New recommendations for mothers in prison welcomed by Commonweal
The Joint Select Committee on Human Rights has published its report The Right to Family Life: children whose mothers are in prison.
The report calls for urgent reforms to data collection, support for children, and pregnancy and maternity for mothers.
Responding to the report, Ashley Horsey, Chief Executive of Commonweal Housing said:
“We welcome this report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which calls for urgent action to address the needs of mothers in prison and their children.
“Commonweal has 10 years of engagement with organisations working with women in the criminal justice system. Our Re-Unite project, which ran from 2007 – 2017, addressed the housing needs of mothers exiting prison, enabling them to be reunited with their children.
“This work has taught us that the justice system fails to recognise the extent to which it harms families. Public money is wasted where other, better, alternatives to imprisonment exist.
“We need to see urgent action to minimise the negative impacts of maternal imprisonment, and reduce the number of mothers sent to prison in the first place.”