Oakwood Family Support

An initial telephone conversation highlighted the need for better communication between prison staff and external organisations that have contact with prisoner’s families, such as Education, Healthcare and Employment etc.

The prisoner (male aged 31 years) has a son (aged 8 years) who was experiencing several issues coping with the loss of his father into a custodial environment. The son was showing separation anxiety, aggression and night terrors. The mother (Aged 36 years) was struggling to know where to turn and what to say to her son. After conversations between the Head Teacher and the mother, it was decided that they needed to link into the prison.

After a telephone conversation, it was agreed and arranged that regular meetings with the complete family, internal, and external support agencies who will work with the family and prisoner to maintain family ties and improve the child’s wellbeing. The meetings took place in a private room and it was an open forum to discuss both positive and negative issues faced that month. One of the important issues that came to light was the child believed that unless he behaved his father could not come home. This stemmed from a comment father had made to promote his child to improve his behaviour.