INTEGRATED FAMILY SUPPORT

pact is working in partnership with NEPACS to develop a new model of Integrated Family Support in a range of different establishments and Local Authorities. The service is located in ten prisons and five Local Authorities across England and Wales.

The aims of the service are to improve the outcomes for children and families of offenders by helping to ensure that prisoners and their families:

gain more and faster access to support within their community
are known to local authority services when a parent is imprisoned, thus ensuring early intervention, which can help prevent greater problems later on
can access all of the local resources to which they are entitled
work together to decrease the chance of intergenerational crime affecting the community

Working within prisons, the Integrated Family Support Workers perform a unique, distinctive, professional role which acts as a bridge between prisons and communities. Workers are based at the following prisons:

pact: HMP Belmarsh, HMP Bristol, HMP Eastwood Park, HMP Maidstone, HMP Swansea, HMP Wandsworth

NEPACS: HMYOI Deerbolt, HMP Frankland, HMP Low Newton

The flexibility of the support enables the role to develop to meet the needs of specific groups within each prison, including the following:

Women
Young Offenders
Foreign Nationals
Resettlement prisons
Remand prisoners

As part of the project we will also have Integrated Family Support Advocates based within a number of local authorities in London, Kent and the North East. These advocates will establish a joined-up, multi-agency approach to working with the children and families of prisoners, and provide links between services from a wide range of agencies, including Integrated Offender Management services, Children’s Centres, the voluntary sector, and prison-based Family Support.

For more information please contact Angus Mulready-Jones at Angus.MJ@prisonadvice.org.uk