PAS oers free legal advice and representation to adult prisoners throughout England and
Wales regarding their rights, conditions of imprisonment and the application of the Prison
Rules.
Examples of issues we can advise on include: Adjudications, Categorisation, Contact with
Children, Foreign National Prisoners, HDC, Healthcare, Human Rights, Indeterminate
Sentences, LGBT+ Prisoners, Life Sentences, Parole, Probation, Property, Racial
Discrimination, Recall, Resettlement, ROTL.
If you have something that you’d like to discuss with one of our Caseworkers, you can:
Call us on: 020 7253 3323
Monday, Wednesday or Friday
from 10:00 to 12.30 and 14.00 to 16.30
or Tuesday evening 16.00 to 18.00
Write to us at:
Prisoners’ Advice Service
PO Box 46199
London EC1M 4XA
(Mark your envelope Legal Mail Rule 39 in all correspondence with PAS)
This Fathers in Prison: Contact with Children guide has been produced by PAS and is
authored by Rose Harvey-Sullivan, Barrister at 7BR, to whom the charity is most grateful.
The production of the guide was made possible thanks to the generous support of
7BR - Barristers Chambers and Matrix Causes Fund.
www.prisonersadvice.org.uk
Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS) is a registered charity (No: 1054495)
and is a company limited by guarantee (No: 3180659)
Foreword by Chris Atkins
I was given a ve year sentence for tax fraud in July 2016, which meant I would serve 2.5
years in custody. While I’ve managed to survive the experience relatively unscathed (indeed
my friends agree that it’s made me a better person), there’s no question that it’s had a lasting
impact on my son Kit, who was just four when I went away. I’d split up with his mother, Lottie,
a couple of years before my imprisonment, but we’d remained on good terms and he’d
spend half the week with each of us. After I was sent down, he had to live with his mother
full-time, and she worked tirelessly to keep the father/son bond alive.
I spent the rst nine months in HMP Wandsworth, which was a category B prison. I remember
seeing posters proclaiming that, “maintaining family ties is crucial to reducing reoending”,
which seemed like a bad joke, given the system went out of its way to make family contact
dicult. The biggest problem was the miserly visits allowance. I was initially a “standard”
level prisoner, and therefore only allowed two one hour visits a month. I soon learned that
the only way to increase contact with my son was to become an “enhanced” level prisoner.
So I went on a mission to suck up to the ocers to improve my chances. A kindly senior
ocer took pity on me, and made me enhanced after just a few weeks. This meant I was
allowed four visits a month with Kit, which made a huge dierence.
Thankfully Kit was too young to be traumatised by the scary, authoritarian, nature of the
prison environment, unlike older children. He just saw Wandsworth as the place where
Daddy lived, and he really enjoyed coming to see me. Some families decide to conceal the
reality of where their parent is, and pretend that their father has gone travelling abroad, but
we decided to be honest with him. I’m very glad of this now, as, at some point, the child will
nd out and be even more upset that they’ve been lied to.
After a few months I discovered that the prison ran “Family Days”. These were ve hours long,
we didn’t have to wear the horrible yellow bibs and we could play with our kids properly. These
were fantastic, but it took me ages to work out how to get on the list and secure a place.
Phone calls were also a big challenge. I initially struggled to talk to Kit on the
phone, as it took ages to set up the phone pin. Even then I found it dicult to
call when he was at home. In my rst month inside I was on “23 hour bang up”, which meant
I was only allowed out the cell for an hour each day to make a phone call, which was often
when he was at nursery. Things became easier as I started doing an increasing number of
prison jobs, which allowed me out of my cell much more, so I could speak to him twice a
day. The rates for calling mobiles were extortionate and would eat up a lot of the money
I was allowed to spend each week. Lottie installed a landline, which helped a lot. She
even got a special phone just for Kit, so when it rang he knew it was Daddy calling.
Kit learned to read while I was in Wandsworth so I wrote to him constantly, which
was a big incentive for me to improve my terrible handwriting. I also whiled away
the hours writing stories for him, which got increasingly elaborate as time went on. I swapped
favours with artistically gifted inmates who would draw intricate animal characters, and I’d
then write stories around them. He’s still got all of these in a shoebox in his room. Lottie
discovered the Touchnote app, which allowed her to easily send me postcards of photos on
her phone. She’d send me at least one a week, which I stuck on my wall with toothpaste,
which helped me through many dicult days.
After nine months in Wandsworth I got shipped to Ford open prison, and life got a lot easier.
The visits were much longer and more relaxed, it was like meeting in an airport lounge rather
than a high security prison. The only disadvantage was that Ford was a signicant distance
outside London, so it was harder for Lottie to travel to. But she still brought in Kit religiously
every week. I also discovered the excellent charity Storybook Dads. They record inmates
reading stories, add sound eects and music, and burn it all to a CD and send them to the
prisoner’s children. I did two while I was in Ford, Kit loved the CDs and still plays them in
the car.
Now I’m out I can see the damage the separation has caused my son, and the scars will
probably never heal entirely. But thanks to Lottie we maintained contact throughout my
sentence, and Kit and I are now closer than ever. A prison sentence doesn’t mean a family
has to fall apart, but it’s worth all of the work, heartache and upheaval to keep parental
relationships alive.
Chris Atkins is a lm-maker and author. His best-selling book about his time in Wandsworth
is called A Bit of a Stretch. He’s also made a podcast (also called A Bit of a Stretch) where
he interviews other people about their prison experience, including his ex-partner Lottie.
