Together, a chance

In 2019, a landmark review of family ties for women in prison in England and Wales identified the need for child and family social workers to be based in women’s prisons ( Farmer, 2019 ). It was suggested that mothers with complex family relationships would benefit from specialist support, especially when engaging with court, navigating social services involvement or when trying to negotiate child contact with carers. This concept was taken up by a third sector organisation, the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) who secured charitable funding to employ a child and family social worker in two women’s prisons in England: HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucester and HMP Send in Surrey. The pilot was called ‘Together, a Chance’ and was evaluated by researchers at Cardiff University. This chapter considers the background to the project, learning from the evaluation and two case studies to demonstrate the value of the scheme to women in prison.