

The briefing is published on the same day as the release of an HM Inspectorate of Prisons thematic review on the impact of the pandemic on prisoners, which reveals the heavy toll restrictions have taken on prisoners’ wellbeing and rehabilitation.

CAPPTIVE is a collaborative project by the Prison Reform Trust and our Prisoner Policy Network, which aims to describe life in prison under the pandemic.

The first CAPPTIVE briefing covered families and communication and the second, regimes, reactions and progression. This, the third briefing, covers precautions against transmission, routine health care, disabilities, prisoners’ well-being, mental health, self-harm, and what helped. CAPPTIVE received 180 responses from prisoners related to health, drawn from 79 identified prisons and six unspecified prisons.

In March 2020, HM Prison and Probation Service introduced measures to protect prisoners and staff in light of Covid-19. This included the introduction of a quarantine regime, ceasing all inter-prison transfers, separating new arrivals, isolating symptomatic prisoners, and shielding vulnerable prisoners.

Under the quarantine regime, time out of cell was severely restricted, leaving the vast majority of the prison population locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. The United Nations defines solitary confinement as being held in a cell for 22 hours or more per day. It states that prolonged solitary confinement is cruel, inhuman, or degrading. Prolonged is anything over 15 days.

The vast majority of CAPPTIVE respondents who wrote about the quarantine regime described negative effects for their well-being. Out of 180 prisoner responses on the theme of health, only three (less than 2%) mentioned any personal benefit from the regime of 23 hours isolated in their cell.

People experienced sensory deprivation due to 23-hour confinement in a cell, and many respondents reported feeling fatalistic. CAPPTIVE evidence showed that the regime undermined a person’s sense of identity; took away self-worth; and led to anxieties about the effects of separation on children.

One prisoner said:

“Mental health—the impacts on residents like myself can be profound, unexpected and confusing to all. This is a particular concern for me as the invisible harm is harder to address than the visible.”

Another said:

“Individuals suffering from mental health conditions such as claustrophobia, PTSD, anxiety and depression…would be up all night doing overtime thinking or panicking or stressing and then be faced with that hectic ‘first thing in the morning’ regime. I observed a few not clean their cells or have showers for weeks due to this.”

Prison rehabilitation promotes positive change through education, skills training, offending behaviour programmes, faith activities, and volunteering roles. Activities help to motivate people to get through their sentence and give that time a purpose. The quarantine regime curtailed most of these opportunities and led many to question whether their lives had a purpose.

One prisoner said:

“Mental health is a massive issue here in prisons and…we are simply given a colouring pack. Depression, anxiety, discomfort, boredom and comfort eating, the ladies are piling the weight on. I feel I’m in the passenger seat of an out of control car and we are about to hit a brick wall.”

The lack of activities and the loss of family contact undermined people’s well-being and contributed to depression. A few responses to CAPPTIVE provided strong evidence that staff were sometimes unaware of the damage that the quarantine regime was doing to mental health.

Prisoners writing to CAPPTIVE stressed the importance of kindness and empathy to help them cope. The quality of staff engagement with prisoners is vital to prisoners’ well-being – taking an interest in the needs of each person as an individual, giving people time to talk through the effects of the quarantine regime, and helping people fill their time meaningfully.

One prisoner said:

“Since the lockdown it has been an abundance of solitary confinement, but a lot of the staff members have managed to show empathy towards myself and other inmates’ situations and concerns to the best of their ability. Taking the time to talk to inmates after stressful phone calls, encouraging distraction techniques, as well as encouraging keeping a high hygiene standard.”

The findings of the briefing suggest that the prison service is facing fundamental questions about how to manage the risks posed by Covid-19 and “build back better”. The service understands that achieving a “healthy” prison means much more than freedom from disease. The messages contained in this report from people who live in prison is that they should be part of the blueprint for a healthier future.

Commenting, Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“Just as it has in the community, the situation in our overcrowded prison system has got worse since the evidence in this report was gathered. The suffering and long-term harm it describes are deeper than ever. But the report also shows the building blocks for a better future. Empathy and kindness from many staff have made a real difference, and it will be full active days spent out of the confines of a nine foot by six foot cell that define recovery in the longer term.”

Click here to download a copy of the briefing

Lockdown conditions leave prisoners at risk of serving longer sentences

Lockdown conditions in prisons have effectively ended opportunities for prisoners to take part in rehabilitation activities and progress in their sentences.

For the nearly 11,000 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences (9,000 unreleased; 2,000 recalled), this could lead to them spending significantly longer in prison than they might have otherwise. This is because they may be unable to demonstrate to the Parole Board that they have taken part in activities to reduce their risk.

A further 5,815 people serving extended determinate sentences, whose release is dependent on the Parole Board up until the end of their custodial term, could also find themselves spending longer in prison because of a lack of access to rehabilitation.

The uncertainty is leading to increasing despair and hopelessness and putting a significant strain on the mental health and wellbeing of prisoners, already suffering as a result of lockdown conditions, a new briefing by the Prison Reform Trust reveals.

