Message from INCCIP Co-Chairs
Hamed Farmand & Julie Hourigan

Co-Chair

Hamed Farmand I am an Iranian-American children’s rights activist as well as founder and president of a US-based, non-profit organization, Children of Imprisoned Parents International (COIPI). I started the organization in 2014 based on research I conducted in 2012, which was born out of a desire to work on this issue because of my own experience of having a mother in prison during my childhood.

I have worked closely with local organizations in Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax, cities in Virginia, and Washington, DC, who focus on inmates and their families. I use storytelling in churches, universities, and other public spaces to advocate for the rights and needs of children who lost their parents to incarceration. I have shared my experience at conferences, such as the International Prisoners’ Family Conference in 2018, and the International Coalition for Children with Incarcerated Parents in 2021. “Mothers Behind Bars” is one of the main focus areas of my organization.

Currently, I am using social media platforms to communicate with Iranian families with incarcerated parents, sending them educational messages. I recently published investigative research by my organization about the situation of children and their mothers inside prisons in Iran. Through my activism and programs, I have shared information and findings with UN special procedures and rapporteurs, including but not limited to the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Rights on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Co-Chair

Julie Hourigan is the Chief Executive Officer of SHINE for Kids.

SHINE for Kids is an Australian national not-for-profit organisation which provides specialist services directly to children impacted by parental incarceration, while also working with young people in youth justice centres. They are focused on breaking cycles of intergenerational crime and driving down rates of recidivism amongst young people, meaning that our work is highly complementary in their aims.

Julie is a strategic and transformational outcomes-focused influential leader and award-winning advocate and spokesperson for children and families.

She has decades of expert experience across government, non-profits, private and public sectors, delivering measurable social impact and reform, as well as a Masters in Law (Human Rights and Social Justice).

In joining the INCCIP Board, Julie brings technical skills and volunteer board experience to an important global issue. In Australia (as elsewhere in the world), children are the invisible victims of their parents’ crime and suffer disproportionately poorer social, emotional, education and health outcomes.

Julie is passionate about policy, advocacy and research that puts the rights of children at its core.

Secretary

Katie Kramer DSW, MSW, MPH is the Co-Founder & CEO, Corrections, Communities and Families at The Bridging Group. She has support the development of a stronger youth presence and voice within the work of INCCIP by serving on the planning committee/sub-planning committees for conferences in England and the US. Her dedication to children with incarcerated loved ones is rooted in 25 years of work to develop, implement, and evaluate social services and health programs that serve communities affected by the criminal justice system. She is a founding member of San Francisco Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership and was a part of the workgroup that created the original Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights. Through her work at The Bridging Group in California, she collaborated with governmental, non-governmental organizations and research/academic institutions working in prisons, jails, or community re-entry throughout the US and globally with projects in Haiti, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Trinidad, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. 

Trustee

Prof. Nancy Loucks OBE is the Chief Executive of Families Outside, a Scottish NGO that works on behalf of families affected by imprisonment, appointed in 2008.

Prior to this she worked as an Independent Criminologist, specialising in comparative prison policy.

She received her MPhil and PhD from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge, and in 2012 was appointed as Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Law, Crime and Justice.

Nancy was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List for services to Education and Human Rights.

She co-chairs the Justice & Care work stream for the Scottish Independent Care Review and is Secretary General to the Board of Children of Prisoners Europe.

Trustee

Shari Ostrow Scher (from March 2026) is a longtime INCCIP member and has presented at several INCCIP conferences.

While her first career was in public education, including teaching and supervising grade levels from pre-kindergarten through college, more recently, she was the Founder and volunteer Executive Director of Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP), a nonprofit located in Frederick, Maryland.

In August 2025, Shari stepped down as the leader of COIPP and now serves on their board and continues to participate in all activities, as well as serving on some committees related to this topic in Frederick, Maryland.

Trustee

Ben Raikes I have over 13 years experience working with families impacted by parental imprisonment, 4 years of which involved managing a parenting programme in a women’s prison, and 9 years researching the impact of imprisonment upon families as an academic. I have been involved in the large scale European Commission funded Children of Prisoners Interventions and Mitigations to Strengthen Mental Health (COPING) project. This project compared the experiences of children and parents (imprisoned and non imprisoned) in four European countries to explore what promoted resilience. In addition to this I have undertaken small-scale evaluations of an overnight stay facility in an open women’s prison and a pilot project examining the issues faced by grandparents caring for children with parents in prison across 4 countries.

