This Implementation Guidance Document is structured as a companion to Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)5 to member States concerning children with imprisoned parents. It is by no means exhaustive. Providing examples of good practice from our member organisations, it is designed to guide and support the many stakeholders that the Recommendation addresses by presenting actionable … Read More
Network Publications
Working with the media on behalf of children with imprisoned parents
This media toolkit is a communications tool for NGOs working with and advocating for children who have a parent in prison, and more broadly for families affected by the imprisonment of a loved one. From the outset, this toolkit has been written with medium-sized NGOs (about 15-20 people) in mind, although many of the methods, … Read More
Keeping children in mind: Moving from ‘child-blind’ to child-friendly justice during a parent’s criminal sentencing
Now available in six languages (BG, EN, ES, FR, PL, RO).
Children with imprisoned parents: collecting data with a purpose (2019)
2019 saw advances in both qualitative and qualitative data collection. With more robust data on who they are and where they are, support initiatives for children with a parent in prison are able to be stronger and more focused on individual needs. Data collection with a focus on mutual trust involves the prisoner-parent and is … Read More
It’s Time to Act – CoE Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)5
After the adoption of Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States concerning children with imprisoned parents in April 2018, organisations across Europe worked with children, including their voices to make this milestone document more accessible. This set of European guidelines is designed to help encourage action, as well as being a useful … Read More
Stakeholder briefings
Among the many publications that COPE produces annually, these stakeholder briefings serve several functions. Intended to provide report summaries and outline research findings; introduce good practice; provide policy updates; bring awareness to special issues; or report on program and campaign launches, they are pithy documents geared towards network members, professionals in the field and researchers. … Read More
Reading Between the Lines: A toolkit to help schools support children with a parent in prison
In December 2017, Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) published volume 6 of the European Journal of Parental Imprisonment ‘First port of call: The role of schools in supporting children with imprisoned parents’. The articles highlight the key role schools have in supporting children affected by imprisonment and explore the importance of Human Rights Education principles; … Read More
Roma & Traveller Children with a Parent in Prison: Follow-up Report (2018)
Roma and Travellers tend to be overrepresented in European prison populations. Roma individuals make up an estimated fifty percent of sentenced prisoners in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania; Travellers — though they make up 0.6 percent of Ireland’s general population—account for nearly twenty-five percent of the female prison population. Reasons for this over-representation include, among other … Read More
Establishing Baselines: Data collection towards better safeguarding children with a parent in prison (2018)
The collection of data presented in COPE’s 2018 ‘Establishing Baselines’ report is the first of its kind. It draws from a qualitative questionnaire designed by COPE in 2017 and was distributed to prison administrations and services in 47 member states in the lead up to the publication of Recommendation CM/Rec2018(5). The work of data collection … Read More
Children of Roma and Traveller Prisoners: A Short Guide (2017)
There is an overrepresentation of Roma and Travellers in prison populations in Europe, though exact numbers are difficult to establish, as some countries in Europe do not provide prison population statistics by “ethnicity” and “race”. There is a general lack of understanding and studies on the situation of Roma and Traveller prisoners across European countries, … Read More