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 does more than extract information from families affected by imprisonment and prisons: it is more fundamentally an opportunity to develop long-term, human rights-based initiatives that support both prisons and families impacted by prison, and using this baseline data to evaluate and improve these rights-based initiatives. The benefits of this work compound and multiply: data collection leads to guidelines for good practice, which include taking active measures to treat children with dignity and sensitivity so as to help mitigate trauma by providing support.
The goal of this questionnaire was to ascertain the services and practices implemented by European prisons as regards the treatment of children with imprisoned parents. We hope it will serve as a catalyst for European governments and prison administrations to provide structures that better support children and their imprisoned parents.