CONTENTS
Background 1
Introduction 2
Parental responsibility 3
Things to know about parental responsibility 3
Avoiding court 6
Applications to court for a Section 8 order - Things to remember 9
Child arrangements orders 12
Specic issue orders and prohibited steps orders 16
Enforcement orders 19
Court hearings
21
Appeals
23
Legal aid
24
Legal correspondence
24
Once you leave prison
25
Who can help you in prison
25
Useful contacts
26
1 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
Prisoners’ Advice Service: a self-help toolkit for male prisoners
BACKGROUND
Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS) provides free legal advice, information and representation
to adult serving prisoners on the application of the Prison Rules 1999. One of the ways
in which we do this is through providing information sheets and guides on legal matters
arising out of imprisonment, such as categorisation, transfers, segregation, parole and
adjudications. We are always developing our library of resources for prisoners in response
to their changing needs.
We are departing from our normal practice and producing a guide on a subject matter that
is outside of our remit of prison law. We have taken this unusual step in response to the
number of queries we routinely receive from male prisoners who are unable to access free
help to understand their options when they want to have contact with their children and/
or remain involved in their children’s lives. We are exceedingly pleased and grateful to
have Rose Harvey-Sullivan, a barrister at 7 Bedford Row in London, donate her time and
expertise to prepare this new toolkit for us. Sadly, PAS does not have in-house expertise
to assist male prisoners with specic queries about family law, but we very much hope that
this toolkit will go some considerable way to helping male prisoners understand the options
available to them.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 2
INTRODUCTION
This guide sets out the law that the court uses to decide on applications about contact and
your involvement with your children. It takes you through the practical steps involved in
making an application yourself.
This guide contains general legal information. It is not legal advice, as everyone’s situation
will be dierent.
PAS can send you any forms mentioned in this guide. Diculties involving your children
might be upsetting and you might want to talk to a peer mentor, the Samaritans, the mental
health team or the chaplaincy at your prison, see the useful contacts page at the end of
this guide. If you want to write to any of them to ask for support.
This guide covers three main types of applications:
a) The most common application fathers in prison want to make is an application to have
visits from their children (this is also called ‘having contact’ with you). You do this by
making an application for a ‘child arrangements order’ (‘CAO’).
b) You can also make applications about important decisions regarding your children, like
which school your child goes to, or what name your child is known by, if you disagree with
their carer about these things. These are applications for a ‘specic issue order’ (‘SIO’).
c) You can also ask the court to make an order that stops someone from doing certain
things, like taking the child to live in another country. These are applications for a
‘prohibited steps order’ (‘PSO’).
These three types of orders are sometimes called ‘section 8 orders’, named after the section
of the Children Act that they are covered by. This guide will call them ‘section 8 orders’.
The Children Act 1989 is the legal Act of Parliament that allows people to make these
applications to the court.
SUMMMARY
Being in prison does not mean you cannot be a parent or that you should not be
involved in your child’s life.
Being in prison does not mean you lose your parental responsibility for a child.
You can apply to the court to help you take part in your child’s life.
If you want to see your child, have telephone/video calls with them or write to
them, but are being stopped from doing so, you can make an application for a
child arrangements order (‘CAO’).
3 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
To make an application for a section 8 order, you must have either:
i) parental responsibility (‘PR’) for the child, or
ii) permission from the court to make the application
a) What is parental responsibility?
PR covers ‘all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent
of a child has in relation to the child and his [or her] property
1
. This is a very legal phrase!
Basically, having PR means (i) you have a duty to care for your child and meet their needs,
and (ii) you also have all the legal rights and powers given to a parent to make important
decisions about that child. It means you are legally considered a full parent.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
• You do not need to be a birth parent of a child to get PR
• More than two people can have PR for a child e.g. mother, father, step-father, and
grandmother could all have PR
• You might already have PR for your child from before you came to prison. Being
in prison does not end your PR. You still have all the same rights you had before
• If you already have PR, you don’t need to make an application for it, just because you
are now in prison
• If you have PR, the child’s carer should not take any important decisions without
consulting you
b) How does a father get PR?
A birth mother automatically has PR for her child. Things are not always as straightforward
for fathers.
If you are married to, or in a civil partnership with, the child’s mother at the time of the child’s
birth, you will automatically have PR.
If you have adopted a child, you will have PR.
If you were not married to, or in a civil partnership with the child’s mother at the time of the
child’s birth, there are ve ways to get PR:
i. You are the biological father of the child and you marry the mother later on
ii. You are named on the birth certicate as the father
iii. You enter into a ‘parental responsibility agreement’ with the mother
iv. You get a ‘parental responsibility order’ from a court (or a CAO that says the child lives
with you)
v. You are made a Special Guardian for the child
1
Section 3 Children Act 1989
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 4
i) You are the child’s biological father and you marry their mother
If you are the biological father of the child and you marry the mother after the child is born,
you have PR from the date of the marriage.
ii) Being named on the birth certicate as the father
This can only be done if you are the biological father to the child. You can get birth
certicates at dierent times in a child’s life.
• Registering the birth
If you were named on the birth certicate at the time of the birth (and it was after 1st
December 2003), then you automatically have PR, regardless of whether you were
married to/in a civil partnership with the mother or not.
• Re-registering the birth
Re-registering the birth is very dicult to do from prison because you have to ll in forms
before an authorised person, or take it to the registry oce in person, so we do not set
out how to do it here.
• Declaration of parentage
If there has been a court hearing about the biological father of the child being named on
the birth certicate and the court decided that you are the biological father of the child,
the court will tell the General Register Oce and the birth will be re-registered. This is
called a Declaration of Parentage.
