Main navigation

After Adoption

InsideOutside – Independent Support to Birthparents in Prison and Through into the Community

This ACE programme offers support to Birth parents in prison and through re settlement, whose children have been or are planned to be adopted.

“The aim of this pilot is to ensure that parents whose children have been removed from their care – or who are at risk of this – are assisted in understanding the factors that have resulted in this profound loss.

“Clear links connect socio-economic disadvantage, offending behaviour and compulsory adoption and without accessible, relevant support, each link in the chain exacerbates the next.

“I am delighted with the support pledged through the ACE programme from the Cabinet Office because for the first time we will be able to join support services together, giving birth parents in prison and subsequently in the community the best possible chance to come to terms with their losses and begin to build more positive futures.”
Lynn Charlton, Chief Executive, After Adoption

Remit:

‘Working with Low Newton and Styal Women’s Prisons and the surrounding communities, this pilot project is engaging with parents in the criminal justice system and on their release from it who are at risk of losing or have lost their children to adoption.

Rationale:

The trauma of losing children and the resulting, often unrecognised, grief leaves parents vulnerable to mental health issues, stigmatisation, isolation and loss of community Losing a child to adoption whilst in prison compounds one of the most traumatic and disempowering experiences imaginable. When released from prison, because of their grief and stigma the only place where birth parents feel they can return is to the networks and communities where they are vulnerable to crime.

This increases the risk of subsequent children being removed and placed in the Looked After system. Recognising the impact of adoption and addressing the vulnerability will help prevent further trauma both for them and additional children.

Impact of prison on parents losing children

• Difficulty in engaging with legal service
• Difficulty in maintaining contact and perceived interest in your child
• Isolation & associated mental health issues
• Trauma of final contact meetings
• Criminalisation leading to perception that birth parent is not suitable to keep contact
• Being discharged from prison as an ‘ex parent’.

Words from a birthmother in prison

“Slowly, silent tears began to run down
(her) face…… she began to talk about how the emotion was so overwhelming …… she talked about how she cut herself to create a physical pain …... She talked about guilt and how unbearable it was. She talked about the recent court proceedings and what the judge had said and how she had felt.”

“How I feel: suicidal, cannot cope, more depressed, not being able to carry on, crawling back into my shell, feels like my insides have left me to be with my children, feeling guilty”

Aims:

The project is working with parents in the prison system, on remand and in the community who have lost their children to adoption. It will work to:

• Help them with the impact of loss and trauma through individual counselling and groupwork. We will help parents understand the process and implications of adoption – and any other forms of separation from their children – and any potential role they have in their child's life in the future:
• Reduce the number of parents from the target group that have subsequent children taken from their care and thus help break the cyclical patterns of disadvantage and poor outcomes for children
• Promote more healthy, positive relationships within families
• Promote positive coping mechanisms to the target group with a view to reducing the prevalence of addictive behaviour
• Rehabilitate the target group into the community and help forge positive, accessible networks to help break negative patterns of behaviour
• Improve the level of active participation in society of the target group (training, employment, community opportunities taken up etc
• Develop services in partnership with relevant agencies from both voluntary and public sectors
• Work in partnership with other agencies to improve the level of active participation in society of the target group (training, employment, community opportunities taken up).

Objectives

• To reduce isolation of parents
• To promote changed behaviours
• To facilitate holistic support
• Empower and raise self esteem
• Help birthparents continue as a resource for their children

Email: insideoutside.ne@afteradoption.org.uk
Insideoutside.nw@afteradoption.org.uk

After Adoption is an approved Voluntary Adoption Agency and charity. It was established in 1990 and works throughout England and Wales.

The Agency – www.afteradoption.org.uk [External website].