Children of dads who are in custody at HMP Barlinnie in Scotland have taken part in a world-first programme that’s designed to connect the two.
It is the first time the pioneering Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids programme (HDHK), which was developed in Australia, has been run in a prison environment. It means children who until now may have only seen their fathers in the confines of a visit room, are getting to play together in more natural environments, and even sit down for dinner as a family.
The sessions have been developed by a research team from the Universities of Glasgow and Stirling and the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. Studies have shown that people in prison are at a higher risk of poor health, and similarly, that children of imprisoned parents have poorer health, education and offending outcomes compared to other children.
