Operation Paramount
The Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership and Thames Valley Police have established an innovative new process to recognise children with a parent who is sent to prison, allowing a prompt offer of support for the whole family by the charity Children Heard and Seen.
By analysing data from the prison service, Operation Paramount has created a new means of recognising those families who might benefit from additional support, helping to address risk factors of young people affected by adverse childhood experiences.
First piloted in late 2021, Operation Paramount is live in Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and parts of Berkshire and we’re exploring roll out across the rest of the Thames Valley region during 2025.
Children Heard and Seen provide community-based support to families left behind after parental imprisonment, offering a range of services including one to one support, mentoring, online activities, parenting and peer support, and social events to bring families with shared experiences together. Prior to Operation Paramount, there was no statutory mechanism to recognise these families and the charity relied upon word-of-mouth to reach those needing help, often leading to long delays or families missed entirely.
From May 2022 to February 2025, 1090 individual children across the Thames Valley have been recognised as being affected by parental imprisonment with all of those in operationally live areas receiving a referral offer where suitable. As of March 2025, over 170 children have had a referral to Children Heard & Seen to receive direct support. We believe that families know their needs best and the parent/carer’s agency is respected when they decline a referral. Families also self-refer to Children Heard and Seen as their needs change following the Op Paramount offer.
How does Operation Paramount work and why is it so innovative?
For the first time, data from HM Prisons & Probation Service (HMPPS) database is being used not only to track a prisoner’s entry, movement through and eventual release from prison – but also to focus support on vulnerable family members left behind at the point of their imprisonment.
Thames Valley VPP have developed data-sharing platform called Thames Valley Together which allows secure sharing between partners, including HMPPS. Using this secure premise, each month the VPP runs an assessment on those sent to prison alongside police indexes to establish parental links to a child in the Thames Valley region. This allows them to recognise those families which may be suitable for a support offer. This model is unique in that it does not rely on a self-declaration of parental status by the imprisoned adult.
The VPP then notifies an officer or member of police staff working in the family’s locality who contact the parent/carer to explain the role of Children Heard and Seen and offer a referral to have an initial conversation with the charity. Where appropriate, i.e. when a family is already open to statutory support or Early Help, we ensure local Children’s Services are aware of the imprisonment.
At this point, Thames Valley Police’s engagement with the family ceases and Children Heard and Seen then begin their work if the family so wish.
Our delivery partners, Children Heard & Seen
Children Heard and Seen support children, young people and their families who are impacted by parental imprisonment. As the prison population continues to rise, so does the number of children impacted. Children Heard and Seen over the past 10+ years have worked alongside over 435 families and over 1250 children and young people. They strive to support their needs, listen to their concerns, and have their views heard and reflected in policy.
Dependent on location and need, families referred through Operation Paramount can access a series of different supports from 1:1s, children’s activity groups, parental peer support groups, access to legal advice and financial wellbeing clinics and in person activities such as residential weekends and more.
What does Operation Paramount data tell us?
Operation Paramount’s unique recognition data allows us to compare with partner statutory agencies to explore what other difficulties face children with a parent in prison. In February 2025, in partnership with Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council we published a statistical cohort analysis of over 200 children exploring education and social care data both before and after the imprisonment of a parent.
Please note that this analysis has not been conducted with any intention to suggest future outcomes for children. It is intended purely to shine a light on some of the challenges children face prior to and after the imprisonment of a parent, with the aim of assisting ongoing efforts to support all children with a parent in prison.
The statistical analysis, which forms part of our What Works series, can be found here:
Where is Operation Paramount being delivered?
Operation Paramount first piloted in 2021 with a focus on Oxford city before rolling out across all of Oxfordshire by summer 2022. In December 2022 Paramount commenced in Milton Keynes and it went live across Buckinghamshire and West Berkshire in July 2023. Bracknell Forest and Reading went live in July 2024 and we hope to be Thames Valley-wide by the summer of 2025.
Elsewhere, other police forces and Violence Reduction Units have sought to implement the initiative, adopting the Thames Valley approach. West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership are also commissioning Children Heard and Seen with activity underway in north Birmingham and we continue to liaise with other force areas and partners, sharing experience and promoting the initiative.
What are the success measures to Operation Paramount?
Prior to Operation Paramount, there had been no statutory data solution to identify families who have lost a parent to imprisonment. Since going live, from May 2022 to February 2025, there have been 1531 occasions a child has been recognised, providing a more accurate record of the numbers affected and in turn helping to plan services and provide support. Some of these children have sadly been affected on multiple occasions, meaning the number of individual children is slightly lower at 1090.
These children are drawn from an approximate Thames Valley total population of 2,170,000 in 2021 (Berks 920,000, Bucks 550,000 and Oxon 700,000). Of the 1090 children recognised, at the first occasion of imprisonment:
535 (49%) were of primary school age (5-11 years), with 280 (26%) Early Years and Pre-school (0-4 years) and 275 (25%) aged 12 or over. 66 (6.1%) were affected by maternal imprisonment.
To date, the VPP and Thames Valley Police have made an offer of support to all of those families within live areas. By March 2025, over 170 referrals have been made to Children Heard and Seen for a child whose parent or carer accepted the offer of support through the Operation Paramount initiative.
In May 2023 Children Heard and Seen and Thames Valley VPP were honoured to win the prestigious Stephen Lloyd Award Stephen Lloyd Awards for Operation Paramount.
In 2024 Op Paramount was cited in the Children (Parental Imprisonment) Bill Children (Parental Imprisonment) – Hansard – UK Parliament, the first proposed legislation to recognise and support children with a parent in prison.