Guidance

HMP Send: Families and significant others strategy

This strategy outlines how we support prisoners in our care to develop meaningful and constructive relationships with their family or significant others.

• From: HM Prison and Probation Service and HM Prison Service
• Published: 6 October 2026

Applies to England and Wales

You can find visiting information and book a visit on the Send Prison main page.

Our commitment to you

At HMP Send, we recognise that families come in all shapes and sizes. When we talk about ‘families’, we include blood relatives, legal guardians, partners, friends, and anyone identified as next of kin.

Many of the women in our care have experienced complex and non-traditional family relationships. And we are committed to ensuring that everyone feels included and supported.

Maintaining positive family contact is an important part of our work.

For many women, family relationships provide reassurance, emotional stability, and a sense of belonging.

Staying connected with loved ones can support wellbeing, build resilience, and play a vital role in helping women move forward positively.

We understand that coming into custody can be a particularly difficult and emotional time.

Being separated from children, family, and support networks can have a significant impact.

Some women may withdraw or struggle to cope, and in some cases may turn to harmful behaviours when feeling isolated or overwhelmed. By working together to support meaningful family contact, we can help to reduce anxiety, improve wellbeing, and create a more stable environment.

Evidence shows that maintaining family ties has a strong impact on reducing reoffending. Government research indicates that people in custody who receive visits from family members are 39% less likely to reoffend.

We are committed to strengthening these important relationships as part of our wider approach to rehabilitation and resettlement.

At HMP Send, we will:

• Support women in our care and their families to maintain safe, positive, and meaningful relationships, recognising the importance of family ties in the female estate
• Promote and strengthen parenting roles, supporting women to remain engaged in their children’s lives and helping them to understand and contribute to their child’s development and education wherever possible
• Provide clear advice, guidance, and practical support to both prisoners and families, maintaining a strong family-focused and trauma-informed approach
• Offer support where relationships are strained or complex, working sensitively with women and families to rebuild trust and improve communication
• Reduce barriers to visits at HMP Send, ensuring families feel welcomed, supported, and able to access quality visits in a safe and child-friendly environment, including consideration of the needs of children and neurodiverse families
• Involve families, where appropriate, in sentence planning, resettlement, and during times of crisis, recognising the vital role they play in supporting women’s progress and stability
• Work in partnership with local authorities, community services, and organisations such as PACT, to ensure families and children are supported both during custody and on release
• Develop staff awareness and understanding of children and family issues, ensuring all staff at HMP Send are equipped to respond in a way that is supportive, informed, and consistent with a trauma-informed approach

Support and services offered

Visitors centre 

Our visitors centre is run by Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT).

When you arrive at the visits centre, we will check your photo ID for security. We can’t accept photographs held on a mobile phone as valid photo ID.

We will ask if you have any property to hand in for the person you are visiting. If you have items in line with the HMP Send facilities list and hand-in policy, we will take them from you for searching.

Our main GOV.UK page has details on:

• visits booking
• visiting hours
• other ways to keep in touch

Children’s play facilities 

We have child-friendly facilities to support families during visits.

The visitors centre, has indoor and outdoor play areas for children and a reading area.

Children can choose a book to take home with them, helping to promote a love of reading beyond their visit.

Our PACT children’s play worker and volunteers, help to create a welcoming and engaging environment for children during visits.

These facilities are designed to make visits as positive, supportive, and family-friendly as possible for both children and their loved ones.

Family engagement work 

Our family engagement worker (FEW) provides support to women in custody to help them maintain and strengthen positive relationships with their children, families and wider support networks.

They offer emotional and practical one-to-one support. And they help our women address issues that may affect family contact and communication.

This can include support with:

• parenting concerns
• maintaining family ties during custody

• improving communication and relationships with children, partners, relatives and carers

• family mediation, where appropriate
• resolving contact difficulties, and work with other departments and external agencies to support family engagement
• advocate on behalf of women in custody and their families, helping to identify suitable support services and signposting individuals to specialist organisations, where needed.

Our family engagement worker also works with our women to prepare for release  This can include working alongside offender management, community probation practitioners, social services, children’s services and community organisations.

Secure social video calls

We offer prison video call service, which is widely used by prisoners and their families.

We have sessions on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with morning, afternoon and evening time slots.