I place a very high premium on listening carefully and directly to the lived experience of children and their carers. Therefore I consider I have a very good understanding of what the issues are, both in the UK where I am based, but also in countries such as Romania, Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago with whom I have collaborated. It was while hosting Francis Ssuubi in the UK, who set up Wells of Hope in Uganda, that we came up with the idea of INCCIP, recognizing there was no organization linking those championing the rights of children with imprisoned parents outside Europe.

Having been involved in developing INCCIP right from the start, I am well placed to be part of the team to realise its potential to campaign at the United Nations and in other influencial forums to improve the situation of children with incarcerated parents worldwide.

Trustee

Corin Morgan-Armstrong was educated at Bath and Cardiff University, (BA Hons & MSc. Econ – Criminology & Criminal Justice) and has worked within the field of rehabilitation and resettlement for the last 27 years, starting as a prison officer at HMP Parc in 1997. During the last 18 years, Corin has created and implemented a specific model that has at its heart the engagement of people in prison with their children and families, for the purposes of rehabilitation, derailing intergenerational crime, and re-building community inclusion. Corin established the Family Interventions Unit 2010 (the first of its kind in the UK) and an Interventions Led Visits model at HMP Parc and has worked with corrections in the UK and internationally to achieve replication of the model. Corin also designed and established the Invisible Walls family support service, initially lottery funded in 2011 and incorporated as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company in May 2023 operating in 8 UK prisons. Outside of work, Corin enjoys spending time with his children, going to the theatre and has been training in Tae Kwon Do for the last 38 years.

Corin has received a number of commendations for his work, two of which were received in St James’s Palace and Buckingham Palace respectively. In September 2015, the team succeeded in achieving the Investors In Families charter mark, normally the reserve of schools, Parc was the first prison in the EU to hold this award, presented in January 2016 at The House of Lords by the Prisons Minister. In 2016 he was invited to be a member of the Ministry of Justice-commissioned Lord Farmer Review into the impact on families of incarceration in the UK. In June 2016, the HM Inspection published report on HMP Parc stated that the family model at Parc was ‘innovative and radical, and probably the best they had seen in any prison.’ The Invisible Walls service won the Family category at the 2017 Crime and Social Justice Awards in London. In 2022, Corin received an award from the High Sheriff of Mid Glamorgan for his contribution to the local community. Corin has shared the approach and engaged with interested correctional organisations across five continents.

Trustee

Dr. Smita Dharmamer is Associate Director at Aangan Trust, India, and a child protection professional with more than 20 years of experience building community-based safety systems for children at risk of trafficking, early marriage, abuse, neglect, and family separation.

Her work focuses on prevention, system strengthening, and strengthening shared accountability across communities, police, welfare departments, and correctional systems.

She also leads prison-linked child protection initiatives that promote trauma-informed, family-centred care for children of incarcerated parents.

At Aangan, she has helped design and lead reforms that include prison nurseries, police and frontline worker partnerships, and practical child safety systems that can be adopted at scale.

She has represented Aangan in national and global platforms including the International Coalition for Children of Incarcerated Parents, Children of Prisoners Europe, and the Global Prison Nursery Network. She has also contributed to digital learning approaches for frontline responders through the Safekeepers curriculum.

Her work has been recognised through contributions to global publications and policy discussions, including The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health, the Columbia Journal of Gender & Law, and an OHCHR report. She is a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award and the Karmaveer Puraskar.

Dr. Dharmamer holds a BHMS from the University of Mumbai and a Postgraduate Diploma in School Counselling from SNDT University.

Trustee

Se Chhin is an Obama Scholar who brings over 15 years of experience in child protection, justice reform, and family-based care, with a particular focus on children affected by parental incarceration in Cambodia.

As Deputy Director of This Life, he leads multidisciplinary teams delivering frontline services, shaping national policy, and advocating for child rights.

Trustee

Mandida Gusha is an affiliate member of Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) from Zimbabwe who is currently pursuing her PhD in India. 

Her academic focus aligns closely with COPE’s goals, and her lived experience in advocacy, research, and community work has equipped her with insights into the systemic challenges these children face. 

Globally, she offers insights from both African and Asian contexts, where stigma and support systems for affected children differ.