PRT comment: HMIP report on family contact in prisons

Commenting on today’s (Tuesday 17 March) HM Inspectorate of Prisons report ‘Safety, well-being and hope: The untapped potential of family contact in prisons’, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“We share the concerns highlighted in this review. Families play a key role in supporting prisoners’ wellbeing while in custody and increasing the chances of their effective rehabilitation on release. Maintaining strong family ties can reduce the risk of reoffending by nearly 40%. Despite the well-documented evidence on the importance of family ties for people in prison, prisons continue to sideline families, making it unnecessarily hard for them to provide vital emotional and practical support.

“As this review shows, there are repeated missed opportunities to include families in what should be an integrated approach to support from the first days in custody right through to release. The initiatives highlighted in this review to enhance family relationships should be adequately funded and embedded into standard practice, rather than being an optional add-on for a tiny minority of prisoners and their families, as is so often the case.

“All too often, families experience high levels of social stigma, isolation, and financial strain, becoming ‘hidden victims’ of the justice system. This review is a call for action to prison leaders who long for a more settled prison population to ensure families are given the recognition they deserve, and the resources and support they require, to play their part in supporting effective rehabilitation.”