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WOMEN PRISONERS AND OFFENDERS Somebody’s mother, daughter, sister, partner

WOMEN PRISONERS AND OFFENDERS Somebody’s mother, daughter, sister, partner 12 July 2012 www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk. Presentation by Lorna Brookes, Specialist Practitioner, Family Impact Team PSS in Liverpool www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk.

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WOMEN PRISONERS AND OFFENDERS Somebody’s mother, daughter, sister, partner

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  1. WOMEN PRISONERS AND OFFENDERS Somebody’s mother, daughter, sister, partner 12 July 2012www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk

  2. Presentation by Lorna Brookes, Specialist Practitioner, Family Impact Team PSS in Liverpool www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk

  3. Supporting the needs of children with a mother in prison, using a ‘whole family’ approach Lorna Brookes Specialist Practitioner

  4. The Demand There are aprox 3,000 children affected any one time in Merseyside with a parent in prison Estimate of around 150 mothers from our area alone Long distance referrals

  5. The Family Impact Service PSS is currently the only specialist service in Merseyside who supports children of prisoners, and their families, in the community. We adopt a systemic family approach We work with… • Children • Parent / Carers • Parent prisoners post release

  6. Framework for Collaborative Helping (1) Striving for cultural curiosity and honoring family wisdom. (2) Believing in possibilities and building on family resourcefulness. (3) Working in partnership with families and fitting services to them. (4) Engaging in empowering processes and making our work more accountable to clients. Madsen, W (2009)

  7. Children 1:1 Support Help them to understand what a prison is Giving them space to discuss their worries and wishes Assist with Contact Helping them cope with the separation Peer Group Support To reduce feelings of isolation To have fun and not feel guilty about it The raise self esteem by supporting others “Expert Helpers” system

  8. Olivia My experience of support Aged 11

  9. Missing You Boxes A “Missing You Box”. Drawn by a 6yr old girl

  10. Letter-Box Contact

  11. Child Expert Helper “…after they’ve been released, you can keep on going on the groups and there’s other kids and they’re all shy, well you can just go up to other kids and say to them…it’s gonna be alright. I’ve been in the same situation and I can help you get through it. You know, help other kids, which would make it easier for the PSS aswell”

  12. Parent/Carers • Help to tell the children about the imprisonment • School Support • “you went up the school to help me about her crying. That changed a lot” • “when you said I’ll come up and I’ll have a gab to them, I was thinking thank God I haven’t got to go through that again”

  13. Advocacy with prisons / probation • Referral to other services • Emotional support • “It’s the phone call…sometimes you can be at a very low ebb and you can just want 2 minutes” • “If I hadn’t have met you there’d have been no one”

  14. Post release support for mums • Resettle into family life after release • Refer into key services (health, housing, PSS Turnaround Service) • Advocacy in statutory meetings – esp. social services / contact arrangements with their children • Emotional support and understanding • Family Recovery Programme

  15. Research aims • Families are the experts. Tell us about your ‘good’ and ‘bad’ experiences of community based support • Develop a model for working systemically with this cohort, incl. • Family Interventions for Individuals • Collaborative Standpoint • “Authoritative Doubt”

  16. Early thematic findings…. Lack of specialist services in general Gaining emotional support Understanding of prisons and the system Mistrust of statutory services Not being judged or scrutinized. Seeing a real improvement in the child’s wellbeing

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