The briefing is the second of a series that the Prison Reform Trust is publishing as part of its CAPPTIVE project, exploring the experience of prisoners and their families during the pandemic.

It draws on evidence covering 85 prisons in England and Wales, and is based on the contributions of 117 serving prisoners and 25 families, interviews with legal and criminal justice practitioners, as well as the findings of independent inspections at 15 prisons conducted during the pandemic. It examines the effects of Covid-19 restrictions on daily life in prison and how it has affected peoples’ ability to successfully work towards their release. It also considers the quality of regimes under lockdown and the reactions of prisoners and staff to the pandemic.

The briefing reveals that activities to help reduce the risk of reoffending and prepare people to lead law abiding lives had all but stopped, and that this was potentially delaying the release of people back into the community.

The ‘exceptional regime management plan’ introduced in all prisons on 24 March saw people confined to cells for 23 hours per day or more; family and legal visits stopped; classrooms and workshops closed; offending behaviour programmes and sentence planning placed on hold; and release on temporary licence almost entirely suspended.

At the time the briefing was written, prisoners in England and Wales had been confined to their cells for 23 hours or more every day for almost five months. These changes mean that, through no fault of their own, prisoners cannot make progress on their sentence plans and risk being refused parole or transfer to a lower security prison as a result.

One indeterminate sentenced prisoner said:

“With no job, no courses, I worry about my sentence planning, [and] the impact that this will have on my parole hearing.”

Another said:

“For myself it’s brought more uncertainty within uncertainty, because I am serving a short tariff IPP I had not long been on an offender behaviour course before lockdown (KAIZEN), and I was due for parole sometime after September, I was told but I never had a date which was eating away at my mental health and now I’m sure that I probably won’t see a parole board this year without completing this objective.”

An extended determinate sentenced prisoner said:

“There are some problems with progression in rehabilitation. Some prisoners in here including myself are serving EDS [Extended Determinate Sentences] sentences and have had our paroles refused due to non-completion of programmes, myself it’s BBR. [Building Better Relationships] but it is not possible to complete them due to the lockdown, social distancing and no programmes being available.”

This uncertainty is placing significant strain of the mental health of those prisoners stuck inside and their families in the community. Simon Creighton, of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, described the profound impact of the cessation of offender behaviour programmes on mental health:

“You are combining what is already one of the most stressful point of a prisoner’s life [parole] with making the conditions appalling and knowing that they’re not making any progress. That is having a really serious effect on people’s mental health.”

Commenting, Peter Dawson, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“No-one yet knows what the lasting damage to people’s mental and physical health of that unprecedented regime will be. What we do know is that the loss of opportunities for progression and rehabilitation during this period means that prisons have not been delivering one of the core statutory purposes of sentencing. For many prisoners whose release is dependent on a risk assessment, that is likely to mean extra months or years spent in prison for a reason wholly beyond their control.

“The purposes of prison include working to ensure that the person emerges less likely to reoffend than when they went in; and that depends on opportunities for meaningful activities that develop skills as well as self-esteem. So long as the ‘regime’ for any prisoner consists of 23 hour days in cell, the public are being short-changed on their investment in prisons. The prison service has committed to a ‘rehabilitative culture’. Now is the time to double down on that commitment.”

Click here to download a copy of the briefing.

Prisons minister responds to findings of our first CAPPTIVE report

Following the publication of the first report of our new CAPPTIVE project, established in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the prisons minister Lucy Frazer has written to the Prison Reform Trust to welcome its findings.

In her response she endorses the value of listening to prisoners and their families, and their involvement in how prisons organise their response to the pandemic. This is welcome, as we know the best prisons already do this because they have seen the value it brings.

As the CAPPTIVE project continues at pace, we will continue to tell her directly what prisoners and their families are telling us.

Click here to read the letter.

Speed up video calls rollout in prison to ease families’ lockdown anguish

The rollout of secure video calls in prisons should be speeded up to ease the distress of families and their loved ones unable to see each other since the cancellation of social visits, a new briefing by the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) suggests.

Based on 278 contributions from families and prisoners in England and Wales, the briefing reveals a mounting sense of anger, frustration and despair over more than 3 months of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in prisons.

One family member said:

“The last time I saw my son was on the 20th of March, then lockdown happened. He has also not seen his Fiancée and his 2-year-old son since then. The distress and heartache this has caused us all is incalculable.”

At the start of the pandemic in late March, all social visits to prisons in England and Wales were halted. Since then, most prisoners have been confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. Governors were told last month by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) that they should consider relaxing restrictions from Monday 6 July, including the reintroduction of visits. However, all planned changes must be approved centrally, and ministers have made clear that the pace of change will be much slower than in the community. HMPs Risley and Humber were the first prisons to restart visits on 8 July, and more are scheduled in the coming days and weeks.

The briefing is the first of a series PRT is publishing as part of its CAPPTIVE project, exploring the experience of prisoners and their families during the pandemic. Focusing on the themes of families and communications, it reveals a gap between what was promised by the government to make up for the loss of social visits and what has so far delivered on the ground. It also highlights the dearth of information and communication technology, such as video calls, in prison compared to the community, and a lack of ambition to close this digital divide.

