Public health approaches to children affected by parental incarceration: the central role of school nursing in supporting a vulnerable population

School nurses are uniquely positioned to support children affected by parental incarceration, yet these children remain a substantial but largely hidden group within health, education, and social care. Despite growing political attention to this concern in the United Kingdom, many such children continue to go unidentified and without appropriate support. This paper outlines the national scale and urgency of the issue, examines the emotional, developmental, and social impacts on children who experience parental incarceration, and considers how schools can act as protective environments. Drawing on key theoretical frameworks, it highlights the cumulative effects of the associated adversity and the gaps in current identification and support processes. The central argument advanced is that school nurses, working within the Healthy Child Programme, can provide early intervention, sustained therapeutic oversight and coordinated multiagency support. The paper concludes by calling for systematic national recognition of these children as a vulnerable group and for a continued systematic, well-resourced model of care, including specialist school nursing roles.