All research and evidence on NICCO is reviewed using a Quality Assessment Tool (QAT) developed by the University of Huddersfield and Barnardo's.
Research and evidence is assessed in four key areas: Methodological Quality, Child-Centredness, Relevance to Policy and Strategy, and Relevance to Practice with offender's children. This ensures that items on the NICCO website are as useful as possible to academics, practitioners, commissioners and other professionals. For more information about the development of the QAT or to review research in order to list it on NICCO, please see the QAT webpage where you can download the Tool, Guidebook and a short step-by-step 'How To' document. Please contact us to submit quality assessed research on to NICCO.
Click on the icons to see a full list of items which have been awarded a standard icon or icon+ (for items which have scored particularly highly) in each key area:
Results 31 - 36 of 38
This report details recommended changes to improve the experience for children visiting prisons.
Based on interviews with mothers and children who visit male prisons, the recommendations are intended to make prison visits as positive as possible for the children and young people involved. Examples of best practice are included throughout the report, as well as a focus on highlighting the concerns of the affected children and families. The report is largely organised according to the six recommendations detailed below:
1. All prisons should view visits as a family intervention, under the remit of reducing reoffending, rather than a security risk.
2. Searches of children and babies should be made more child-friendly and proportionate to the security risks posed.
3. Children's visits to male prisons should be separate from the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme, as they are for women's prisons.
4. The National Offender Management Service should simplify the form and process for applying to the Assisted Prison Visits scheme.
5. Play facilities and visitor services within prisons should reach a consistent national standard, and the National Offender Management Service should issue guidance for governors, informed by advice from Ofsted.
6. Children should be permitted to bring homework and school reading books into and out of prisons.
Please see Barnardo's Locked Out below:
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This Prison Reform Trust discussion paper considers the sentencing of women with children and provides a number of proposals intended to ensure children are taken into account when it comes to sentencing decisions for mothers.
It begins with a summary of these proposals, then gives a contextual overview of the sentencing of women, looks at mothers and their children affected by the criminal justice system, existing guidance in England and Wales with an account of inconsistent practice, before finally outlining the proposals in greater detail. The paper considers research on mothers' imprisonment, relevant sentencing law, perspectives of imprisoned mothers, consultations with various organisations, and identifies good practice in the UK and internationally in order to inform the discussion. It also includes in Appendix 1 a summary of the Court of Appeal decision in R v Petherick where a defendant's sentence was reduced due to the effect parental imprisonment would have on the defendant's child.
Read more about the Sentencing of Mothers below:
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This book is informed by practitioner perspectives and incorporates the voices of mothers and grandmothers involved in the criminal justice system (CJS). It aims to raise awareness amongst professionals about the complexities of working with vulnerable mothers.
This understanding and support of mothers impacts on their relationships with their children. in this way this book may help to facilitate positive outcomes for mothers and their children. Each chapter explores the position of women in wider society in relation to their treatment in the CJS. Chapters include those about the sociology of motherhood, working with women with mental health problems, social work with mothers involved in the CJS, police involvement, mothers in courts, mothering from prison, mothers and babies in prison, pregnancy in prison, and working with substance misusing mothers.
This book is available to purchase via the link below:
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This second edition of the European Journal of Parental Imprisonment considers the use of child impact assessments in sentencing decisions.
A number of the articles included focus on the national context in particular countries, such as South Africa, Sweden, and Scotland. Other pieces consider general topics, such as the impact of short sentences and the well-being of children prior to parental imprisonment. Articles include: - Assessing the impact on a child when their parent is imprisoned: some ethical questions, by Kate Philbrick - Principles for considering defendants' children at sentencing, by the Honourable Eleanor L. Bush - Child impact statements and the Irish probation Service [interview], by Vivian Geiran - Whose rights? What impact? The potential for the development of child impact statements in the Irish criminal justice system, by Fiona Donson - Developments in South African law regarding the sentencing of primary caregivers, by Ann Skelton & Lynne Mansfield-Barry - Child and family impact assessments: key achievements in Scotland, by Tania Loureiro & Nancy Loucks - Short but not sweet: exploring the impact of short sentences on mothers, by Lucy Baldwin and Rona Epstein - Swedish children's rights lacking when sentencing their parents, by Johanna Schiratzki - Children's well-being prior to paternal incarceration, by Joni Reef, Anja Dirkzwager, and Paul Nieuwbeerta
You can download this edition below:
This is the latest independent evaluation of Pact's Family Engagement Service (FES), a specialist casework service operating in 30 prisons across England and Wales which aims to build and maintain contact between prisoners and their family members in order to 'achieve the very best outcomes for offenders and their families, to reduce re-offending and to safeguard and improve the life chances of offenders' children'.
Commissioned by Pact and funded by NOMS and Amey, the team of reviewers from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology considered three primary research questions: 1. What are the key processes of the FES practice model? 2. How are these linked to positive outcomes in the areas of family contact, positive intention about desistance and well-being in prison? 3. Is there any evidence to suggest that different approaches are needed to family engagement work for women and men in prison? The report is based on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with prisoners, staff and family members connected to two prisons. The reviewers also considered exisiting quantitative data from the FES case management database. Findings of particular interest to i-HOP members include: - The FES deals with complex family contact issues, often involving child protection concerns. - Much of the work of the FES is around encouraging and enabling prisoners with children to maintain their parenting role from prison. - The process of family engagement work in the male and female estate is similar, but work with women has a more significant focus on children and liaison with children's services. The review's recommendations support the view that contact with imprisoned parents should be viewed as a child's entitlement and not connected to prison incentives and privileges. The importance of campaigning for child-friendly visits is emphasised. It also recommends that parenting courses be more widely available in the female estate and not solely the male estate. Pact's work delivering such parenting programmes, as well as family literacy courses, is discussed. There are case studies throughout with examples of good practice with offenders and their children. While this report is full of information relevant to practice with offenders' children, it has been awarded an icon for relevance to policy because the recommendations are particularly focussed on the delivery and improvement of family engagement services, including training and support for staff, integration within prison systems, delivery of parenting programmes etc. The report may be useful to those undertaking service planning and development, as well as anyone interested in family engagement work in prisons and how such work might contribute to desistance from crime and improvement of children's wellbeing.
Read the latest evaluation of Pact's Family Engagement Service below:
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You will need a subscription to Probation Journal to access this article in full.
This article is focused on the Irish criminal justice system but the analysis and conclusions are relevant to a wider context. Taking a children's rights perspective throughout, the researchers explore case law from South Africa and England and Wales which demonstrates how courts have taken the impact on children into account when sentencing offenders with parenting responsibilities. It looks at how child impact statements could be incorporated into the Irish sentencing process and explores the barriers to this being done through exisiting pre-sanction reports completed by Probation. The article concludes that Probation services, with their offender-focused practice, are not the best party to gather child impact information for courts, however the preference for an independent advocate role to do so is also problematic in the current Irish context.
Read more about introducing child impact statements into the Irish sentencing process below:
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