Sure Start children's centre staff member
I work in a Sure Start children's centre. Children's centres are where children under five years old and their families can receive integrated services and information, and where they can access help from multi-disciplinary teams of professionals. Most communities have a centre, but not all of them yet.
We are at the heart of the government's strategy to deliver better outcomes for children and families.
Families visit us every day, and some of them have a relative in prison.
We run some parenting programmes and offer advice but find we don't always have the information we need about prisons or how to visit them with children. We have good contacts with other professionals but a clearer system would help us to provide better information and services. It would be great to get a dedicated worker to help maintain family ties and develop our relationship with the prisons.
Families of prisoners experience a great deal of uncertainty. Children's centres can provide child care when parents are required to be in court, and can help families with making arrangements in preparation for a parent serving a sentence. Children's centres seek to work alongside the courts, probation service and social services to support children at this time. We help families when they're booking visits, and saving up for and arranging transport, especially where distance is a problem, and work with children and other family members before and after visits. After arrest, during imprisonment and after release, there are a number of ways Children's centres can work to build children's self-esteem. We encourage open discussion of feelings, try to reduce anxiety about life in prison and facilitate involvement in social activities to help combat isolation and stigma for these children.