Visit our main prison page for more details on social video calls.

If a prisoner experiences barriers to receiving social visits - such as distance from visitors, age of family members, or disability - they can apply to the head of operations to be considered for additional prison video calls.

Parenting/relationship courses 

Through PACT and our partners, we offer parenting, family and relationship courses including:

• Parenting
• My Family Matters
• Good Relationships
• New Beginnings
• Moving On
• Going Home

We also offer courses focusing on confidence, emotional wellbeing, finance and preparation for release.

The Mental Health team’s ‘Choices’ and ‘Choices post-release’ counselling programmes, can help women strengthen family relationships and prepare for returning to family life

Family support 

We recognise that maintaining positive relationships with families and significant others is an important part of wellbeing, rehabilitation, and reducing reoffending.

In line with this strategy, our Children and Families strategy, and wider reducing reoffending objectives, we work closely with partners and agencies to support women in custody and those who matter most to them.

This includes:

• one-to-one interventions
• family engagement and outreach work
• support for children and families
• family forum
• group activities
• family days
• practical assistance to help women maintain and strengthen meaningful relationships during their time in custody.

We know that many women have experienced trauma, family separation, and complex relationships. We aim to support in a trauma-informed, inclusive, and compassionate way.

Family and Significant Others (FaSO) champions

We have a network of Family and Significant Others (FaSO) champions recruited across the prison.

The champions:

• promote family-focused practice
• support this strategy
• raise awareness with staff
• help ensure that the impact of decisions on families and children is considered across the prison

Family services partnership

Our main family services partner is the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT).

PACT:

• provides family support services to women in custody and their families
• works alongside HMP Send staff to promote positive family relationships, support children affected by imprisonment, facilitate family engagement activities
• provides advice and guidance to visitors
• helps women maintain connections with their families and significant others throughout their sentence

Family engagement casework 

Our family engagement worker provides one-to-one support to women to help maintain, restore and strengthen relationships with children, family members and significant others.

This includes support with child contact matters, school engagement, family communication, multi-agency meetings, and liaison with social care and other professionals.

The service forms an important part of our trauma-informed approach and supports resettlement, safeguarding and the maintenance of positive family relationships throughout a woman’s sentence.

Family days 

We offer Family Days through the year.

Our women are normally entitled to attend up to 4 family days per year. (Additional places being allocated where capacity allows.) Participation is subject to eligibility criteria and availability.

These days let the women in our care spend extended quality time with their children and loved ones in a more relaxed and supportive environment.

They encourage positive family interaction and allow families to engage together in a range of activities, helping to maintain and strengthen important relationships.

Activities may include arts and crafts, games, seasonal and themed activities, and other family-focused opportunities that enable meaningful interaction in a less formal setting than a standard social visit.

Each day is carefully planned and often centred around a seasonal theme such events create opportunities for families to make positive memories together, and children may receive themed gifts or take home crafts created during the visit.

We recognise that family photographs can be particularly valuable for women in custody and their families, providing an important keepsake and helping to maintain family bonds during periods of separation.

As part of HMP Send’s family-centred approach, photographs may be taken during Family Days, subject to the appropriate permissions and consent being provided.

Care leavers 

We recognise that some women in our care may have experienced time in the care system and can face additional challenges both during custody and as they prepare for release.

We work closely with local authority services, social workers, personal advisers, and other partner agencies to ensure that women with care experience receive appropriate support and guidance throughout their sentence.

We hold forums and meetings so our women can raise concerns, share their experiences, and influence the service.

We provide individual support to help develop independence, confidence, and practical life skills. This can include:

• assistance with budgeting
• managing a tenancy
• accessing community services
• employment and education opportunities
• maintaining positive support networks

We support our women to develop the everyday living skills needed for a successful transition back into the community. This may include:

• cooking
• laundry
• household management
• other practical skills that promote independence and help women prepare for release

This tailored support is provided in partnership with relevant departments and external agencies to ensure women leave custody with the skills and confidence required to build sustainable futures.

We review feedback and outcomes through relevant governance and functional meetings to ensure that identified needs are addressed and support services remain responsive.

Neurodiversity

We recognise that many women, children, and family members may have neurodivergent needs.

We are committed to creating an inclusive, supportive, and accessible environment that enables everyone to engage positively with visits and family contact.

