Prisoners' Release: Families

(asked on 10th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken since the Farmer Review to increase the involvement of families in release planning.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 15th December 2021

We know that supporting and maintaining positive family relationships is an important factor in reducing reoffending, and positive family relationships have been identified as a protective factor in the desistance from crime.

While the focus for strengthening and maintaining engagement between offenders and their friends and family has been on working with those in prisons, it is essential that the ‘golden thread’ that Lord Farmer highlighted be pulled through the gate to support those in the community.

HMPPS are committed to engaging with families and significant others to integrate offenders into the community on release from prison. To this end we have launched several initiatives to test this approach, such as a 10-year proof of concept project called ‘Grand Avenues’, which will focus on targeted support for male offenders and their families, in an area of Cardiff, through co-design, ongoing supervision and engagement upon their release in the community.

HMPPS are additionally investing in initiatives to test formal engagement of families and significant others in Probation supervision which meets the expectations of HM Inspector of Probation and has outcomes for reducing reoffending, communities and individuals.

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