Partnership Work :
HMP Risley & Thorn
Cross
Transforming
Rehabilitation:
Strategy for Reform
Partnership Work
WVA secured funding to run an 18-month pilot at
both HMP Risley and HMP Thorn Cross, to help
meet some of the aims of the strategy.
Thorn cross project involved
the recruitment of a Volunteer
Coordinator to recruit, train
and support a team of
Volunteer Mentor’s, to offer
1:1 support to prisoners during
custody and upon release.
HMP Risley involved working in
partnership to identify and respond to
increased resettlement needs against
pathway themes to reducing reoffending.
Creating additionality to current pathways
to enhance existing services and create
new opportunities, engaging with the
voluntary sector.
Transforming Rehabilitation – Key
Facts:
• Transforming Rehabilitation is the name given to the government's
programme for how offenders are managed in England and Wales
from February 2015.
.
• The reforms have replaced the previous 35 individual Probation
Trusts with a single National Probation Service, responsible for the
management of high-risk offenders;
• 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) responsible for the
management of low to medium risk offenders in 21 areas across
England and Wales, these are referred to as Contract Package Areas
(CPAs).
• The CRCs will also have a new responsibility for supervising shortsentence prisoners (those sentenced to less than 12 months in
prison) after release.
Overview:
At the heart of these changes is a strategy to
accommodate prisoners with very short sentences
(under twelve months), or with five months of
sentence left to serve, in establishments situated
close to their release areas.
These establishments have been designated
‘Resettlement Prisons’.
Why change to
resettlement prisons?
•
•
•
•
Aimed at reducing re-offending
Working towards rehabilitation
Right direction
Community links
Resettlement is where prisoners and their
families receive assistance and support from
the Prisons and Probation services, and
voluntary agencies to help them prepare for
life after prison. This includes advice about
their benefits, training, education, work
experience and preparation for release.
The objective is to help prisoners
return to normal life, get a job and
home, and cope with life without reoffending.
Impact of reducing reoffending….
By reducing reoffending we can ensure that there are
fewer victims of crime, that our communities are safer
and that less money is spent on repeat offenders passing
through the system again and again….
The National Audit Office has estimated the cost of
reoffending by recent
ex-prisoners as being somewhere between
£9.5 and 13 billion
Resettlement
prisons:
Explore ways to foster links with voluntary and
community groups as a means of increasing
diversity and helping to meet the needs of
minority groups and specialist needs of
prisoners.
Show commitment to engaging with the
voluntary and community sector to enhance
and develop the services it delivers across the
establishment.
Recognising the value of the voluntary and community sector
– the way in which we can bring knowledge, skills and
expertise to the prison, which are invaluable and may not
otherwise be provided or easily gained
Impact for the sector
• People facing multiple needs are in every community in Britain
and it is estimated that 58,000 people face problems of
homelessness, substance misuse and offending in any one year.
• People experiencing multiple needs are likely to live in poverty
and experience stigma, discrimination, isolation, social
exclusion and loneliness.
• The voluntary sector brings something unique to public services
in the Criminal Justice System, as they have a different
relationship with service users: often voluntarily engaged,
within the heart of their community at a neighbourhood level
Voluntary sector
organisations are
increasingly required to
advocate for and support
some of the most
marginalised groups in our
society.
Improving
opportunities:
‘Volunteering should be open to all, no matter what their background,
race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, age, gender,
marital status, sexual orientation or disability.’
This is one of the principles which underpin the work of Warrington’s
Volunteering Strategy 2013-2016; the aim of this to identify activities that
support this principle in practice.
Employment or volunteering can
dramatically reduce re-offending
rates
• Some organisations may use criminal convictions to
discriminate against applicants unfairly.
• Organisations can miss out on a large and diverse talent
pool, as a result of exaggerated fear or misconceptions.
• 88,000 people in prison, 61% reoffend within 2 years.
However, this figure drops to 19% if engaged in meaningful
activity
Useful tips for
organisations
Policy and procedures
It is good practice for volunteer-involving organisations to have a
policy and agreed procedures about recruitment. These policies and
procedures should seek to exclude the minority who might cause
harm, but not exclude those whose offences are irrelevant.
Are we allowed to take up a DBS check?
DBS checks can only be justified by the nature of the role in question.
You have to be consistent to all applicants: you can’t take up a DBS
check just because you know or suspect someone is an ex-offender.
Making a decision
A DBS check is not an effective tool on its own. Interviews, references,
trial periods and ongoing supervision all help to determine whether
someone is suitable for a role.
Useful contacts and further
information
Warrington Voluntary Action:
www.warringtonva.org.uk
Disclosure and Barring Service:
National information:
https://www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check/overview
Local information:
http://warringtonva.org.uk/support/dbs-disclosure-barring-service
CRC Community Rehabilitation Company - Purple Futures
http://purplefutures.sites.interserve.com/