Children of prisoners face tracking by government

Pre-school children whose parents are in prison could be 'tracked' in proposals being drawn up by the Government to prevent them turning to a life of crime.

In an interview with The Independent newspaper last week, policing minister Hazel Blears said that she was in discussions with children's minister Margaret Hodge about an early intervention scheme to keep children from criminal backgrounds from breaking the law.

The idea is based on research that found that children with criminal parents are far more likely to end up in jail. It would include looking at the risk factors that can lead children and young people to offend.

Ms Blears said that of the 125,000 children with fathers in prison, around 65 per cent would find themselves behind bars later on.

She said, 'With Sure Start, we have got the nought to fours. We need to start saying "Let's keep our eyes on these youngsters". So if you can tackle the 125,000 kids with dads in jail by providing extra support and help, there's a chance. Children who have been in local authority care are, again, low-achievers more likely than others to end up offending, so let's track them from early on as well.'

However, child psychotherapist Robin Balbernie warned that such a policy was 'very simplistic' and could 'stigmatise clinical services'. He said there were multiple reasons which could lead to children and young people offending and the fact that a parent had been in prison was just one of them.

Other factors, such as whether a child has been parented well and the high incidence of mental illness within the criminal population, came into play, he said. 'Just because you are in prison does not make you a bad parent, but it does make you an absent parent. There may be a correlation between children at risk of offending and parents who are in prison, but it's a correlation, not a cause.'

The charity Action for Prisoners' Families said it was pleased that the Government had recognised prisoners' children as needing extra support, but warned that a 'target and track' approach could lead to children being stigmatised.

Director Lucy Gampell said, 'These children have committed no crime, yet they are already being labelled as out of control. They are an extremely vulnerable and excluded group in need of early support and information.'

She agreed that prisoners' children were at a higher risk of ending up in prison, but stressed this was not because they are predisposed to offend. She also disputed Ms Blear's figure of 65 per cent.

She said, 'The answer lies more in keeping prisoners closer to home, reducing the number of people being sent to prison in the first place and providing families with non-judgemental information and support.' Such help should be confidential, voluntary and based on welfare principles, not crime prevention, she added.

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said, 'I object to visiting the sins of the father on the child by categorising children in this way. In a democratic society we should think twice about this.'

Professor Furedi said he was worried about the Government holding information on children from a very early age and said it should focus on providing more resources to communities to engage children and offer better childcare services. 'When you track a child, what you're really doing is tracking the parents,' he added.