Jake is excited to see his dad; he hasn’t seen him for two weeks. He jumps out of the car and runs ahead. It is early, so Jake eats the snack his mum gives him while they wait.

Eventually, it’s time. So they book in for the visit. Jake recognises one of the men on the desk, and rolls his eyes at him. He makes a face at the CCTV camera as they pass through security with the other visitors, showing off to a younger boy who looks like he has been crying.

Jake is familiar with every step on the way to meet his father. As soon as they are through the last gate and the inner door opens, he rushes over to his dad and starts to tell him all the important news about being selected for the football team and almost scoring a goal in the first match.

It’s a routine they have been through many times before. It’s how things work in prison.

Jake’s sister Molly drags behind. She does not like coming. She does not like the long car journey, or the grey old buildings behind the high fences, or having to queue with strangers who say things she doesn’t really understand.

Today, she is missing her friend’s birthday party. She does not smile back at the officers who gently pat her clothes and search her “in case she has any sweets on her”, and when she is told to stand still she shudders as the dog sniffs all around her. She puts her hands over her ears as each gate clangs shut and is locked behind them.

But when they finally get to the visits hall, Molly runs to hug her dad. She clings to him until she is told to sit down on the other side of the table. She collects some colouring pencils and paper from the lady in the play area and takes them back to the table where her dad has to remain seated.

On Monday, Jake and Molly will both be back in school, but they may not talk to anyone there about their experience. Jake might be told off for disrupting a lesson; Molly’s teacher may notice she is quiet and withdrawn. Or they may behave in different ways: the impact of visiting a parent in custody is difficult to predict.

Around 10,000 children like Jake and Molly visit public prisons in England and Wales every week, and thinktank Crest Advisory estimates that over 300,000 children in England and Wales are affected by parental imprisonment each year. These figures are only estimates, as no statutory agency systematically collects this data. However, it is likely that, during their careers, most teachers will encounter several children with a parent in prison.

Parents in prison

As a secondary school teacher, I wanted to gain an understanding of children’s experiences visiting a parent in prison, and to be better informed about the support that is available for these children and their families. These pupils clearly need help and we need to be better at providing it in schools.

So I attended training days for professionals working with offenders’ children, and I visited 10 different prisons across England and Wales. I was also given the opportunity to spend time in prison visitor centres run by the charities Spurgeons, Nepacs and Barnardo’s, and was able to shadow staff from each of these charities as they worked with offenders and their families.

It was an educational experience. I saw how prisoners’ children benefited from the provision of play areas in the prison visitor centres and I observed the support given by play workers during visits in halls inside the prisons. I also accompanied some children into the prisons on different types of visit, including standard 90-minute visits, child-centred extended “family days” and evening “homework clubs”.

I became much better informed about the negative consequences of parental imprisonment. The imprisonment of a parent during childhood is recognised as one of the top 10 adverse childhood experiences.

Research shows that the children of prisoners are three times more likely to go on to offend themselves, and that they are particularly at risk of mental health problems. These children are also highly likely to experience changes in family finances and living situation. According to Crest, 95 per cent of children have to leave the family home as a result of maternal imprisonment.

Depending on the nature of the crime and its media coverage, a child in this situation may also experience stigmatisation or bullying at school. Other likely consequences related to school include truancy, difficulties with concentration and a deterioration in behaviour. All these outcomes are linked to lower grades, which in turn have an adverse effect on the child’s future.

This is not to say that the imprisonment of a parent is always negative: in some cases, the child’s home life may improve or become more stable. Also, the child’s age and sex will have a bearing on how they react, and there are particular difficulties for children with a parent who is in and out of custody frequently, or who is a long-term prisoner or convicted sex offender.

Children may also find it more difficult if the parent is held far away, or is serving an indeterminate sentence. For example, if the parent has no release date, the child may additionally feel a sense of injustice, hopelessness and ongoing uncertainty.

To complicate the matter further, some children are unaware of their own situation: they may, for example, be told by other family members that they are visiting their parent’s workplace when they are taken to visit them in prison.

What is clear to me from this research is that, all too often, schools remain unaware of these children. In September 2018, the statutory safeguarding guidance for teachers was updated to recognise that children with family members in prison are a specific group at risk of poor outcomes. Despite this, in-school support still varies considerably.

Some schools have clear procedures in place to identify and support children who have a parent or significant other in prison, and have staff trained specifically to champion these children. However, many schools do not yet have strategies to support such children, and have no teachers with relevant training.

Based on my experience, I would suggest the following for schools to better support this group of pupils.

1. Developing a policy for supporting children with a parent or significant other in prison

This policy should ensure that the school is supportive of prison visits and categorises them as authorised absences. It should emphasise that support would be offered confidentially, and should promote a climate of trust in which children and families are encouraged to talk to schools about their needs surrounding having a relative in custody. Further, the policy should ensure that information about the justice system is delivered sensitively in a programme of school assemblies or PSHE lessons, to reduce the secondary stigma and shame by association that may be experienced by families of offenders.

2. Raising awareness among staff

Training for staff should include information about the likely impact on a child when a family member is at different points in the justice system, including pre-arrest, arrest, court, sentencing, imprisonment, release and resettlement. It should also look at the support for these children that is available in school, and the process that children go through when they visit a prison - and how it may affect their subsequent behaviour.

3. Identifying a key person within the school

This person could offer mentoring for a child before and after a prison visit, and could support letter writing and sending schoolwork to the family member in prison. They should be able to advise families on the possible opportunities to maintain contact that are available to them at the prison, as well as the support and provision available online, and outside the prison. For example, the charities Nepacs and Pact both provide specialised one-to-one support from youth workers; Nepacs also runs trips and residential breaks for young people who are affected by parental imprisonment.

4. Working with other agencies

Many of the organisations that are working with offenders’ families provide resources specifically for schools to help prepare children for visits and deal with issues surrounding parental imprisonment. Some, including Spurgeons and Barnardo’s, also deliver “hidden sentence” training for teaching professionals to better understand the experiences of children with parents or significant others going through the criminal justice system. The National Information Centre on Children of Offenders (NICCO) offers an information service for all professionals who come into contact with the children and families of offenders. Barnardo’s has also supplied checklists for good practice in schools: these resources are available on the NICCO website.

Helen Hazell is head of psychology at Talbot Heath School. Research for this article was enabled by a grant for teachers from The Goldsmiths’ Company. The author is also extremely grateful to the staff at Spurgeons, Nepacs and Barnardo’s for their advice and support

This article originally appeared in the 27 March 2020 issue under the headline “How to support pupils who have relatives in prison”