Glossary

A - J

Action for Prisoners' Families (APF)

This is a campaigning organisation that works to raise the profile of children and families of prisoners. It produces a wide range of publications, for training, awareness-raising and talking to children and families. It has developed a National Directory, which has up to date information about services across the UK. It includes details of prisons, visitors' centres and other services such as those offering support for substance misuse.
Website: www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk

APF national directory of services

This contains details of a range of services to help families. It can be searched using simple search terms.

Assisted Prison Visits Unit/Scheme

People aged 18 or over and on a qualifying income may be able to get help with the cost of travel when visiting a close relative or partner through the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme.

A close relative means a wife, husband, civil partner, daughter, son, parent, grandparent, sister, brother or a step or adoptive parent/child/brother/sister. A partner means someone who lived with the prisoner, as a couple, immediately before they were sent to prison. A sole visitor is the prisoner's only regular visitor.
See: www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/adviceandsupport/keepingintouch/assistscheme

Behavioural support worker

Behavioural support workers support children of school age who are having all sorts of problems at school. This includes children of prisoners.

Barnardo's

As one of the UK's leading children's charities, Barnardo's works directly with over 115,000 children, young people and their families every year. It runs 394 vital projects across the UK, including counselling for children who have been abused, fostering and adoption services, vocational training and disability inclusion groups.
Website: www.barnardos.org.uk

Child Protection Register

Every local authority has a duty to protect children from significant harm. The child protection register is a confidential list of names of children within Kirklees who are believed to be at risk of significant harm. This may be physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. The register is maintained within the social services department. Every local authority is required to hold a child protection register. If a registered child moves out of one area, information is passed on to the new local authority area.

Children Act, 2004

The Children Act, 2004 legislates the proposals set out in Every Child Matters, creating clear accountability for children's services, to enable better joint working and to secure a better focus on safeguarding children. The Act provides for the establishment of a Children's Commissioner and supports better integrated planning, commissioning and delivery of children's services. The Act places a duty on local authorities to make arrangements through which key agencies cooperate to improve the well-being of children and young people and widen services' powers to pool budgets in support of this.
See: www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2004/en/ukpgaen_20040031_en_1

Children's Centre

A Children's Centre brings together all services for children and young people in an area, underpinned by the Children Act, 2004 duty to cooperate, to focus on improving outcomes for all children and young people. It will support those who work every day with children, young people and their families to deliver better outcomes - with children and young people experiencing more integrated and responsive services, and specialist support embedded in and accessed through universal services.
See: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/aims/childrenstrusts

Children and Families Pathway

Children and Families Pathway is pathway 9 of the National Re-offending Delivery Plan. It acknowledges the importance of maintaining family ties to help prevent re-offending, and aims to develop a strategic response to:
encourage the inclusion of life skills, including parenting and relationship skills, within mainstream support for offenders
develop better material and advice and guidance for children and families
ensure that the interests of children and families are considered with the implementation of Every Child Matters.
See: www.noms.justice.gov.uk/news-publications-events/publications/strategy/ reducing-reoffend-delivery-plan/reducing-reoffending-delivery?view=Binary

Children in need

Under Section 17 (10) of the Children Act, 1989 a child is a child in need if:
He/she is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him/her of services by a local authority
His/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him/her of such services.
He/she is disabled.

Children's Trusts

Children's Trusts bring together all services for children and young people in an area, underpinned by the Children Act, 2004 duty to cooperate, to focus on improving outcomes for all children and young people. They will support those who work every day with children, young people and their families to deliver better outcomes - with children and young people experiencing more integrated and responsive services, and specialist support embedded in and accessed through universal services.
See: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/aims/childrenstrusts

Common Assessment Framework

Common Assessment Framework is a standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child's additional needs and deciding how those needs should be met. It can be used by practitioners across children's services in England.

Community sentences

Offenders may be sentenced by a court to a Community Order/sentence with one or more requirements such as unpaid work or attendance at an anger management group, etc.

