The Collaborative Book Project Steering Committee met for the fourth time this year to further progress the project to create a book for children of people in prison by children of people in prison led by Kids’ Own Publishing.

The Steering Committee, which is made up of representatives from several organisations working for children and families of people in prison, is working on securing suitable locations to recruit children of people in prison for the project and the most appropriate way to do this. It was decided that visiting centres may be most appropriate as these children are already aware their parent is in prison. The Committee plans to link in with family support workers as part of this process.

Funding for research on the book project has been secured by the University of Limerick from the What Works fund. What Works is an initiative led by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with funding from Dormant Accounts, to support a move towards evidence-informed prevention and early intervention services for children, young people, and their families.

A funding application for an educational resource tool to complement the project is currently under review.

The next meeting is scheduled for 17 January 2024.

Read about the previous meeting here.