KarunaNews Story

An innovative scheme in Scottish prisons means children who have only seen their fathers in a visit room are getting to play together and even sit down for dinner as a family. It is the first time the Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids program, developed in Australia, has been run in a prison environment. The eight-week program, first delivered in Barlinnie prison, has so far involved 14 families with children aged five to 12. Weekly sessions have covered topics including positive parenting and raising healthy kids, before the children join their dads for activities. At the end of each session, the children and their fathers enjoyed a meal as a family. In August, HMP Barlinnie staff trained 23 colleagues from prisons around Scotland to run the program, which will now be introduced to HMPs Low Moss, Shotts, Kilmarnock and Dumfries in the coming months.