PRESS RELEASE: South Australian Government throw 147 vulnerable children out in the cold
Second Chances Inc. is calling on the South Australian Government and the wider community to urgently act to protect vital support services for children of prisoners, vulnerable families, and people affected by incarceration.
On 6 August 2026, Second Chances was advised that funding for its Family Support service would cease from 31 December 2026 due to budget constraints. This decision places at risk one of the few specialist services in South Australia dedicated to supporting children affected by parental imprisonment.
For these children, the impact of incarceration is immediate and deeply personal. They often carry grief, confusion, shame, isolation, financial hardship, and family disruption through no fault of their own. They are among the most overlooked victims of the justice system.
Second Chances has spent years standing beside these children and families – helping them stay connected, supported, and seen. If this service is lost, many may be left with nowhere that truly understands their circumstances.
These children should not pay the price
Second Chances says the decision is not just about funding a program. It is about what happens when support is removed from children who are already carrying more than any child should have to bear.
Children of prisoners are at greater risk of trauma, disengagement from school, social isolation, homelessness, and later contact with the justice system. Early support can make the difference between a child feeling abandoned by the system and a child being given a genuine chance to thrive.
These are not statistics first. They are children first.
They are children missing a parent. Children trying to make sense of loss and stigma. Children who need steady support, trusted adults, and hope.
Removing specialist support does not remove their need. It only leaves them to face that need alone.
The cost of cutting support will be far greater later
Second Chances is urging decision-makers to consider not only the immediate budget saving, but the far greater social and financial cost of failing to intervene early.
A relatively modest investment in prevention can help avoid far more serious consequences later – including youth detention, homelessness, ongoing crisis support, family breakdown, and repeated justice-system involvement.
The real question is not simply whether government can afford to continue funding this work.
It is whether South Australia can afford not to.
If early intervention helps even a small number of vulnerable young people avoid deeper harm, then the benefit to the community – human and economic – is profound.
Families and prisoners will also feel the impact
The consequences of losing Second Chances would extend beyond children alone.
Families affected by incarceration often need help navigating practical and emotional challenges. Children need support to maintain healthy connections with imprisoned parents where appropriate. Caregivers often need assistance holding families together under immense pressure.
Second Chances has also long provided practical support to prisoners and their families, including help maintaining contact with children, assistance with personal matters, and support that preserves dignity and family connection during extremely difficult times.
These acts may seem small from the outside, but to a child receiving a birthday or Christmas gift from an incarcerated parent, they can mean everything. To a parent in prison, they can be a lifeline of hope and motivation to change. To a family under strain, they can provide stability in moments of chaos.
When thesesupports disappear, the damage is felt across entire families and communities.
This is about more than one organisation
This is not simply about the future of one charity.
It is about whether vulnerable children and families in South Australia will be left behind when specialist community services disappear.
It is about whether people trying to rebuild their lives after incarceration will have support, or face even greater barriers.
It is about whether government and community are prepared to invest in prevention, rehabilitation, and safer futures – or wait until the damage is deeper, more costly, and harder to repair.
Second Chances believes strongly that people can change, families can be strengthened, and cycles of disadvantage can be broken. But that only happens when support exists.
Call for urgent action
Second Chances is calling for:
• the decision to end funding for children’s social work and youth support services to be urgently reviewed and reversed;
• proper recognition of the specialist role these services play for children of prisoners and affected families;
• assurance that no child currently receiving support will be left without an equivalent and genuinely specialised service; and
• urgent community and private-sector support if government funding is not restored.
If government does not reverse this decision, Second Chances will need approximately $300,000 per year from community or private-sector support to continue this work and ensure these children and families are not left out in the cold.
Behind every policy decision is a human consequence.
Behind every prison number is a family. Behind every affected child is a life that can still be changed. And behind every missed intervention is a cost that may be paid for years to come.
South Australia’s most vulnerable children should not be the ones who bear the burden of budget constraints.
