Jailed mothers ‘should be able to live with children in prison’
JAILED mothers and their children should be able to live together in mini-prisons in the community to break the cycle of offending, a Government-commissioned report has concluded.
The mini-jails would enable mothers to stay with their children rather than having them taken into care, preventing the youngsters turning to crime and reducing reoffending by women. Two-thirds of children of jailed parents go on to offend, the report by Lord Farmer, a multimillionaire businessman and Tory donor, said. One prison governor said he was working with his “third generation of offenders”.
The report, for the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), said more than half (54 per cent) of the 4,000 women in jail have children under the age of 18. However, female inmates who maintain links with their families via prison visits are
39 per cent less likely to reoffend. “Models of custodial centres in the community should be considered as part of the Moj’s longer-term strategy for women whose crime is serious enough to merit a custodial sentence, but who are at low enough risk to retain care of their children,” the report said. The scheme would likely target women jailed for less serious offences, with sentences of less than two years.
Lord Farmer said Britain had “much to learn from international good practice”, notably in Germany, which has introduced “halfway houses” to enable its rising number of female criminals to live with their children in prison.
Children up to three years old can stay with mothers in closed prisons and up to six in open conditions.
The women are under curfew in “halfway houses”, but during the day have training, education and support while their children attend nursery or school. “These do not resemble prisons: there are no bars on the windows and they are designed to be as open as possible,” said the report. “Many children are unaware they are in a prison. Prison staff do not wear uniform as they want the environment to be as normal and unthreatening as possible.”
It cited a German scheme where imprisoned mothers get 21 days’ leave a year to maintain contact with their children. They leave their jail at 5am to go home every weekday morning to prepare their children for school, cook and clean before leaving them at night in the care of a responsible adult.
It calls for phones in all women’s cells along with email access so they can stay in contact with their families.
Edward Argar, the justice minister, said Lord Farmer’s findings “lay bare the connection between maintaining strong family relationships and reducing female offending”. He added: “We will now take forward his recommendations to strengthen vital ties and break the cycle of reoffending.”