• Getting the new birth certicate
The registry oce does not automatically issue a new birth certicate. If you want a new
birth certicate that names you, you must order one.
iii) Parental responsibility agreements
If you aren’t on the child’s birth certicate and the child’s mother agrees that you should have
PR, you can jointly ll in a parental responsibility agreement. This can be done whether you
are the biological parent or a step-parent. Again, though, the forms have to be signed in
front of an approved person, so it will probably be very dicult to do this from prison.
iv) Applying to the court for PR
If none of the above options describes your situation, you can apply to the court for PR. You
can do this at the same time as applying for a section 8 order. In fact, it is best to do so.
This can be done, regardless of whether you are a birth parent or step-parent. As of February
2021, this costs £215. If you have no income, and little or no savings, you can apply for an
exemption or reduction in the fee using form EX160.
5 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
The broad process is:
• You must ll in a C1 form
• You must give your reasons for applying for the order
• The court will consider:
◊ your commitment to the child;
◊ the child’s attachment to you (are you close to the child?); and
◊ your reasons for making the application
EXAMPLES
I am applying for PR for my two children. The reason for this is that I want to make
an application for a CAO so that I can spend time with them, as their mother is
not letting them come and see me in prison. Their mother and I were together for
six years and lived together but we never married and she did not put my name
on their birth certicates. The children know I am their dad and we have a close
bond. I think it is good for my children to have two parents legally.
OR
I am applying for PR for my step-son. I have two younger biological children with my
step-son’s mother, half-siblings to my step-son. I already have PR for both these
children because I am named on their birth certicates. I met my step-son’s mother
when he was 1 year old and we lived together for ve years before I was sent to
prison. He calls me ‘daddy’ and I treat him like my own son. He has no contact with
his birth father. His mother agrees to this application. She and I cannot make a PR
agreement because I am not able to go to a court building to sign the forms with an
ocial witness: I am serving a two-year sentence at HMP Wandsworth.
If the court thinks it is in the child’s best interests for you to have PR, it will make
an order granting this. It will help to read the section below about a child’s ‘best
interests’ and the ‘welfare checklist’.
You may need to provide further evidence of the facts you have set out in your
application e.g. by writing a witness statement or sending the court copies of any
documents you have mentioned.
REMEMBER
If you are applying for PR so that you can make an application for another type
of order e.g. a CAO, it is best to make both applications at the same time.
The court will usually then deal with them together, which speeds up the process.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 6
AVOIDING COURT
Court can often be stressful and upsetting. It can create arguments and mean that people
fall out. If possible, it is better to avoid a court hearing. How can you do this?
a) Is this a decision the court would get involved with?
There will be some day-to-day decisions that you cannot control, for example what time your
child goes to bed, how they get their hair cut, or whether they play with certain friends on
their street. These are decisions that your child’s carer is allowed to make alone.
A court will not get involved in making decisions like this.
b) Try speaking or writing to the other parent or carer
You might not need to go to court if you can make an agreement with your child’s carer
about contact with you, or about the decisions that are being made about your child. The
court will not make an order if it is not needed so you should not apply just to get something
formal or enforceable.
It is helpful to write down the agreement, so that, if you disagree later on, you can refer back
to it.
If you have arrived at prison without any plan for contact with your child, for example if you
have not agreed with their mother or carer that your child can come and visit you or speak
to you on the phone, you should speak to a member of sta to make an urgent phone call
and try to agree a plan. Some prisons have specic sta members, often called family
engagement workers, who are often happy to help with issues like this.
You should think about whether you can compromise to reach an agreement. This usually
means people on both sides giving up some of their demands to meet in the middle.
EXAMPLE
You and your child’s mother are separated. You are Muslim. Your child is living
with their mother, who is Christian. She wants to take your child to Christian
Sunday School but not Islamic Sunday School. You want your child to understand
your faith too; you would prefer them to go to Islamic Sunday School.
You could try and reach a compromise with your child’s mother by suggesting
your child goes to Christian Sunday School every other week and Islamic Sunday
School every other week, or that they go to neither weekend school.
This is not a perfect outcome for you or for your child’s mother but it is important
to understand both points of view and think about what this might feel like for your
child. You should try and reach an agreement, so that things are not dicult or
unpleasant for your child.
7 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
If your child’s carer visits you with your child, try not to bring up dicult topics in front of your
child. This might make them feel upset, worried or confused. It is best to speak to the other
carer alone, so that you can be clear and open about any problems.
If it is dicult to discuss an issue with your child’s carer when you see them during a visit
(maybe because your child is also there and you do not want to make them upset), or if they
do not visit you, you can think about writing them a letter to politely explain your worries. You
can ask them to write back to you explaining their point of view. If your prison has a family
engagement worker, you can ask them to help you with this if you need support.
REMEMBER
Keep any letter polite and clear. Try not to fall out with your child’s carer, as this
will make it more dicult to agree on things involving your child.
c) Get all the information
It is important to get all the necessary information before you make an application to the
court: there might be a good reason that you do not know yet, which explains why your
child’s parent or carer wants to do things a certain way.
EXAMPLE
Your child has moved to live with their auntie, who now wants them to change school.
You think your child’s current school is very good and don’t want them to move.
You ask a family member for more information and they explain that, actually, the
auntie has a new job on the other side of town and it would be dicult for her to
drop your child o and pick them up on time if they stay at their current school.
The new school has a really good reputation too. It is also the school that the
auntie’s own children go to and your child has said they would like to go to school
with their cousins.
