167 children in Dungannon district have jailed parents
New official figures show that in the past year, 167 local children visited Northern Ireland’s jails, some visited just once, while others entered jails multiple times.
Children’s charity Barnardo’s Northern Ireland has described children with a parent in prison as the forgotten victims of crime.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdResearch has shown that children with a parent in prison experience a range of poor outcomes in relation to well-being, education and relationships.
Having a parent in prison can leave children more vulnerable to spending time in prison themselves as adults.
Prisoners who maintain contact with their families are less likely to reoffend.
The local postcode with the highest number of child visits was BT71 with 80, followed by BT70 with 54.