Little Cherubs may be a commonplace nursery name, but in one case the nursery itself is very different - it is located inside HMP Cornton Vale, Scotland's only all-female prison.
The nursery was set up to ease contact between prisoners and their children and grandchildren, the prison governor, Sue Brookes, explains. 'Little Cherubs offers games, soft toys, arts and crafts materials, books, a TV and a computer and, in the garden area, a swing, slide and play house. But only one family at a time uses these facilities, as part of regular visits to maintain and build on the parent-child bond.'
Around 30 women have been granted the privilege of being allowed on the Little Cherubs scheme, entitling them to additional child visits on top of their statutory two hours a fortnight in the regular visiting room.
The nursery is located within St Margaret's Family Centre, set up a year ago to improve contacts. The three prison officers who work in the Family Centre are known as Family Contact Development Officers (FCDO) and they supervise Little Cherubs visits.
Family stability
Julie, a former Cornton Vale prisoner, did not see her children, aged four and one, for the first six weeks of her sentence. She says, 'The only place I could see my kids was in the visitors' room, and I didn't think that was a suitable environment for them. It was very uncomfortable and there was nowhere for them to play.'
When she was reunited with them at Little Cherubs it was 'very emotional', she recalls. 'It became a special routine for them - every Thursday they would come and play with me in the nursery.'
Today, Sally is in the nursery with her one-week-old son, Paul, who lives with his grandmother and will be making twice-weekly visits to Little Cherubs while his mother completes her sentence. At the governor's discretion, it is also possible for mothers and young babies up to around 12 months to stay together full time in the prison's mother-and-baby unit.
But Sally has chosen not to bring up her son in the prison.
St Margaret's Family Centre also provides parenting classes, couples counselling and family conferences, which help families to deal with underlying problems.
'The women in here will tell you the main source of support is their family,' says Sue Brookes. 'Address- ing relationships to establish a stable family to return to is as important as offering educational development and helping the women to find a job, in terms of reducing their chances of re-offending. Building on parenting skills will, I hope, prepare mothers to take up their full-time role on release with greater self-belief.'
Women who are coming to the end of their sentence may, again at the governor's discretion and once they have been properly risk-assessed, be eligible to live in one of the Independent Living Units (ILUs) located just outside the prison gates. Here they can have their children, aged up to five years, stay with them at weekends.
'The prospect of being able to have their young children with them at weekends and to do normal things provides many women with the impetus they need to address addiction problems,' says Sue Brookes. 'Little Cherubs and the ILUs are the biggest levers we have in getting the women to accept help for addictions.' However, if they test positive in a drug test they are immediately removed from the schemes.
Gina sees Little Cherubs as a lifeline. 'Little Cherubs is great. It is the only normal place within the whole prison,' she says. 'My youngest calls it "mummy's place". You have privacy - the staff are around but not looking over your shoulder.'
Supporting children
New projects being mooted at Cornton Vale include working with children's charity Barnardo's to provide every child affected by the imprisonment of their mother with a befriender in the community, enabling the child to talk through the experience. 'Children whose parents are in prison have a one in four chance of going to prison themselves,' Sue Brookes points out. 'I don't want to see the children who are visiting today as the next generation of prisoners.'
FCDO Angela Johnstone agrees, 'The introduction of Little Cherubs and the other elements of the Family Centre have made a real difference to the children of prisoners. And, after all, they are the innocent parties.'
* names have been changed
