15th December 2003 The Fédération des Relais Enfants Parents (FREP), a founding member of EUROCHIPS, held its second annual national meeting November 22 and 23 in Toulouse , with professionals and volunteers from France , Belgium and Togo participating (a Relais Enfants Parents opened in Lomé in July 2004). The two-day event featured a series … Read More
Year: 2003
France’s first family ties unit
15th October 2003 France’s first unité de vie familiale, or “family ties unit,” officially opened on September 26, 2003, at the women’s maximum security prison in Rennes . The unit, which consists of three 50- square-meter apartments with two separate bedrooms and a living room, allows women detainees to spend up to 72 hours with … Read More
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC lends her support.
7th October 2003 More than 88,500 children in England and Wales are currently without one of their parents because of imprisonment, Lucy Gampell, Director of Action for Prisoners’ Families, told senior lawyers on October 30th. Baroness Helena Kennedy QC lent her support to the charity at a special event at the British Council, London . … Read More
KIDS VIP organises seminar for prison directors and personnel
3rd October 2003 EUROCHIPS, in tandem with KIDS VIP in the U.K., organized a study day/seminar for prison directors and personnel from various European countries entitled “Maintaining family ties: Identifying training needs and methods,” on 2 October 2003 in Glasgow, Scotland The aim was to foster an exchange of ideas on maintaining family ties for … Read More
And Rightly So! My father lives in Venezuela
15th September 2003 A documentary film about a child in the Netherlands whose father is imprisoned in Venezuela , “En Terecht! Mijn vader woont in Venezuela” (And Rightly So! My father lives in Venezuela ), premiered in the Netherlands on September 13 and was aired on Dutch television on October 26. Directed by Rene Roelofs … Read More
Children of Prisoners Library (CPL) begins at www.fcnetwork.org
13th August 2003 The Family and Corrections Network in the United States now has a new on-line information source for people serving children of prisoners and their caregivers: the Children of Prisoners Library, written by Ann Adalist-Estrin, is available atwww.fcnetwork.org. Information sheets can be downloaded, duplicated and distributed free of charge.
Consensus meeting on mothers living with children in prison
15th July 2003 Eurochips is organizing a consensus meeting on mothers living with their infants/children in prison, to be held in Brussels on January 16-17 for the purposes of drafting part of a Eurochips document on the issue of children and imprisoned parents. The report, Prisoners’ Children and Family Ties: a Handbook of Practice and … Read More
Exploratory study on the impact of maternal incarceration on children
15th June 2003 The Ontario-based Center for Children & Families in the Justice System of the London Family Court Clinic has just published an exploratory study on the impact of maternal incarceration on children. Relying on a sample of 45 women and 90 children and adolescents in Ontario, “Waiting for Mommy: Giving a Voice to … Read More
“Big Book Share” project launched
15th April 2003 Under the “Big Book Share,” a new project launched recently at Magilligan Prison in County Londonderry, imprisoned fathers and their children can select a book together during a prison visit, which the father then records onto an audio tape. When the child returns to visit, he or she is presented with a … Read More
KIDS VIP officially joins the Eurochips network
15th March 2003 KIDS VIP, a UK-based charity working to bolster the relationship between children and imprisoned parents, has officially joined the EUROCHIPS network. Founded in 1993, KIDS VIP currently operates with a staff of three, working with prisons to set up supervised play areas in prisons, promote good practice in the play areas, and … Read More
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