"The guilt about damage done to my kids is overwhelming": Impact of mums going to prison revealed in shock report
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A shocking 95% of children are forced to leave home when their mums goes to jail leading to financial hardship and shame, a new report reveals.
Around 17,000 children in the UK see their mother – who in the majority of cases is the primary carer – go to prison each year, often for non-violent crimes.
Last year, 83% of women who went to prison had committed a non-violent crime and 62% were serving a sentence of six months or less.
Only one in 20 children whose mothers are sent to prison each year are able to stay in the family home.
(Image: ITV)
Many kids are passed from carer to carer throughout their mum’s sentence, leading to significant disruption at school and the painful separation from siblings.
It can often lead to long-term physical and mental health problems in children of offenders, the report concludes.
The new report by the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) reveals the extent of social isolation and discrimination offenders’ kids feel.
It found that the criminal justice system is blind to children’s needs, with the Government failing to have a dedicated support group for them.
It is now calling for child impact assessments to be carried out as soon as a parent is arrested and better investment in women’s community services, including women’s centres.
The Loose Women panel are set to debate whether mothers who commit non-violent crime should avoid prison sentences in a ‘Mums in Prison’ special of today’s show.
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
Panellist Janet Street Porter supports the report’s recommendations, saying: “It is not being soft on crime to try and find a constructive way to break the cycle of reoffending, which is rooted in social and emotional deprivation. Nothing is achieved by locking up women for minor offences and children will be stigmatised through no fault of their own.
“The cycle needs to be broken. It isn’t cost effective and I can’t believe that a female drug carrier or a shoplifter, who is probably the victim of abuse herself, will learn anything from prison other than the chance to meet others in the same boat.”
The new report comes after it was announced last week that the Government will introduce a new female offender strategy to “break the cycle” of women’s crime and prevent the long-term damage of short prison sentences.
Paula Harriott, 57, spent four years in jail for supplying drugs when her five children were all under the age of 18.
Paula, who will appear on today’s show, struggled to re-establish a relationship with her kids when she was released.
Now working as the PRT’s head of prisoner engagement, Paula says: “The guilt I feel about the damage done to my kids being separated from me is overwhelming. My kids lives have been tainted by my crime, and they have had to cope with the shame and stigma alone.
“My message is that the state needs to be kinder to prisoners’ children. They are the innocent victims of my mistakes.”
Jenny Earle, PRT’s director of transforming lives programme to reduce women’s imprisonment, adds: “Children should be at the centre of decision-making, not an after-thought.”
• Loose Women, ITV, on weekdays at 12.30pm.