Criminal Justice System

The Criminal Justice System encompasses stages and agencies such as the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts and the National Offender Management Service who work together to deliver criminal justice.

Department for Children, Families and Schools

This is led by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and leads work across government to improve the five Every Child Matters outcomes for children, including work on children's health and child poverty.
See: www.dfes.gov.uk

Every Child Matters: Change for Children

This is a new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19. The government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:
be healthy
stay safe
enjoy and achieve
make a positive contribution
achieve economic well-being

Every Child Matters: outcomes

1. be healthy
2. stay safe
3. enjoy and achieve
4. make a positive contribution
5. achieve economic well-being.

Families Outside

Families Outside is a Scottish charity which helps hundreds of families each year through research, training and the Scottish Prisoner's Family Helpline (see resources).
See: www.familiesoutside.org.uk

Family Contact and Development Officers

Prison officers in the Scottish Prison Service with specific training and responsibility for helping to maintain family ties.

Family Link Workers

Based in Northern Ireland, they offer support and advice to families of prisoners within 24 hours of sentencing.

Female Prison Estate

There are 17 women's prisons in England. These are categorised as closed, open or semi-open. Female young offenders are held in dedicated young offender units, and there are currently five purpose-built female juvenile units. There are seven mother and baby units and one prison serves as an intermediate custody centre.

Gloucestershire Parent in Prison policy

More information can be obtained at: www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3801

Guidance for staff in Children's Centres

See: http://www.surestart.gov.uk/publications/?Document=1854 (chapter 19)

HM Inspectorate of Prisons

An independent inspectorate which reports on conditions for and treatment of those in prison, young offender institutions and immigration removal centres.

Human Rights Act, 1998

This contains a section on the rights of children and young people, which provides for children's views to be heard and to be given due weight by courts and other bodies responsible for deciding on matters such as residence and contact between children and non-resident parents.
See: www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980042_en_1

K - N

Kids VIP

Kids VIP provides training across the prison estate to prison staff about making prison visits as child-friendly as possible. It has also produced useful and practical training materials (see resources).

Licence

Offenders sentenced to 12 months or more are released from prison on licence. There are certain conditions that must be abided by as part of their licence, otherwise they may be recalled to prison. They are supervised by the National Probation Service.

Local Safeguarding Children's Boards (LSCB)

Local Safeguarding Children's Boards are designed to ensure children are safeguarded properly by key agencies working effectively together. They replace the former Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs). The core membership is set out in the Children Act, 2004, and includes local authorities, health bodies, the police and others. The objective is to coordinate and to ensure the effectiveness of their member agencies in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
See: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/lscb/

Longitudinal study

A longitudinal study is research that involves repeated studies/observations of the same items over long periods of time, often many decades. Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology to study developmental trends across a person's life span. The reason for this is that unlike cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies track the same people, and therefore the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations. Longitudinal studies are also used in medicine to uncover predictors of certain diseases.

Looked after children

Children who are in the care of local authorities are described as 'looked after children'. They are one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)

MAPPA supports the assessment and management of the most serious sexual and violent offenders. Its aim is to ensure that a risk management plan drawn up for the most serious offenders benefits from the information, skills and resources provided by the individual agencies being coordinated through MAPPA.

Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice is led by the Secretary of State for Justice, and is the government department responsible for both the prison and probation services.
See: www.justice.gov.uk

National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

NOMS is responsible for the management of offenders in the community and prison. NOMS is the system through which correctional services and interventions are commissioned in order to protect the public and reduce re-offending.
See: www.noms.homeoffice.gov.uk

National Helplines

There is a National Helpline for England and Wales run by APF, Ormiston and POPS for families of prisoners. It is also a valuable source of information for professionals and provides up-to-date information and guidance about prisons in England and Wales. It can link you with different services and local support groups in your area. The number is free phone 0800 808 2003.
See: www.prisonersfamilieshelpline.org.uk.
There is also a helpline for families in Scotland run by Families Outside (and for professionals). The Scottish Prisoners Families Helpline number is 0500 839 383. There are also Helplines in Scotland run by Families Outside http://www.familiesoutside.org.uk/helpline.asp and in Northern Ireland by Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders www.niacro.co.uk.

