On 17 March 2026 HM Inspectorate of Prisons published a new thematic report on family services in prisons: ‘Safety, well-being and hope: The untapped potential of family contact in prisons’.

Andy Keen-Downs CBE, CEO of Pact, says:

“This report shows that family relationships are one of the most powerful, proven levers we have for creating safer prisons and reducing reoffending. When prisoners are supported to stay connected with their loved ones, everything shifts. They have a reason to hope, a reason to engage with education and work, a home awaiting them on release, and a reason to imagine a different future.

“We appreciate and recognise the progress that has been made in family services. Across the country dedicated staff and volunteers work tirelessly to open doors to family connection. There is genuinely inspiring work happening in many prisons today, and it is changing lives.

“But as it stands, families and healthy relationships are still being treated like an optional extra. If we want to unlock the full potential of family support, we need two things: investment and, crucially, a cultural shift. Family services must move from the margins to the centre of prison life; from add-on to essential.  As this report makes clear, good family support can make a meaningful difference in even the most critical moments and for the most vulnerable prisoners, including the early days in custody.

Money is tight. But a relatively small investment in family services delivers a disproportionately large return: safer, healthier prisons; brighter futures; and fewer victims of crime. If we are serious about rehabilitation, this is where the smart money should go.”

Key takeaways

1. Family contact helps to deliver safer prisons and reduce reoffending 

2. The potential for family contact is 'untapped', in particular during early days in custody and when supporting vulnerable prisoners

3.There is a lack of capacity to prioritise family involvement in HMPPS 

4. Visitor numbers and family visits can be too restrictive 

5. More needs to be done to identify and support prisoners who do not get social visits

How is Pact working with prisons across England and Wales to address these issues?

Our caseworkers support prisoners to stay in touch with family, maintaining, strengthening and repairing relationships to help everyone through a sentence and prepare for release. 

In two women’s prisons, Pact Prison Social Workers support mothers, their children and their carers, to cope with the impact of prison and separation.

Our new pilot project Listen to Families is helping family to play a more proactive role in their loved-ones’ healthcare while they’re in prison. In particular, the project seeks to ensure that families are involved in the crisis moments, when vulnerable prisoners’ mental health places them at risk.

Our innovative Let’s Talk scheme supports people who don’t receive regular visits. It carefully matches prisoners with well-trained and carefully vetted volunteers, joining up people with shared interests or from similar backgrounds to break the isolation that can cause people to lose hope, and to offer positive role models.

Up and down the country our teams and a handful of other great charities work hard to create a family-friendly visiting experience, for example employing play workers to play with children during visits. 

Our Routes2SystemChange project places an emphasis on early days in custody, offering prisons a model induction process to establish a deep understanding of prisoners’ social and emotional support networks  for their first day in prison, when they are most vulnerable. The Pact Schools Toolkit provides guidance and support for teachers with children in their classes who have a parent in prison.