27/05/2025
News
Equipping teachers to support children with parents in prison
Around 200,000 children every year have a parent in prison, yet there is no statutory safety net to ensure they receive the care and support they need. Pact is working with teachers and education professionals to support this vulnerable group and reduce some of the harm caused by parental imprisonment.
The impact of parental imprisonment
While many children with parents in prison go on to lead positive and fulfilling lives, for others, the experience has severe and far-reaching consequences. The absence of formal identification leaves some children vulnerable due to their invisibility. As one teacher told us, “Everyone thinks it’s someone else’s responsibility, whether that’s the police, the courts, or social services.” Pact has supported children who were left home alone, at school, or in precarious and unsuitable care when a parent disappeared into the prison system.
Parental imprisonment is widely recognised as an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE). Evidence suggests that children with a parent in prison are at far greater risk than their peers of experiencing a range of interconnected issues, including poverty, social isolation, difficulties at school, and mental health problems. The right support is crucial in minimising long-term harm and helping them to thrive.
"School can offer a safe space" for children with parents in prison
Approximately 1 in 15 children experience the imprisonment of a parent during their time at school. Yet, many teachers and professionals working with children readily acknowledge gaps in their understanding of the criminal justice system and the profound challenges these children face.
An attendee at Pact’s most recent schools’ training shared: “We had an incident where we knew about the parent’s case from social media but weren’t initially informed by the child’s foster carer. Children, parents, and the community knew what had happened, but we didn’t feel able to do anything to help the child. The support we received from other agencies was virtually non-existent, even conflicting at times. It was about a month until we were able to talk to the child about what had happened.”
Another attendee shared: “That information we need about children's parents isn't shared, and so we aren't able to support them until after the fact. We are all supposed to work together for the child to receive the support they need to understand, accept and manage their emotions. However, there seems to be some links missing to complete the circle of support.”
Pact has heard firsthand from children affected by parental imprisonment. Time and again, they express the need for a trusted, emotionally available, and well-informed adult with whom they can share their feelings and concerns. Research commissioned by the Welsh government last year revealed that nine out of ten young people in Wales believe schools should automatically be informed when a parent is imprisoned. However, these young people also emphasised the importance of handling this information with care and discretion.
Children Heard and Seen recently held focus groups for individuals affected by parental imprisonment. Half of the adults who had experienced parental imprisonment as children revealed that their schools had been unaware of their parents' imprisonment. Yet, every single participant expressed that they would have liked their teachers to have been informed. The children involved repeatedly emphasised the need for more compassionate, informed responses from education and social care professionals. One child shared, “School just sort of told me, we know what’s happening – and that was it. I was out of school for nine months after that.”
Pact’s Children and Young People’s Lead, Aimee Hutchinson, said: “Teachers and education practitioners can play an important role in combatting misinformation and alleviating the anxiety children often feel when a parent goes to prison. By encouraging the whole school community to talk about imprisonment, they can also help to combat some of the shame and stigma families face.
“For families who have had distressing, even traumatic, experiences with police and justice system professionals, school can offer a safe space for children while also signposting parents and carers to appropriate support. However, as Children Heard and Seen’s recent focus groups have demonstrated, there is an urgent need for widespread, specialist training to ensure schools avoid stigmatising children and instead prioritise their rights and wellbeing.”
Providing CPD-accredited training for schools
Pact’s training and resources for schools give staff the confidence to talk about imprisonment and provide effective support to families affected by the criminal justice system. Co-produced with young people and education professionals, our schools’ toolkit is now used in more than 350 schools and 45 local authorities across England and Wales. We have also provided training for staff in over 300 schools, with our interactive ‘Hear Our Voice’ training recently receiving CPD accreditation.
This month, we welcomed attendees from across the North West, including Designated Safeguarding Leads, Special Educational Needs Coordinators, and pastoral care staff, to our ‘Hear Our Voice’ training at HMP Styal. The session explored the impact of the justice process on children and young people, what teachers can do to help both children and their carers, and how schools can work with organisations like Pact to provide child-centred support. It also included a walk-through of the prison visit process from a child’s perspective.
One participant shared: “It was really impactful to see the visits hall within the prison and to go through security to understand how it would feel for a child. I found the day really informative, and it has made me realise how much work goes into supporting families, but that there is still work to do to ensure children's voices are heard. I hope many more staff can be trained to support these children.”
Aimee Hutchinson said: “If we want the adults in children’s lives to support them, we need to support them too. Not every family will want or need help, but by equipping the right people, at the right time, and in the right way, we can minimise the risk of harm and ensure the best possible outcomes for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children and young people.”