A Restorative Family Support Programme

The CONNECT Programme uses restorative approaches to engage participants to explore the impact of imprisonment on their family relationships. CONNECT is truly innovative in that it directly explores the issues of family separation and anticipates how this impact may play out when they are reunited after release. Participants focus on techniques to maintain connection with their loved ones whilst separeated though imprisonment or restore connection if relationships have broken down , so they can re-connect. Programme providers are encouraged to deliver the programme in partnership with other prison services and any other relevant agency in the community e.g., Probation or Troubled Families Teams to ensure both the prisoner and family members are supported throughout. The programme consists of six 2-hour sessions for prisoners and 1 family workshop (subject to operational needs), so families can share their success and review their connection plans together. The family workshop is usually coordinated with the Prison Family Services Provider and Prison Visits Teams. The workshop helps families to understand what the participants have been working on in Custody and support them to stay ‘connected’ through the separation period. This offers a safe environment for all parties to freely express their emotions.

The CONNECT programme aims to:

• Provide a restorative family support intervention for prisoners and their families.

• Meet the needs of individuals identifying family relationships as a factor in terms of effective rehabilitation.

• Develop skilled practitioner input for working with prisoners and their families.

• Deliver quality assessments to inform Rehabilitation Plans.

• Develop appropriate partnerships with relevant agencies in local communities.

• Develop an intervention model capable of surviving changes in personnel.

• Apply monitoring and evaluation systems consistently to ensure the intervention remains relevant to service user needs.