C ONCLUSIONS

Developing strategies, policies and practices to provide adequately and appropriately in identifying and meeting the needs of prisoners’ families should take as its starting point international child rights standards. The issues raised in this report on Northern Ireland would be resolved, at least in part, by the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law. This would place judicable obligation on the state to provide for children’s needs without discrimination. The key principles engaged are:

non-discrimination (Article 2); the ‘best interests of the child’ (Article 3); life, survival and development (Article 6); participation (Article 12). Each of these principles is

92 Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) (2006) Prison Service Mother and Baby Policy Belfast: NIPS para. 3.10

central to operational policies and practices regarding the rights of children whose parent or guardian, or sibling, is imprisoned or detained. There is no evidence from our research that these principles have been considered or addressed appropriately by the prison service in developing policies and, instructively, responding to recommendations by independent researchers, independent monitoring or formal inspection. The schematic responses to such recommendations indicate a marked reluctance by the prison service to prioritise the rights of children. There is little indication, other than the positive relationships developed by Family Support Officers, of even a cursory grasp of child rights standards.

Article 9 obliges the state to provide children of imprisoned or detained parents with

‘essential information’ regarding the location of their custody. This should include the opportunity, as in Magilligan, for children to view inside the prison, including accommodation. Article 12 affirms the child’s right to have their views taken into account on any matter or procedure affecting them. Children of imprisoned parents should have their views sought and be ‘given due weight’ appropriate to age and maturity. Information given to children and their responses should be supported by independent advocacy to ensure they understand complex issues and have their opinions taken into account. All policies and procedures regarding visits, conditions, telephone access and release plans should be discussed with prisoners’ children. The conditions under which children visit their parents in Northern Ireland systemically breach Article 16, the child’s right to privacy. More attention should be given to the protection of children’s privacy before and during visits. This is particularly significant in a society with a relatively small population and few prisons. Particular prisoners have received considerable media attention, and are well known to the public. It is essential that their children are protected from intrusion.

Article 18 establishes the principle that parents share responsibility for bringing up their children. This responsibility, although recognised and supported by NGOs working in Northern Ireland’s prisons, should be identified as part of NIPS core commitment to rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement. Family support work, therefore, should form a central element in the work of prisons. Clearly this is not an issue solely for penal institutions, and the needs and rights of children with imprisoned parents should be recognised within Children’s Services planning and appropriate targets should be established to meet identified needs. Adequate statistical information and further qualitative research is required to plan for these children’s needs.

Recent media coverage, particularly regarding women prisoners and politically-affiliated prisoners, has paid scant attention to the potential harm done to the children of prisoners whose cases have been given sensationalist tabloid attention. Not only has this breached professional regulatory guidelines, it has compromised the ‘moral well-being’ of those prisoners’ children in potential breach of Articles 16 and 17.

Sentencing legislation and guidelines should include a requirement that those responsible for setting a tariff should establish the needs of dependent children prior to sentencing. Legislation should restrict the imprisonment of mothers of young children to those exceptional cases of serious offending and violence.

Police officers should receive specific training in conducting arrests when children are present. Arrests in the presence of children should be justified and only occur as a last resort.

Consistent with Article 27, adequate financial support should be immediately available

to families on the imprisonment of a parent or carer. States are obliged to ‘recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development’. We observed situations in which children were unable to participate in visits because of the length of time and costs involved. There should be emergency and long-term funding available from state agencies to support dependent children when a parent is imprisoned.

As established previously, there are examples of good practice, specifically child-centred visits and the work of Family Support Officers. However, this work was marginalised by the Northern Ireland Prison Service, a clear indication being the small number of Family Support Officers, their limited budget and the understanding that at short notice they could be redeployed to mainstream duties. Given the centrality of this work in meeting the commitment of the prison service to rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement, this marginalisation is unacceptable. It is imperative that the role of Family Support Officers is established as a core commitment within prison service operational policy and practice, and its provision ring-fenced and expanded to meet the needs of all prisoners’ families that wish to work with family support programmes.

There should be recruitment of more Family Support Officers and a specialised unit at each establishment, staffed by several Family Support Officers and supported by NGOs and researchers specialised in working with children and their families. The prison service should finance and commission appropriate training for all officers working with families.

In meeting the obligations of Article 6 (child’s right to development) and Article 9 (access to parents), child-centred visits offer the most appropriate opportunities for parental contribution to the social and emotional development of the child alongside maintenance of personal contact. They are popular with prisoners and their families and current provision should be extended through the establishment of visiting areas dedicated for this purpose. This would enable child-centred work to be extended throughout the week and in the evenings, supported by an expanded family support staff. We noted evidence of some good play and recreational provision for younger children, particularly in crèches, but there is a lack of outdoor play space for visiting children.

Young people’s visits should be initiated, and the advice of young people, relevant NGOs and Family Officers be sought in developing appropriate timing, organisation, location and conditions. The extended visits mobile unit for women at Hydebank Wood is a significant initiative and similar facilities should be developed for long-term male prisoners and their children. The Hydebank Wood unit should be available on weekdays after school hours to provide mothers with opportunities to assist their children’s schoolwork and to maximise contact where it is in the child’s best interests.

The research notes the problems experienced by families of convicted sex offenders.

This is a complex issue involving media coverage, popular opinion and a range of voluntary and statutory agencies. Independent research should be commissioned to explore prisoners’ and prisoners’ families’ needs in the context of child protection.

The important role of NGOs was evident throughout the research. At a time of economic stringency and cuts in public funding, it is imperative that this independent work continues to be supported by state funding. The independence of the non-governmental sector is crucial to the trust built and sustained with families often confronted with stigma, prejudice and marginalisation in their communities.

It was clear from this research that imprisonment affects siblings and other relatives

additional to parents and their children. Their needs also should be considered and we recommend equal treatment to children of imprisoned parents.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service has developed several positive initiatives to enhance children’s experiences of contact with their parents, and managers. Family officers have received well-deserved recognition for their dedication, often giving many unpaid hours of their own time. As noted above, however, these initiatives are often disrupted by security measures or reallocation of resources in a system where security predominates over prisoner or visitor-care or rights. Fundamentally, there is a need for deep and long-term cultural and institutional change within the Northern Ireland prison system. This has been established in the recently published independent review of the prison system.⁹³ The review team noted the ‘absence of effective leadership and operational management’ and the ‘security-led culture among prison staff, which developed during and has continued since the Troubles, and a culture of denial and compromise within the service as a whole’.⁹⁴ These ‘fundamental and longstanding problems’ have stood in the way of family-oriented developments and have too often resulted in a hostile attitude to families and children, rather than the respect they deserve. ⁹⁵

There is also a need for cultural change within media coverage and public education, viewing children with imprisoned parents as victims and survivors of the criminal justice system and as rights-holders whose needs must be addressed. Central to this change would be professional training on prisoners’ rights, imprisonment and its impact on families and the needs and rights of children with imprisoned parents and siblings introduced in the training of all social workers, teachers and others working in childcare professions.

93 Independent Review Team (2011) Review of the Northern Ireland Prison Service: Interim Report 28 Feb 2011

94 As above p. 11

95 As above p. 9