News

Help send two sisters affected by parental imprisonment to the 2018 CATS conference

March 20, 2018

Children with imprisoned parents need your support to allow their voices to be heard   Following last year’s CATS conference focusing on “Reaching for an inclusive world”, the 2018 edition will be centred on the theme of “Safe Together”. Chosen to focus on the importance of collaboration between age groups in creating safe environments for

Registration now open for POPS-COPE conference in Manchester

March 19, 2018

This year’s conference is called ‘Keeping Children Connected’ – Progress and Parental Imprisonment: A Child’s Perspective. The conference will take place on Friday 8 June 2018, at the Geoffrey Manton Building, Rosamond Street West, Manchester M15 6EB Early bird discounts for registration are available until Friday 23 March, 2018. Register here This pan-European conference, hosted

Launch: Papa Plus parent support initiative

February 20, 2018

On 13 February, COPE, in partnership with the Fédération des Rélais Enfants Parents (FREP) and Child and Space, officially launched its new “Papa Plus” initiative. The launch took place at COPE and FREP’s new shared office space, and was an intimate evening of presentations and fruitful discussion followed by live music and conversation. Through presentations

Establishing Baselines: Data collection towards better safeguarding children with a parent in prison (2018)

February 12, 2018

The collection of data presented in COPE’s 2018 ‘Establishing Baselines’ report is the first of its kind. It draws from a qualitative questionnaire designed by COPE in 2017 and was distributed to prison administrations and services in 47 member states in the lead up to the publication of Recommendation CM/Rec2018(5). The work of data collection

Launch of Volume 6 of the European Journal of Parental Imprisonment

December 12, 2017

Volume 6 of the European Journal of Parental Imprisonment (EJPI) is now available! This edition of the EJPI highlights the role of schools in supporting children of prisoners. Children spend the majority of their day at school, and it is important for them to feel comfortable and safe in that environment. In many cases parental

“Children deprived of liberty and alternatives to detention” Forum

December 11, 2017

The 11th European Forum on the Rights of the Child took place in Brussels on 7-8 November 2017, focussing on “Children deprived of liberty and alternatives to detention”. There were a number of presentations during the Forum, notably from Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert for the United Nations Secretary-General’s study on children deprived of liberty and

UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty

December 5, 2017

In 2016, the UN launched a “Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty”. There is a severe lack of quantitative and qualitative data, research and verified information relating to children deprived of liberty. The UN Global Study, lead by Independent Expert Manfred Nowak, intends to look at the scale of the issue (collecting disaggregated data)

Vulnerabilities and pathways related to parental imprisonment

December 4, 2017

The 11th European Forum on the Rights of the Child took place in Brussels on 7-8 November 2017, entitled “Children deprived of liberty and alternatives to detention,” bringing together over 350 participants from UN agencies and bodies, global, European and national organisations and individuals working to protect, defend and promote the implementation of the rights

Papa Plus: supporting the child-parent relationship in Bulgaria

November 29, 2017

In the European Union, some 800,000 children are separated from a parent in prison. The pan-European network Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) has been working with the Fédération des Relais Enfants Parents (FREP) for 20 years to support initiatives across Europe that focus on preserving and strengthening bonds between children and their parent in prison,

How to replicate and implement the Italian Memorandum of Understanding on children with imprisoned parents

November 16, 2017

In 2014, COPE’s Italian network member Bambinisenzasbarre obtained the signature of a “Memorandum of Understanding”, entitled the “Charter of Children with Imprisoned Parents”. This agreement was signed by the Italian Minister for Justice, the National Ombudsman for Childhood and Adolescence and Bambinisenzasbarre. This document, the first of its kind in Europe, formally recognises the right

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