When her mum was sent to prison, there was no consideration of Yasmin’s (not her real name*) or her 5 siblings’ welfare. No one asked how witnessing the arrest had impacted them (as it is for many children, it was deeply traumatic, and years later Yasmin still tenses up even seeing a police car in the distance). No one mentioned, or requested information about, the children in any court proceedings. Most concerningly of all, no one asked who would be looking after the children following their mother’s sentence, despite the fact she was their sole carer. In all the years I have been working with, and advocating for, children affected by imprisonment, Yasmin’s story is one of the most harrowing: the children (Yasmin’s elder sister was only 14 at the time) were left to cope alone for weeks. It was only when the baby became gravely ill due to dehydration and malnutrition that the authorities were alerted.

Yasmin’s story lays bare the lack of consideration of, and coordinated care for, children with a primary carer in the criminal justice system. The imprisonment of a parent can be devastating for children, affecting every aspect of life, and generating a wide range of emotions, including grief, trauma, and shame. As I wrote in a report for the Prison Reform Trust, this is often all the more the case when it’s a child’s main carer. Despite this, children are rarely considered in criminal justice proceedings, and calls for action over the years have remained unheeded. In her 2007 report, Baroness Corston recommended that primary carers of young children should only be remanded in custody after fully taking into account the impact on the children. 12 years later, the Joint Committee on Human Rights 2019 enquiry into ‘The right to family life: children whose mothers are in prison’ recommended that a primary carer must not be sentenced without sufficient information to enable them to assess the impact of the sentence on the child. It also recommended that, under the Human Rights Act, the judge must make every effort to understand the potential impact of a custodial sentence on children.

Co-creation

It is in this context, and underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that I have co-created, with Yasmin and other children with lived experience, a Child Impact Assessment for children with a primary carer (normally a mother) in the criminal justice system. The assessment aims to ensure children are listened to at every stage of their mother’s journey (arrest, court, imprisonment or community sentence, and release) and that they are meaningfully involved in decision-making about their care and any support needs they may have. The accompanying notes to the assessment provide background information to those working with children and offer suggestions of support. Importantly, not all of the suggested support costs money or involves formal referrals to specialist organisations. Many of the children who contributed to the creation of the assessment said that they just wanted to be listened to by a trusted adult and to have their story heard.