The briefing finds that ministers have heightened expectations amongst prisoners and their families, only to disappoint—adding to their distress and feelings of hopelessness. So far, more than 3 months into lockdown, video calls have been rolled out to just 27 of the 120 establishments on the prison estate in England and Wales (figure accurate as of Tuesday 14 July 2020).

One prisoner said:

“Naturally visits have stopped and we are unaware when they will begin. We were informed that video calling will be introduced, however as of yet that is still a no-go.”

One family member said:

“I used to take my toddler grandson to see his dad, my son, every weekend. We all look forward so much to this important family time. The prison has no video-call facility, I would be ecstatic seeing my son and grandson having a video-call, as not seeing each other’s faces for 11 weeks since Mother’s Day is hard.”

Whilst the weekly provision of an additional £5 of phone credit to all prisoners has been very welcome, Covid-19 has highlighted the pre-existing inadequacies in telephone facilities across the prison estate. A significant minority of prisons are still not equipped with in-cell phones, and in prisons without this facility, access can still be a significant problem.

One prisoner said:

“Family contact is difficult due to limited access to phones and only 4 phones for 160 people on a wing or 40 people per 45 mins association time.”

One family member said:

“With no in-cell phones if we miss his call, its 24 hours until we get the opportunity to speak to him again. Family bonds are being severed and this is very cruel and unhealthy for all.”

Another said:

“His time on the telephone is rationed between us all before his credit runs out, therefore difficult to have deep meaningful conversations. We have an exchange of conversation squeezed into a short call but the need for my son to receive a mother’s counsel to support his mental wellbeing is constrained. My heart aches for him.”

The briefing also considers the effectiveness of arrangements prisons had in place for communicating with prisoners and families. Here, the picture is more positive overall. Genuine consultation with prisoners has been evident and had paid dividends. Use of social media to help families has been quite common and of high quality. There’s much for prisons to learn from each other about how the benefits of an open, outgoing approach outweigh any perceived risks.

Commenting, Peter Dawson, Director of the Prison Reform Trust said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world for everyone. No-one is immune from the risk of infection or the anxiety that can cause. Prisoners are no exception. But being in prison does make a difference, as it does for the families prisoners have left behind.

“What this briefing shows is that families and their loved ones in prison have been experiencing a double lockdown. The distress of not being able to see each other in person has been compounded by a lack of access to modern communication technology, including video calls. It’s technology many can now take for granted in the community, and which has made a huge difference during lockdown – just not for families supporting someone in prison.

“In August 2017, Lord Farmer’s report on family ties spelt out the case for mainstreaming the provision of video calling technology in prisons. Two and a half years later, when the pandemic struck that recommendation was still not implemented. The prison service has now said it wants video calling to become a permanent feature. That’s welcome. But it needs to go faster, to give a guarantee that video calls will cost prisoners’ families the same as they cost the rest of us, and that they will always be an addition to face to face contact, not a substitute for it.”

Through the generous support of the Prison Advice & Care Trust (Pact), we have been able to include the experiences of numerous families of prisoners within this briefing; adding to our understanding about the impact of suspension of prison visits on children, families and prisoners themselves.

Commenting, Andy Keen-Downs, CEO of Pact, said:

“Pact exists to empower people with lived experience of the justice system to have their voices heard on the things that matter most to them. So, we have been delighted to assist with enabling families to contribute to this important report. It brings to light the pain families and their loved ones have been experiencing in the pandemic, and the vital importance of putting in place measures to nurture and sustain those relationships under lockdown.”

Click here to download a copy of the briefing

Prison Reform Trust launches new Covid-19 prisons project (CAPPTIVE)

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the lives of prisoners, their families and those that work in prison. Widescale lockdown with people held in cells for up to 23 and a half hours a day, as well as the suspension of family visits since March have placed an immense strain on prisoners and their loved ones during this unprecedented time.

PRT has steadfastly continued its advocacy and influencing work throughout this period on behalf of those in prison. However, the true depth of what people in prison are currently experiencing is invisible behind the walls.

As we have found through our Prisoner Policy Network, learning lessons both now and for the future depends on listening to prisoners and sharing their experience and insight.

In response to this challenge, we have established an urgent new project—CAPPTIVE (The Covid Action Prison Project: Tracking Innovation, Valuing Experience).

We want to hear from people in prison, and the people who care about them, about their own experience of the pandemic so far.

We are interested to hear what’s being done well just as much as what isn’t; what needs to continue and what needs to stop.

It is vital that prisoners’ voices are heard in the discussions amongst wider society about what our lives will look like after lockdown. CAPPTIVE provides that space for prisoners and their families to be heard.

Contributions to the project will inform a series of rapid review reports that will be vital in ensuring we have the evidence to continue our work effectively both now and in the future.

Prisoners, family members and organisations that support them can contribute their experiences and thoughts using the contact details below.

Post	Prisoner Policy Network c/o Prison Reform Trust FREEPOST ND 6125 London EC1B 1PN
Email	ppn@prisonreformtrust.org.uk
Phone	020 7251 5070