We give a collective voice to organisations that support the families of people in the criminal justice system and help to strengthen the evidence base for investing in good quality family support. We aim to showcase good and innovative practice, both in prisons and the community, and improve awareness and knowledge of the needs of families for organisations outside the criminal justice system. We facilitate a network for voluntary organisations that support families delivering services in prisons and the community, to enable an ongoing dialogue and information exchange between voluntary organisations and HMPPS.

Family and Significant Other Contracts

In 2022 HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) commissioned the Prisoner, Family and Significant Other Services (FASO) contracts for the next 5 years. Whilst the specific provision will vary prison-by-prison, delivery includes; visit meet and greet, visit room refreshments, visit play, family engagement and advice, visit enrichment activity, support for secure video calls, and services for prisoners without family or significant other contacts. Clinks played a significant role making sure that voluntary sector organisations were engaged in, and able to provide feedback to support on, the development of the commissioning process and the specification.

We produced a feedback paper that we submitted to the MoJ and HMPPS. We were pleased that a lot of our feedback was taken on board and the majority of the services to support contact with families is provided by voluntary sector organisations that have long-standing expertise in providing vital support to people in prison and their families. However, the voluntary sector’s role was reduced, and a number of smaller organisations are no longer be providing these services. We continue to work with the voluntary sector, MoJ and HMPPS to understand the challenges, highlight concerns and develop solutions.

The Farmer Reviews

In 2016, Lord Michael Farmer, in partnership with Clinks, was commissioned to chair an independent review into how supporting men in prison in England and Wales to engage with their families can reduce reoffending and address intergenerational crime. Clinks gathered the views of over 1,000 men in prison, their families, voluntary organisations across England and Wales, prison staff and academics. 

The review process included visiting prisons, meeting with men and their families and issuing a public call for evidence from people and organisations through National Prison Radio and other outlets. It also brought together experts from the prison service, probation service and voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system for a series of roundtable discussions with members of the task group assisting Lord Farmer. 

The findings and recommendations of the Farmer Review (published in August 2017) emphasised the fundamental importance of family relationships. Lord Farmer said that each prison must include a local family offer to ensure effective family work is delivered inside prisons. He also stated that the Ministry of Justice should ensure the importance of family ties as a golden thread running through the new policy frameworks. The Farmer Review concluded that quality family services will help people turn away from crime and will support families to cope. Read our briefing for members on the final report. 

In 2018, Lord Farmer reviewed the recommendations of his review through the lens of the needs of women in contact with the criminal justice system. The review looked more widely at how to strengthen family ties for women serving sentences in the community and in custody, as well as under probation supervision after release.  

Clinks was a member of the review’s expert panel and led the call for evidence. We heard from approximately 10% of the female prison population along with their families, the voluntary organisations that support them and academics. We are delighted that the voice of these experts has been able to help shape the focus and recommendations of the review and we are grateful to our members for facilitating this engagement. The report was published in June 2019 and made a total of 33 recommendations. You can access it here. 

10 Prisons Project family engagement programme

In 2018, the prisons minister launched the 10 Prisons ProjectClinks was commissioned by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to deliver a family engagement programme with the support of on-site Family Engagement workers from voluntary agencies Pact, Lincolnshire Action Trust and Jigsaw.  

The project aimed to support prisons to ensure that the role of ‘families and significant others’ was integrated into decision making and development processes, in order to stabilise the population and support implementation of the wider 10 Prison Project. 

We published four Think Family briefings which provide insight into current family practice within the prison estate as well as guidance about how to develop a Think Family approach. 

The briefings are accompanied by a series of Think Family resources which can be downloaded, adapted and used to support the development of Think Family working.