This new information helps you to understand that there are some good reasons
for your child to go to a new school and you are happy for your child to move. This
means you do not need to make an application to the court asking them to stop
the auntie moving your child.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 8
d) Mediation
Usually, when someone makes one of the applications to the court covered in this guide,
they must do mediation before they are given a court hearing.
Mediation involves you and your child’s carer meeting with a third person, called a mediator;
the mediator helps you both to understand the other person’s point of view, and tries to help
you reach an agreement so that you do not have to go to court.
You do not have to do mediation if you are in prison. You are exempt. If you make an
application, you can tick the box in section 3e of the C100 form to say you are in prison and
so you cannot do mediation.
However, if you think it might help you and the other parent or carer to try mediation, you can
ask the family engagement worker, friend or family member to be your mediator.
SUMMARY - WAYS TO AVOID GOING TO COURT
Make sure you understand why your child’s carer has done things a particular
way – there might be a good explanation.
Be friendly and polite with your child’s carer – maybe you can sort things out
between you if you communicate properly. Try asking them to visit you on their
own, so that you can discuss this without the child there too.
Write a letter to your child’s carer, politely setting out what you want and why you
want it – maybe they don’t understand your point of view yet.
Mediation – get a friend, family member or professional in to help you and your
child’s carer to work out the problem.
9 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
APPLICATIONS TO COURT FOR A SECTION 8 ORDER
–THINGS TO REMEMBER
There are two important things the court must think about when it considers an application
for a section 8 order:
a) The welfare checklist; and
b) Both parents should be involved with their child if possible
a) The welfare checklist
In the family court, the most important thing to think about is the child’s welfare. This means
that the court must make decisions that are in the child’s best interests
2
i.e. they must make
the decision which they think is best for the child. This is called ‘the welfare principle’.
The court will use ‘the welfare checklist’. This is a list of things the court must think about:
a. The wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of their
age and understanding): usually the court will ask a children’s ocer - a CAFCASS
ocer (CAFCASS stands for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service),
sometimes called a guardian, to speak to your child to ask them what they want to do.
The court doesn’t rely on what one parent says. The court takes the child’s view into
account but does not have to follow what the child says they want. The older the child,
the more likely it is that the court will follow their views.
b. The child’s physical, emotional and educational needs: physical needs include
whether the child is being properly fed and is clean. Emotional needs include things like
being treated kindly and with love. Educational needs include getting the child to school.
c. The likely eect on the child of any change to their circumstances; the court will
think about what eect visiting you in prison, or being known by a dierent name, or living
somewhere else, will have on the child.
d. The child’s age, sex, background and any other factors that the court considers
relevant (for instance if the child has a disability); the court also thinks about the
child’s culture as well as religion if applicable.
e. Any harm that the child has suered or is at risk of suering;
f. How capable are each of the parents (and any other relevant adult e.g. someone
who supports a parent in caring for the child) in terms of meeting the child’s needs.
For example, if you ask for contact with your child, the court will think about whether you
can show your child love and aection if they visit you (meeting their ‘emotional needs’
g. The range of powers available to the court;
3
this means the judge has to think about
all the dierent options and orders it could choose before they make a decision
This list is very important and you should use it when you are writing documents for the
court: it will help you make sure you have not forgotten to mention anything important.
2
Section 1(1) Children Act 1989
3
Section 1(3) Children Act 1989
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 10
b) Both parents should be involved with their child if possible
The court starts with a presumption that it is in the child’s ‘best interests’ to have both parents
involved in their life in some way. That means the court must assume it is good for your child
to have a relationship with you and for you to be involved in big decisions about your child,
unless this is proven not to be true
4
. This includes situations where one parent is in
prison, being in prison or having a criminal conviction does not automatically mean that the
court will think contact with you would be negative.
It is important to know that the family court is not there to blame one parent or the other, or
to punish parents for mistakes they may have made in the past.
Sometimes, the court has to hear evidence on things that might have happened in the
past, so they can understand whether it would be safe and/or good for the child to see their
parent. However, unless it aects the children, the court is not interested in reasons why
parents may have fallen out with each other.
If there is evidence that you being in your child’s life would put them at risk of harm, the court
might decide you should not have contact with them. One example of this might be if you
are in prison for child-related oences. This does not automatically prevent you from having
contact with your children but it will be a very important factor for the family court to consider.
Being involved in your child’s life does not mean you must have face-to-face contact. It might
mean that the court decides it is best that you send letters, cards or have phone or video
calls with your child, but that they should not come into prison to see you.
The court will think about all the dierent options when working out what form of contact is
best for your child.
SUMMARY - WHAT WILL THE JUDGE CONSIDER?
The court will think about your child’s welfare and what is in the child’s best
interests.
This means they think about:
- what the child wants
- what the parents/carers want
- can the parent/carer safely care for the child?
- the child’s physical needs and emotional needs
- the child’s education
- how will change aect the child?
- whether the child has extra needs or a disability
- whether the child has suered any harm, and what eect it has had on them.
The court’s starting point is that it is a good thing for both parents to be involved
with the child if possible, including if one parent is in prison.
4
Section 1(2A) Children Act 1989
11 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
c) Public protection restrictions
Prisons must support children who have contact with prisoners. As part of this, all prisoners
who are convicted of certain oences must immediately be assessed to decide if the prisoner
poses a continuing risk to children whilst in custody and what, if any, contact with children
should be allowed.
If a prisoner is restricted in the contact they are allowed with children for these reasons,
these are called ‘public protection restrictions’.