Our Neurodiversity team works closely with visits staff, the Families and Significant Others (FaSO) team, and our partners at PACT to identify and reduce barriers for neurodivergent visitors and prisoners.

Together, we provide support and reasonable adjustments to help make visits and family engagement activities as comfortable and accessible as possible.

If you, your child, or another family member require any adjustments to attend a visit or family event, please let us know in advance.

Support we can offer might include quieter spaces, additional guidance, sensory resources, or other adjustments tailored to individual needs.

Please speak to a member of the Visits team, a PACT family engagement worker, or our Neurodiversity team for further information and support.

Safeguarding measures

Creating a safe environment is fundamental to ensuring that women at HMP Send feel protected, supported, and able to focus on their wellbeing and rehabilitation.

Safety and safeguarding are central to everything we do, helping women to build resilience, maintain hope, and prepare for a positive future.

Our Safety team works closely with internal and external partners to identify risks, protect vulnerable individuals, and provide timely support.

Adopting a trauma-informed approach, the team recognises the complex experiences many women bring into custody and works to promote safety, wellbeing, and recovery.

Safeguarding also extends to children, families, and significant others.

We work alongside the Families and Significant Others service and partner agencies, to support women to maintain safe, positive family relationships.

This recognises the important role these connections play in rehabilitation, resettlement, and reducing reoffending.

For further reference to safeguarding measures, please see the HMPPS Child Safeguarding policy framework.

What we have achieved

• Completed a visitors’ survey to help shape and improve our services.
• Hosted a celebration for women who achieved qualifications through education and work while in custody. Families were invited to attend and enjoy a buffet reception, making the event a significant success. We are planning further events.
• Our family visits and extended visits remaining extremely popular, providing valuable opportunities for women to maintain and strengthen positive family relationships. We continue to enhance these experiences to maximise their rehabilitative impact.
• Offered every woman a book during induction, as part of our strategy to encourage reading and support wellbeing
• Strengthened family literacy opportunities through partnership working with the Shannon Trust and the prison library, promoting shared reading experiences between women and their children during family-focused events
• Opened a new baby bonding area within the visits hall, a more relaxed and supportive environment for mothers to meet and spend time with their babies, helping to nurture early attachment and family connections.
• Enhanced support for neurodiverse prisoners and visitors with ear defenders, fidget toys and access to quiet spaces.
• Introduced reasonable adjustments, where appropriate, and provide information and guidance to families to improve understanding of neurodiversity
• Continued to promote positive stories and achievements through our communication channels, sharing updates, successes and examples of the excellent work taking place across HMP Send to support rehabilitation and family relationships.

Themes across our achievements

• Strengthening family ties and relationships.
• Supporting rehabilitation and education.
• Promoting reading and family literacy.
• Enhancing neurodiversity support and inclusion.
• Celebrating success and achievement.
• Listening to and acting on family feedback.

These achievements demonstrate HMP Send’s commitment to creating a safe, inclusive and family-focused environment that supports rehabilitation, wellbeing and successful resettlement.

You said, we did

• Following feedback from visitors and prisoners, we have introduced a more varied hot food offer within the visits hall.
• We are progressing plans to move to cashless payments within the visits hall, helping to create a more efficient and user-friendly experience for visitors.
• Families are now invited to celebration events, enabling them to share in and recognise the achievements of women who have successfully completed education, training, and work qualifications.
• We have redecorated the visits hall to create a calmer, more welcoming environment for visitors and prisoners. The improvements include softer colours and a less overstimulating setting, helping to make the area more comfortable and supportive for neurodivergent individuals and children attending visits.
• We have continued to review and improve the visits experience, ensuring it is accessible, inclusive, and centred on maintaining positive family relationships.

How we measure our success

• Prisoner council meetings.
• Reducing reoffending meetings.
• Prisoner family needs questionnaire.
• Prisoner measuring quality of prison life survey.
• Visitors advisory board.
• Performance measures.

Staffing structure

• Overall oversight of Families and Significant Others (FaSO) - the Governor
• Local FaSO lead - Head of Operations (who also oversees our FaSO strategy)
• Care Experienced Lead – Head of Operations
• FaSO champions - recruited from prison officers and support staff across the prison