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Integrated Family Support

NEPACS is working in partnership with pact 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 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.

North East Advocates are:

  • Mary Evans (covering Durham, Gateshead and Newcastle) - tel: 07854 594110.  mevans@nepacs.co.uk
  • Tina Juko (covering the 5 authorities in Teesside) - tel:  07854 594012. tjuko@nepacs.co.uk

 Hidden Sentence Training

This is a one day course designed by Action for Prisoners' Families (APF) which is aimed at all staff who may come into contact with families who have a member in prison.  NEPACS Integrated Family Support Advocates are able to offer this training to partners in the region.  For more information on Hidden Sentence training, please contact NEPACS on 0191 375 7278.

Learning outcomes:

  • Be aware of the context of the current Criminal Justice System and the offender's journey
  • Consider the vulnerability factors for families with a member in prison
  • Understand the impact of imprisonment on all family members
  • Recognise specific issues for children with a family member in prison which may present barriers to them achieving the five Every Child Matters outcomes
  • Identify the support needs of the family and how these can be met by statutory/voluntary provision and resources
  • Understand the links to the Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
  • Reflect on how the insight gained will affect your practice