If public protection restrictions are imposed on you because you are deemed to pose a
continuing risk to children, but you want to have contact with your child, then you must rst
make an application to your prison and not the court. Usually, you are only allowed to apply
for contact with children in your immediate family. The prison must ask the child’s other
parent or carer if they support contact, and the prison can only allow contact if they do. If
they do not, then your request for contact will be refused.
If you still want contact, you will then need to make an application to the family court. The
court will consider the prison’s risk assessment when it decides on your application.
It is sometimes possible to challenge public protection restrictions under prison law. You can
contact PAS for advice by either calling the advice line or writing.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 12
CHILD ARRANGEMENTS ORDERS
A child arrangements order (‘CAO’) is an order that sets out:
a) Who your child lives with; and/or
b) Who your child will have contact with, how that contact will take place and how
much time they spend with them
You can ask the court to decide whether you should have contact with your child, and, if you
should, when / in what way this should happen.
If you had a CAO in place before you went to prison, it is technically still active. However,
your change in circumstances will mean that there might have to be changes to the times
and ways you have contact with your child. If that is the case, you can apply for a variation to
the current CAO, unless you can agree a variation with your child’s carer informally instead.
Dierent arrangements to those in the order do not need to be approved by the court.
a) Who can apply for a CAO?
• The child’s mother
• The child’s father
• Anyone who has PR for the child
• Anyone who has been living with the child for 3 out of the last 5 years
• A foster carer or relative that the child has lived with for at least 1 year immediately before
the application is made
• A step-parent who has treated the child as part of the family
• The court can also give permission to anyone else to make an application
EXAMPLES
Your ex-partner has stopped bringing your daughter to see you in prison and you
have tried to speak and write to her to sort it out but it hasn’t worked. You would
like the court to make an order saying that your daughter should have contact
with you. You are named on your daughter’s birth certicate as her father. You
do not need permission from the court to make an application for a CAO.
OR
You want to make an application to have video or telephone contact with your
ex-partner’s child whilst you are in prison. You do not have PR for them, but you
lived with them for 2 years and think of them as your own child. You do need the
court’s permission to make an application for a CAO. The court will probably give
you permission to make the application because you were close to the child.
13 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
OR
Your child has lived with their uncle since you went to prison 18 months ago.
The uncle does not need the court’s permission to make an application for a
CAO that conrms your child lives with him, because your child has lived there
for more than 1 year.
b) How do you make an application?
To apply to court for a CAO, you must ll in a C100 form. You should send it to the court
building that is closest to where your child lives.
If you have a CAO in place already and you need to change it because you are now in prison,
you should use the same form and refer to the CAO you are asking the court to change at
section 7 of the C100 form. If you have the case number for your old CAO, and/or a copy of
the order itself, this will be very helpful for the court. You should attach a copy of the order to
your application. If not, you should give as much detail as possible, e.g. which court made
the order and when it was made, so that the court can nd a copy of it.
Remember the welfare checklist when you write down your reasons for wanting the order.
Remember to tell the court that you are in prison (you can include this at section 9 of the
C100 form). Special arrangements will need to be made to ensure you are able to attend the
hearing either in person or by video link or telephone. The court will need to make a Production
Order to ensure that the prison knows that they need to produce you for the hearing.
c) What happens next?
The court will ask you and your child’s carer to come to a hearing on a planned date. There
is likely to be more than one hearing if you cannot agree at court. See p. 21 for more details
on family court hearings.
d) What might the court order?
There are dierent types of contact the court might order:
a. Direct contact – as you are in prison, this will be visits from your child (bear in mind visits
might well be aected by coronavirus restrictions)
b. Supervised contact – this would be a visit from your child but with someone else
supervising e.g. a professional or a family member or friend
c. Supported contact – this would be a visit from your child but with another person there
(not carefully supervising)
d. Indirect contact – this can include phone calls, letters or cards, or even artwork your
child has made (this kind of contact can also be supervised/monitored)
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 14
When a court orders indirect contact, the court will not order that your child must write to
you. They can however order that the child’s carer sends any letters the child does write to
you in prison. The child’s carer should encourage your child to engage with you if they can.
If you have not seen your child for a long time, the court might order that you should start
with indirect contact, before slowly building up to more contact, for example in person visits,
after your child has become used to being in contact with you again. They will want to see
how your child responds to the contact rst. The court will want everyone to move at the
child’s pace and will not rush them if it would not be good for them to do so.
You could ask the court if they can order Purple Visits (video calls) between you and your
child. If your prison is working with Storybook Dads, you might also be able to record yourself
reading a story for your child, or write a storybook to send to them. You should ask the prison
family engagement worker or the prison librarian if this is possible.
e) What does a CAO mean for holidays?
When the court makes an order about your contact with your child, they will usually also
make an order about who the child lives with.
Once someone has a CAO that says a child lives with them, they are allowed to take the
child out of the UK for up to 28 days without getting your consent rst.
You could ask the court to order that the child’s carer must inform you of any holiday, and
give you details about where they are going and for how long.
If the trip would aect time that the court has ordered that you will spend with your child, the
carer must get your agreement for this.
EXAMPLE
The court has made an order that your child will live with her mother and see you
once per month in a prison visit. Her mother wants to take her to Disneyland for
2 weeks. This would mean she misses her visit to you. Her mother must ask for
your agreement to go at this time, since it aects your contact.
If her mother plans the trip for a time when it does not aect your contact visit,
then she does not need your permission.
15 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
f) What does a CAO mean for PR?
If the order species who the child lives with, this person will be granted PR if they did not
have it already. This does not mean you lose your PR.
