Children’s Officers in Prisons, Denmark

Focus 6: The care of children whose primary caregiver is in custody

In Denmark, a joint initiative between individual prisons, the Department of Prison and Probation Service and the Danish Institute of Human Rights has led to the creation of ‘children’s officers’ in prisons, who ‘work on securing the rights and needs of children of imprisoned parents’. These ‘children’s officers’ may include prison officers or social workers; they receive training from professionals working in the areas of human rights, prisons, psychiatric and prisoners’ family support, and learn from visits to institutions with existing good practice.

For more information see: Collateral Convicts: Children of incarcerated parents. Recommendations and good practice from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion 2011.

International Social Service, Oak Foundation, SOS Children's Villages International, unicef, ATD Fourth World, Better Care Network, Family for every child, ngo group for the crc, PEPFAR, RELAF, Save the Children, USAID