New report recommends specialist support to mothers in prison

A new report reveals the challenges mothers face trying to maintain a relationship with their children while in prison, and recommends additional support.

Dr. Kate O’Brien and Dr. Hannah King, from our Sociology department, evaluated the pioneering Parental Rights in Prison (PRiP) project. The PRiP project aimed to help incarcerated parents sustain a relationship with their children. The project provided specialist family support workers as well as legal advice and support.

It was run by the charity NEPACS and was piloted at HMP Low Newton women’s prison, Durham, before expanding to two men’s establishments in the region.

The evaluation found that the PRiP project was often the first-time incarcerated mothers received specialist family support and legal advocacy around their parental rights. Having a child/children removed often triggered self-medication, suicidal ideas and self-injury among mothers. This was especially the case early on in custody, and as mothers were approaching release.

PRiP helped to overcome issues of mothers being misinformed or given little/no information about the legal status of their children, or their parental rights.

The researchers made several recommendations to the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. These include:

• PRiP coordinators should be available to help all incarcerated mothers, supported by Family Law solicitors.
• PRiP coordinators should be enabled to work alongside other agencies, such as family support workers and drug and alcohol recovery teams, to provide coordinated support.
• Specialist support should be available for mothers upon release and during resettlement, including domestic abuse and sexual violence support.
• PRiP should be extended across male prisons too to work with fathers in prison.
• Specialist training and support should be provided for prison staff, social workers and Children’s Services to understand the challenges for mothers in prison.

The evaluation report also suggests further research should look at the needs of Black and racially minoritized mothers in custody.

Dr. O’Brien is working with NEPACs on ways to implement the recommendations from her report and is writing a book on parental rights in prison.

As part of the PRiP project, mothers also worked with a theater company, Open Clasp, to produce a performance called “Rupture,” based on their experiences. Their aim is to share the performance widely with prison staff and legal practitioners to help them understand the challenges faced by mothers in prison.