EXAMPLE
You are named on your daughter’s birth certicate and so you have PR for her.
She lives with her grandmother. Her grandmother applied for a CAO saying your
child lives with her. This was granted by the court.
The court should also make an order giving the grandmother PR for the child.
You still keep your PR as well.
A CAO is not the same as a special guardianship order (‘SGO’): SGOs allow for children to
be placed with a friend or family member on a long-term basis. The person who is appointed
as the child’s special guardian is given overriding PR and is the child’s permanent carer.
g) How long does a CAO last?
Unless the order says anything dierent, any order regarding contact will last until the child
is 16. Any order regarding where the child will live lasts until the child is 18. If you are
released before your child turns 16/18, you could reapply to the court for a change to a CAO,
once things are dierent for you. It is unusual for a court to make a new CAO in respect of
a child who is aged 17-18.
SUMMARY - CHILD ARRANGEMENTS ORDERS
If you are the child’s father, step-father, or you have PR, you can denitely make
an application for contact. Some other people are allowed to make applications
too.
Use a C100 form to make your application (you can use an EX160 form to apply
for an exemption from the court fee).
Write down what kind of contact you would like, e.g. face-to-face contact, or
weekly telephone contact, and why it would be good for the child to get to see
you or speak to you in video/phone calls.
Try and use the welfare checklist from the last section when you do this.
Orders for contact usually last until the child is 16.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 16
SPECIFIC ISSUE ORDERS AND PROHIBITED STEPS ORDERS
The person caring for and living with your child will have to make decisions for them and
about their life. They do not have to speak to you about smaller, everyday decisions e.g. how
your child gets their hair cut.
However they should involve you in bigger decisions. For example:
• Your child’s name – what rst or surname your child is known by
• Your child’s education – for example which school they should go to
• Your child’s health – for example whether they should have vaccinations or not
• Your child’s religion
• Where your child should live – for example if the person caring for them wants to move
with the child to another country or relocate within the UK
a) Your issue orders
If you cannot agree on these bigger decisions, then anyone with PR or anyone caring for
your child can make an application to the court to ask them to make the decision instead.
This will be put in a specic issue order (SIO).
EXAMPLE
Your child is living with her grandmother, who wants her to move to another
school. You do not want her to change schools, as she has lots of friends at
her school and she is doing well in her classes. You have spoken to your child’s
grandma and you cannot agree. You do not think there is a good reason to move
her to another school. You can make an application to the court for an SIO about
which school your child should go to.
b) Prohibited steps orders
A prohibited steps order (PSO) is an order that stops someone from doing something specic.
So, if you cannot agree with the person caring for your child about a big decision, and they just
go ahead with their plan without agreeing it with you, you can apply for a PSO to stop them.
EXAMPLE
Your ex-partner wants to move with your child to another country. This would
mean you will not get to see your child very often. You would like them to stay
in the UK. You have been told your ex-partner has accepted a job in the new
country and has put her house up for sale. You can apply to the court asking for
a PSO to stop her from moving with your child to the new country.
17 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
c) How do you apply?
You should ll in a C100 form. You can do this at the same time as making an application for
contact, if you are making one.
If it is an emergency, e.g. you think your ex-partner is going to do something serious very
soon and you want the court to stop them, you must tell the court on the form that the
situation is urgent and ask them to hold the hearing urgently.
If there is a real emergency, you can ask the court to make an order without the other person
being told that a hearing is happening. The court will only do this if they think that telling the
other person about it before they make an order would put the child at risk. They will then
have another hearing with the other person there as soon as possible, so that they can hear
from both sides.
Remember the welfare checklist when you write down your reasons for wanting the order.
Remember to tell the court on the form that you are in prison, so that they are aware that
special arrangements need to be made for you to attend the hearing, either in person or by
video link or telephone.
d) How does the court decide?
The court will hold hearings to plan how it should make its decision. See p.21 for information
about family court hearings.
The court will decide what is in your child’s best interests. It will use the welfare checklist to
make any decision about any section 8 order – an SIO or a PSO.
e) How long does an order last?
An SIO or PSO lasts until your child is 16 years old, or until the court ends the order.
Like with CAOs, you can apply to the court to end either of these orders if things have
changed for you and/or your child e.g. if the order is not needed any more.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 18
SUMMARY - SPECIFIC ISSUE ORDERS AND PROHIBITED STEPS ORDERS
You can ask the court to make a decision about a specic problem or decision
involving your child – specic issue order – SIO.
You can ask the court to stop the child’s carer from doing certain things – prohibited
steps order – PSO.
The court can only get involved with certain types of issues, and nothing minor.
Use a C100 form to make your application (you can use an EX160 form to apply
for an exemption from the court fee).
Write down what the problem is, and what decision you would like the judge to
make.
Explain why it would be good for the child if the judge agrees with you, and
decides in your favour. Try and use the welfare checklist from the last section
when you do this.
SIOs and PSOs usually last until the child is 16
19 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
ENFORCEMENT ORDERS
If you already have an order in place and the child’s carer does not follow it, you can ask
the court for an ‘enforcement order’. This means that the other person has to follow the rst
order. The court can also give that person a punishment for not following the rst order.
Punishments include:
• Unpaid work
• A ne
• Compensation paid to you
• A prison sentence (or a suspended prison sentence)
• Move your child to live with someone else
These last two are very extreme options and will not apply unless the person has not followed
the court order lots of times with no good reason.
