Population Data Science at Swansea University, in collaboration with Lancaster University, has been awarded an ESRC grant of £1 million for a pioneering new study, Child Outcomes for Mothers Facing Trial (COMFT).
This two-year project will explore the impact of women’s involvement in the criminal justice system on their children’s caregiver arrangements.
Women’s involvement in the criminal justice system (CJS) impacts on their relationships with their children. Whether women are serving community sentences or are in prison, CJS involvement can have a major detrimental effect on children’s caregiver arrangements. An unknown proportion of mothers appear in both the CJS and family justice system (FJS) and can lose children from their care on a temporary or permanent basis.
Maintaining mother-child relationships is a key objective of the Female Offender Strategy for England and Wales. However, evidence to support these policies remains scarce. The COMFT study will provide insights into caregiver arrangements for children affected by maternal involvement in the criminal justice system, contributing essential data to inform policy and practice.
By linking data across criminal and family justice systems in England and Wales, the COMFT study aims to uncover vital insights that will inform policies supporting female offenders and maintaining mother-child relationships.
The research will link female defendant records in England and Wales to family court data, focusing on mothers involved in both criminal and family justice systems. The research is the first of its kind to use large-scale, anonymised data to explore the outcomes for children whose mothers face trial.
The team at Population Data Science at Swansea University will leverage its expertise in data linkage and analysis through the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, a globally recognised resource for health and administrative data research. The team will focus on analysing the Welsh data to explore caregiver arrangements and the challenges faced by children and their mothers.
Lucy Griffiths, Co-Lead of the project and Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology at Population Data Science at Swansea University, said:
“COMFT aims to push the boundaries of both methods and knowledge, whilst placing the lives of women and children at the heart of the study. Our research will represent a significant step forward in understanding the challenges faced by women and their children when navigating the justice systems. Using the world-class resources of the SAIL Databank, we aim to provide robust evidence to help shape policies that preserve family relationships and improve outcomes for children.”
Karen Broadhurst, Principal Investigator of the project and Professor of Social Work at the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University added:
“The preservation of family relationships is central to female offender strategies for England and Wales. Preserving mother-child relationships is associated with a reduction in offending and provides vital continuities for children.
We are absolutely delighted to receive this funding, which will enable us to unravel women’s involvement in both the criminal and family justice systems and outcomes for children. As this study is the first of its kind, it will be of considerable interest to the international community of researchers working with large-scale administrative data to support progressive policy development.”
Head of Evidence and Partnerships at the Ministry of Justice Analysis Directorate Amy Summerfield, said:
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the University research teams on this pioneering new research programme. This is exactly the type of collaboration that the MoJ-led Data First programme was set up to do – to make best use of our linked data assets, driving robust academic research, and developing the evidence base against priorities set out in the MoJ Areas of Research Interest. This research will provide invaluable evidence – for the first time at this scale – to better understand how we can reduce the harms for women and children who experience both the criminal and family justice systems. We look forward to working in collaboration with this expert team and maximising the insights for policy and practice decision-making.”
Head of Policy at Birth Companions Kirsty Kitchen, said:
“We are excited to support a central role for women with lived experience throughout this major new study, which holds such potential to shape a better approach for the benefit of women, children and society as a whole.”
A unique aspect of the COMFT project is its commitment to involving those with lived experience. The ‘COMFT-Together’ advisory group will be made up of mothers who have experienced cross-justice involvement and will play an integral role in shaping the research and ensuring its relevance and impact.
Co-lead Professor Lucy Griffiths, of Population Data Science at Swansea University, will work with Principal Investigator Professor Karen Broadhurst (Lancaster University), and other Co-Leads Dr Bachar Alrouh (Lancaster University), and Les Humphreys (UCLAN).
The project has been developed collaboratively with partners committed to transforming justice outcomes for women and children. Project partners include the Ministry of Justice, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), Cafcass Cymru, and the leading charity, Birth Companions.