Birmingham Prison: Families and significant others strategy
Birmingham’s family strategy outlines how we support prisoners in our care to develop meaningful and constructive relationships with their family or significant others.
Applies to England and Wales
Our commitment to you
Supporting families at Birmingham Prison
At Birmingham Prison, we are committed to providing the best possible family services for the people in our care, their children, families, and significant others.
We are honest, open, and always learning. Your feedback helps us improve.
Listening and learning
We work closely with our charity partner PACT, who carry out regular surveys to understand the experiences of families and visitors.
We also run our own surveys every 3 months to monitor progress and make improvements.
We value all feedback.
Safeguarding and boundaries
We know that not all family relationships are safe or positive. We take steps to:
- protect victims of crime, including domestic abuse
- prevent contact where there are restraining or harassment orders
- work with agencies like probation, police, and social services
Where family relationships are a protective factor, we work with partners to help maintain and strengthen those ties.
Our commitment
We are building a strategy that adapts to the needs of our community, our staff, and the people in our care.
Together, we can create safer futures - one family at a time.
Support and services offered
Family support services
Family support is available for you and your family from the visitors’ centre, booking line and PACT website.
We can point you in the right direction and find you the right support you need.
We can offer information and advice, and help you find help with:
- alcohol and drug support
- education and training
- benefits and housing
- mental health
- independent living
- trauma recovery
If you don’t see the support, you need - just ask. We will help you find it.
Family support worker
Our family support worker is part of the PACT team based at the visitor’s centre
They are here to help you and your family. They can offer you friendly advice and guidance, and befriending services.
The family support worker can provide a listening ear or someone to talk to in confidence either face to face or on the phone.
Please do not hesitate to ask to speak to the family support worker with any concerns.
You can speak to the family support worker in person or by phone, in confidence.
PACT Helpline: 0121 598 8050 / 0121 598 8178 Family engagement casework
We can also offer support with:
- strengthening and maintaining relationships
- re-connecting broken relationships
- liaising with social services
- acting as a point of contact for child protection
If you need this kind of support, please contact our PACT services who help to support the prisoners in our care.
Family days
We hold regular family days so families and significant others can spend quality time together with their loved ones in prison.
These 5-hour visiting session from 10am and 3pm, let fathers, their children and families interact in activities provided by PACT.
As well as providing a comfortable and inviting atmosphere we also offer:
- hot and cold food and drinks
- play facilities and activities with children’s work offered by PACT
- baby change provision
- high-chairs and additional seating
- a gender-neutral disabled toilet
- a mother and baby breast feeding suite and chair
- disabled lift access
- knowledgeable and approachable staff
- experienced family engagement manager (PACT)
- recently refurbished visit hall and visitor waiting area
The family days are themed and are very popular with the children.
We also host the same family day event for vulnerable prisoners and their families.
Family day is there to help you, and your family maintain family ties and give you the opportunity to have a visit in a more relaxed and fun environment.
Staff are present to supervise and maintain the security of the room but are also there to get involved and answer any questions you or your family may have.
Outside agencies are also available for you to talk to and gain advice.
Safeguarding measures
We have a safeguarding policy that ensures safeguarding measures are in place for people in our care, vulnerable adults and children.
All adults in need of safeguarding have the right to live their lives free from abuse of any description.
All agencies and individuals that have contact with adults in need of safeguarding have a duty to protect them from abuse.
Where abuse is reported to or suspected by any person the response will be prompt and in line with prison service policies.
The prison works as a multi-agency team to meet the needs of prisoners in ensuring that they remain safe.
You can find all safeguarding information on Birmingham Prison’s main GOV.UK page.
Listeners’ scheme
We have a Listener scheme. This enables prisoners to seek peer support through one of our trained and recruited listeners who are prisoners that support other prisoners who are at risk of suicide and self-harm.
We aim to recruit enough listeners that are suitable on each residential wing, however there are certain requirements that must be met for a prisoner to access a prisoner based on risk.
We ask all wings to ensure all requests for a listener are met and information is available via leaflets, posters and via staff on wings for prisoners.
For further reference to safeguarding measures, please see the HMPPS Child Safeguarding Policy Framework.
What have we achieved?
- We offer the nation’s first neurodiverse visits service.
- We hold regular celebrating success events.
- We have regular feedback sessions.
- We are introducing a tailored support service for those men with no family ties.
- We received a visit from regional leads where we received positive feedback regarding our visits processes and facilities.
- Family days have been taking place regularly within the prison.
- The head of reducing reoffending and the families and significant others champion and pathway lead continue to meet with families in the visitors’ centre and during family days to discuss any concerns they may have about visiting. Any feedback from meetings is discussed at our monthly meetings with PACT.
- We have completed regular visitor surveys where we have identified the needs of the people in our care and what we can do to improve their time at and how to involve their significant others in the journey.
You said, we did
-
You told us that family days were of limited quality, that there was not enough of them and that they were difficult to access - we have increased the number of available family days, introduced themed activities and widened access to all men, regardless of incentive level or conduct history (so far as we can).
-
You told us that it was hard to get through on the phone to book visits - we have introduced an email where you can book visits directly without having to wait on hold.
How will we measure our success?
- Prisoner family needs questionnaire/surveys.
- Prisoner consultative committee.
- Reducing reoffending meetings.
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons inspection reports.
- Prisoner Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) questionnaires.
- Rehabilitative culture meetings.
- Visitors Advisory Board.
- Safer Prisons team to invite families or significant others to Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) reviews or provide palliative care support.
- PACT monthly meetings with Head of Reducing Reoffending.
- Performance measure indicators.
Problems or complaints
If you have any complaints regarding your visits experience or support offered for a family member, then please contact the family helpline given in this strategy, speak to a member of staff in the visits hall or speak to our PACT services.
If the person you are visiting wishes to raise an issue, please advise them to follow our internal complaints procedure.