National Probation Service

The National Probation Service is a law enforcement agency which supervises offenders in the community - those subject to a court order and those released on licence from prison.

National Reducing Re-offending Delivery Plan

This sets out the government's plans to reduce re-offending. It is based on the factors identified in the Social Exclusion Unit's report Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners. It identifies several pathways as part of the delivery, including Children and Families.
See: http://noms.justice.gov.uk.

Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO)

This is run by the Family Links programme to help people cope with having a family member in prison. Offered to families of all prisoners in Northern Ireland, it ensures that all families are offered independent advice and support within 24 hours of a person entering prison by telephone and a follow-up information pack in the post.
Website: www.niacro.co.uk

O - T

Ormiston

Ormiston works across the majority of the prisons in the Eastern region. It staffs the visitors centres, runs accredited parenting programmes and special visits in the prisons, works with children in the community and produces resources and information for families and those who work with them. It offers a range of training and awareness-raising, including a programme for foster carers, social work students and schools. Ormiston is also part of the consortium that operates the National Prisoners' Families Helpline.
Website: www.ormiston.org

Parental imprisonment

For the purposes of these training materials, this is defined as a parent, carer or significant other.

Parenting programmes

These are run both in prisons and in the community at Sure Start children's centres. They include teaching parents basic and more advanced parenting skills such as child development.

Pre-sentence report

A report written by a probation officer for the court to assist in the sentencing of offenders. It can be verbal or written.

Prolific and Priority Offender Programme (PPO)

This aims to prevent prolific offenders from reoffending by monitoring, training, accommodation and drug treatment over a period of two years. Those who re-offend face a fast track back to the courts.

Questionnaire

SCIE sent out a questionnaire to all Local Safeguarding Children's Boards to see what provision was being made for children of prisoners across England.

Social Exclusion Taskforce

This taskforce is based in the Cabinet Office and aims to coordinate the government's drive against social exclusion, ensuring that the cross-departmental approach delivers for those most in need. It recently produced Reaching Out: Think Family as part of its Families at Risk review, in which it highlights children of offenders as a vulnerable group.
See: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force.aspx

Statutory children's services

This includes Children's Trusts and educational establishments.

Storybook Dads/Mums

This is an independent, registered charity. It is based at Dartmoor Prison and has been steadily expanding across the prison estate. It uses digital technology to enable mothers and fathers to record stories for their children to listen to at home, with the aim of maintaining family ties and facilitating learning for prisoners and their children through the provision of story CDs.
Website: http://www.storybookdads.co.uk/indexnext.htm

Thames Valley Partnership (TVP)

The Thames Valley Partnership runs the Family Matters Programme‚ which works towards improving and integrating support to the children and families of prisoners and offenders. It delivers training in prisons and communities in the region and is setting up Family Matters Community Networks, which are local and multi-disciplinary. TVP is child-focused and enable sharing of information and case planning about particular families affected by imprisonment. TVP has developed leaflets and pulled together much of the training material and resources into one pack. This is available from TVP for 40 pounds.
Website: www.thamesvalleypartnership.org

U - Z

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

This is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because under-18s often need special care and protection that adults do not.
See: www.unicef.org/crc/

Visitors' centre

This is where prisoners' families and friends come when visiting the prison. They are often situated just outside the main gate and many are now run by the voluntary sector. They provide opportunities for seeking advice and support.

Vulnerable children

Defined by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as looked after children: children who are unable to attend school because of medical needs; gypsy/traveller children; asylum seekers; young carers; school refusers and teenage parents.
See: www.dcsf.gov.uk/exclusions/vulnerable_children/vulnerable_children.cfm

Young Offenders Institute

This is the equivalent of a prison for those aged between 18 and 20.

Youth Offending Team

Responsible for supervising and supporting ten to 17-year-olds involved in criminal activity.