Children on the Edge - Children affected by maternal imprisonment

This document was written by Women’s Breakout - the national infrastructure body for women’s organisations in criminal justice which merged with Clinks in 2017.

This review identifies key issues and concerns in order to: develop an understanding of the impact of maternal imprisonment on children’s emotional and physical wellbeing; examine the critical gaps in services impacting on children during the arrest, sentencing, imprisonment and release phases of the mother’s journey within the criminal justice system and highlight areas of good practice. It includes a literature review and is supported by interviews with a small cohort of children affected by maternal imprisonment.