EXAMPLE
You have a CAO that says that you can speak with your child once per week on
the phone. The child lives with your ex-partner and she is not letting her speak
to you on the phone. You can apply to the court to ‘enforce’ the CAO. The court
might give your ex-partner a punishment like paying a ne, or having to do
unpaid work, or not pass a punishment at all if they think your ex-partner has a
reasonable explanation for not following the order.
They will tell her that she must follow the CAO in future or she might get a more
serious punishment next time, unless they think the order needs to be changed
to make it more workable.
You must ll in a C79 form to apply for enforcement. The current cost to make
an application for enforcement is £215. If you have no income, and little or no
savings, you can apply for an exemption or reduction in the fee, using form
EX160.
REMEMBER
Before you apply for enforcement, it is best to warn the other person this is what
you will do if they do not follow the court order. This might be enough to get them
to follow it.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 20
If the person has a reasonable explanation for not following the court order, they will not be
punished. This will depend on individual circumstances. You should be aware that often the
court will not enforce an order at the rst enforcement hearing.
Also, if the court thinks the other person should be given one more chance to follow the
order, they might not take action.
SUMMARY - ENFORCEMENT ORDERS
People can be punished for not doing what a family court order says without a
good reason. Punishments include:
- nes
- prison
- unpaid work
- change to the original family court order
- move the child to live with someone else
- compensation paid to you
You should ll in a C79 form to apply for enforcement. It costs £215. You can
apply for an exemption from the court fee with a form EX160.
You should explain how the other person has breached the family court order.
You should also write down any suggestions you have for changing the family
court order.
21 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
COURT HEARINGS
Once you have made your application, the court will invite you and the person caring for your
child to a hearing.
REMEMBER
It is very important to always stay calm and polite at any court hearing. The
judge will watch you and the other party and your behaviour will be an important
factor in their decision-making.
The court might try and help you and the other party reach an agreement, especially at the
rst hearing.
If it is not possible to agree, the court will ask you both to write witness statements. This is a
chance for you to explain why you would like your order to be complied with and to talk about
things that are relevant to the court’s decision. Again, remember the welfare checklist, as
this is what the court uses to make its decision.
The court will sometimes appoint a professional, usually a CAFCASS ocer, to provide their
professional opinion on whether your child should have contact with you and, if so, what
kind of contact. The CAFCASS ocer should speak to you and to the other party to discuss
what you want and why. They should also speak to your child, if the child is old enough to
give an opinion. The CAFCASS ocer’s investigation will include making police checks on
both parties, which they will take into account. They will write a report (often referred to
as a section 7 report) with a recommendation that they send to you and to the judge. The
recommendation will be based on the welfare checklist (and the facts of the case) and what
would be best for your child.
The court might plan a hearing where you and the other party, plus any witnesses, give
evidence; it might also decide that there is enough information to make a decision without
hearing this. You can tell the judge whether you think you need to give evidence or not in
advance. The judge will take your opinion into account.
Once the judge has enough evidence and you have had the chance to speak about what
decision you want the court to make, the judge will make a decision about your application.
They must explain why they have made that decision.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 22
SUMMARY - COURT HEARINGS
The judge will probably ask a CAFCASS ocer to write a report about what would
be best for your child.
The CAFCASS ocer will talk to you and your child’s carer or other parent to
understand what you want and why.
The CAFCASS ocer will also talk to your child, if your child is old enough.
At the hearing, the judge will ask if you agree with the CAFCASS ocer’s
recommendation and why.
If not everyone can agree, the court will ask you for a witness statement, and
might list the case for a trial to hear what you and the other carer/parent have to
say.
23 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
APPEALS
Like with criminal law, there are very specic situations in which you can appeal against the
decision of a family judge or magistrate. Sometimes, you need the court’s permission to
apply to appeal.
If you are appealing or applying for permission to appeal, you have to do this very quickly:
if it is an ‘interim’ decision or case management decision (i.e. a decision made before the
end of the case), you have to apply within 7 days of the decision. If it is a nal decision, you
should apply within 21 days. There are situations where you might be given longer but they
are not common.
Making an application to appeal is more complicated than making an application in the rst
place and is outside the scope of this guide. If you are thinking about an appeal, you should
ask your prison’s family engagement worker for help in nding someone who can give you
advice or help with this.
Remember – even if you are appealing a decision, you must still follow the order until the
appeal is decided.
SUMMARY - APPEALS
There are only certain situations where you can apply to appeal the decision
made by the family court. Sometimes, you need the court’s permission.
You should make your application quickly – there are certain time limits:
- if it is a case management decision or decision before the end of the
case, you should apply within 7 days
- if it is a nal decision at the end of the case, you should apply within 21 days.
Ask a specialist for help
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 24
LEGAL AID
Legal aid is public funding for a solicitor to provide you, at no cost to yourself, with legal
advice and / or representation for legal matters. It is available for people who have low
incomes and who cannot pay for a solicitor themselves.
People can get legal aid for these kinds of family law matters but it is rarely granted. You
can usually only get it if you have been the victim of domestic abuse. You have to provide
evidence of this to the Legal Aid Agency and they only accept certain types of evidence. If
you think you should be getting legal aid, PAS can send you a list of family law rms that
you can contact for help and advice about this. It is the solicitor, and not you, who makes the
application for public funding to advise or represent you.
You might also be able to get a solicitor funded by legal aid if you can provide evidence that
your child is at risk of abuse by the other person involved in the case. Again, the Legal Aid
Agency only accepts certain types of evidence.
You might also be able to ask charities for help as they can sometimes nd lawyers willing
to provide their services for free (this is called ‘pro bono’). We have listed some of these at
the end of this guide under ‘useful contacts’.
LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE
You are allowed to write to a court, family lawyer or PAS without the prison reading your
letters under Rule 39 of the Prison Rules. The prison generally cannot interfere with your
mail to or from either, or other lawyers, by opening, reading or stopping your letters.
There are very few circumstances when it is legal for the prison to look at your legal post.
However, if this happens, you should be given the opportunity to be present when any mail is
opened under Rule 39, and told if any legal mail is stopped or read and the reasons for this.
If you have any concerns about unlawful interference with your legal mail, you can contact
PAS for advice.
25 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
ONCE YOU LEAVE PRISON
Remember, if there is an order in place, you should comply with it whilst you are in prison and
once you leave. If, when you leave, you would like to have more contact with your child, you
should try and agree any changes with their other parent or carer. They have the discretion
to allow more contact; the existing court order does not prevent them from allowing this.
If that person does not agree, you should follow the steps set out above asking for the order
to be changed. You must not go and take your child from the parent or carer. This might be
considered child abduction and could result in you being arrested, charged, convicted and
sent back to prison. Even if you are not prosecuted, such behaviour may result in your recall
to prison.
WHO CAN HELP YOU IN PRISON
The family engagement worker can provide a lot of support, including contacting family or
social workers on your behalf.
Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS) can provide copies of the forms mentioned in this guide.
Samaritans can provide emotional support if you need a safe place to talk.
The chaplaincy can provide emotional support and someone to talk to about your problems.
A peer mentor can help you talk through your problem.
The mental health team are available if you feel upset by any issues involving your family.
Speak to a custody ocer if you feel overwhelmed and need support immediately.
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 26
USEFUL CONTACTS
Please be aware that most of the services listed below work across England and Wales but
some are limited to certain areas or specic prisons. We have included services that may be
limited in this way because avail
ability changes and a service that is currently only available in some prisons, may be available
in all prisons in the future. It is always worth exploring what support you can get.
PRISONERS ADVICE SERVICE
Free legal advice on prison law issues, and obtaining family court forms
Advice Line: 020 7253 3323
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 4.30pm
Tuesday 4-6pm
Prisoners’ Advice Service
PO Box 46199
London
EC1M 4XA
www.prisonersadvice.org.uk
Advocate
(previously Bar Pro Bono Unit)
For representation at court. A solicitor will
have to refer you for support.
If you do not have an application yet,
please e-mail: enquiries@weareadvocate.
org.uk
If you already have an application and a
reference number, please e-mail: applica-
Telephone: 020 7092 3960 (voicemail only)
www.weareadvocate.org.uk
Barnardo’s
Help for children with a parent in prison
Call Childline’s 24-hour support service on
0800 11 11
Telephone: 0208 550 8822
Families Need Fathers
For parents whose relationship with their
children is under threat
Telephone Helpline: 0300 0300 363
www.fnf.org.uk
27 | FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
Family Lives
Support for parents and families on a broad
range of issues including adoption
Helpline: 0808 800 2222
E-mail: [email protected]
www.familylives.org.uk
Family Rights Group
Support for parents and family members
when social services are involved
Freephone Helpline: 0808 801 0366
www.frg.org.uk
Local Government Ombudsman
To complain about a local authority once
you have been through their complaints
process
Helpline: 0300 061 0614
www.lgo.org.uk
Mencap Learning Disability Help-
line
Advice and information about learning
disability
Helpline: 0808 808 1111
www.mencap.org.uk
MIND
A national charity oering support in rela-
tion to mental health
Infoline: 0300 123 3393
www.mind.org.uk
National Prisoners’ Families
Helpline
Support for prisoners and their families
Telephone: 0808 808 2003
www.prisonersfamilies.org
National Youth Advocacy Service
Helpline for support and advice for your
child if they are in care or involved in court
proceedings
Telephone Helpline: 0808 808 1001
E-mail: [email protected]
www.nyas.net
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
(PPO)
Carries out independent investigations into
complaints in custody
Write to:
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Third Floor
10 South Colonnade
London E14 4PU
E-mail: [email protected].uk
Telephone Enquiries:
020 7633 4100 or lo-call 0845 010 7938
(The PPO does not operate a live tele-
phone line but messages can be left on
answerphone, which is monitored daily.)
www.ppo.gov.uk
FATHERS IN PRISON: CONTACT WITH CHILDREN | 28
Reunite
For legal advice about child abduction
Telephone Advice Line: 01162 556 234
www.reunite.org
Safe Ground
Oers intensive group-work for men in
prison, focusing on parental responsibilities
and children’s education, development and
wellbeing
Telephone: 020 7820 8090
E-mail: [email protected]
www.safeground.org.uk
Samaritans
Emotional support if you need a safe place
to talk
Freephone: 116 123
www.samaritans.org
Solicitors Regulation Authority
For information about how to complain
about poor service from a solicitor
Telephone: 0370 606 2555
www.sra.org.uk
Storybook Dads
Helps fathers in prison to record bedtime
stories for their children
Telephone: 0300 365 3237
www.storybookdads.org.uk
Support through Court
For support during court hearings
National Helpline: 0300 081 0006
E-mail: phoneservicemanager@support-
throughcourt.org
www.supportthroughcourt.org
www.prisonersadvice.org.uk
connect with us
PRISONERS’ ADVICE SERVICE
THE INDEPENDENT LEGAL CHARITY PROVIDING INFORMATION AND
REPRESENTATION TO PRISONERS
JUSTICE BEHIND BARS
Prisoners’ Advice Service is a registered charity (No: 1054495)
and is a company limited by guarantee (No: 3180659).
