Supporting Offenders and their Families

The Thames Valley Partnership has had a long-standing interest in supporting practitioners who work with the children and families of offenders and prisoners.  By encouraging multi-agency working  and bringing  Criminal Justice agencies ‘into the loop’ with family support services through training, networking and providing resources the Family Matters programmed  developed a model which enables this vulnerable group of families to be supported in a more integrated manner.

In 2011, new three year funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation enabled the Partnership to expand this crucial  work under a new programme – Family Approaches.  The aims of the work  remain the same however:  to support the resettlement of  offenders and break the cycle of offending within families through:

• Improving access to support and provision of information for the families and children of offenders and prisoners
• Integrating the work of the criminal justice agencies and family and children’s services in support of these vulnerable families
• Strengthening family ties of prisoners to aid their re-integration into their family and community where appropriate

The Partnership continues to support and nurture new  networks, deliver practitioner training, influence strategic thinking and raise awareness around this theme.  However the Family Approaches programme will develop this further with the introduction of  volunteer manned support desks and training for sentencers and court staff around the issues faced by families.

 For further information on the work of Family Approaches  and how your local area can make a difference in supporting the needs of the families of offenders please contact Saj on 01844 202001 or alternatively email: saj@thamesvalleypartnership.org.uk