Fathers Inside Training

The Fathers Inside programme is a groundbreaking parenting course which aims to help prisoners contribute to society by teaching them how to support their children’s education and upbringing whilst in custodydelivered in 10 establishments across England and Wales. This three day residential training will give staff the tools to set up and deliver the programme, as well as give them the opportunity to work with tutors and Officers across our network of prisons.

Training outcomes include:

- Understanding how to assess students for a range of awards
- Overview of Safeguarding and Data Protection requirements
- How to create opportunities for meaningful engagement between prisoners' and their families
- How to set up and deliver the Fathers Inside programme
- Guidance in working with large groups of mixed ability learners
- How to troubleshoot and co-teach  

The programme has been independently evaluated and found to contribute towards a number of factors which impact on reoffending. The course is educational, improving the students' personal development and employability skills and crucially helps to improve the students' parenting skills. We understand that by working with offenders to improve their parenting skills and relationships with their families, they become motivated to take responsibility for themselves and their loved ones, seek further education and training as well as demonstrate a positive change in attitude and behaviour.

Fathers Inside also tackles the issue of intergenerational offending and provides opportunities for support agencies to identify families at risk and implement early intervention measures. All of our evaluations are available on our website.  

"Fathers Inside made me take a long look at my life and re-evaluate where I was going.  It has given me an incentive I didn’t have before to avoid re-offending"

Community & Criminal Justice Research Unit, De Montfort University, Leicester.

Fathers Inside is a 5 week HM Prison Service programme that involves:

- An intensive, full time programme delivered by three members of staff. It uses roleplay, drama, storytelling and presentation in order to engage hard to reach learners

- Students rethink how to be a parent from within prison, and learn to support their childrens' education and development whilst they are separated

- The programme is being revised to include an adult supporter (relative, partner, friend or volunteer) through a series of letter writing activites and workshops. The training will cover these revisions and how they can be trialled at your establishment

- Two full time tutors take the students through our intensive lesson plans, whilst the new part time Family Support Worker role coordinates the integration of the supporter into the programme. 

The programme is mapped to a number of awards:

- Developing Parenting Skills (NOCN)

- Developing Group and Teamwork Communication Skills (NOCN)
- An opportunity to practice Functional Skills

Guidance can also be provided to tutors who want to map Fathers Inside to different curriculums (i.e. City and Guilds)