Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
PALLS Annual Report
2013
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Building a Better Future Together
Mission Statement
Values
The PALLS project works towards
providing an intervention in the lives
of adults engaged with the criminal
justice system to effectively support
them to choose a new path in life.
The kind of intervention provided is a
personalised one, based on a careful,
on-going listening to the needs of the
trainees and expressed formally
through the delivery of a support
programme and informally through
their experience of being part of a
respectful and challenging
community.
The key values informing the project
are respect, equality, trust, selfworth, purposefulness,
supportiveness, fun, personcenteredness, empowerment, and
while being non-judgmental,
proposing and modelling an
alternative way of living.
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Executive Summary
Name of organisation
PALLS
Address
Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick
Telephone
061 608180
Email
[email protected]
Website
www.palls.ie (under construction)
Charity Number
CHY18936
Date Established
Incorporated 4th September 2008
Number of paid employees
4
Number of volunteers
2-volunteer student placements a year
2013 Board of Management
Chairperson
Karl Shanahan
Treasurer
Ray O Halloran
Director
Terence Boyle
Director
Colin Cummins
Director
Margaret Griffin
2013 Staff Team
Coordinator
Jenny Hannon
Project Worker
Gerard Roche
Project Worker
Martin Kiely
Administrator
Rachel Reilly
Volunteer/student
Kate Stoica and Richard Hayer
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
What we do
The PALLS project in Limerick has been in operation, working with adult clients of the Probation
Service since 2009. The project acknowledges that each individual has personalised needs and
strengths to work from. Building from this, along with the known factors that support desistance;
PALLS provides different levels of support and training including but not limited to; the high intensity
support in the men’s Core Programme, Part time Light programme (individualised), Prison Support
and Recruitment, Continuation and Through Care support, and other individual support related to a
person’s offending.
From 2009-2012 PALLS worked exclusively with adult men, which continue as the main target group
and beneficiaries of PALLS. However in 2012/2013 the project expanded to work with women
involved in substance misuse. PALLS chairs and hosts an interagency initiative to respond to the high
level of women on probation in Limerick city (accounting for over 20% of the caseload; compared to
the national average of 11%) and the significant numbers of women experiencing difficulty with
substance misuse in the region. The pilot programme delivered in 2012/2013 which continues
presently is the Helping Women Recover.
PALLS Core Programme
The Core Programme runs from September to July and is open to male clients of the Probation
Service who are 23 years and over. Once on the program participants are referred to as trainees.
Trainees and staff work together to develop Rules of Engagement to ensure that everyone feels safe
in the centre-this is achieved through creating a Group Contract, offering support or mediation
between trainees with violent histories, and a commitment from trainees to leave current conflicts
outside of the project. Over the years trainees from different parts of Limerick City and elsewhere
have worked side by side in PALLS at a time when Limerick was much divided and most trainees did
not have free movement around their city.
Trainees on the Core Programme aim to:
• To explore your relationship with drugs and alcohol and its impact on you and your offending
behaviour
• To design an Individual Action Plan and undertake regular reviews
• To develop in the areas of punctuality, attendance, and participation
• To identify and address the factors linked to offending
• To grow in confidence+ self belief and discipline +self control
• To become familiar with group work
• To undertake structured training and support in the areas of: personal development and self care,
adult education and vocational skills
• To attend PALLS 20 hrs a week drug free
While on the Core Programme trainees may engage in: Health and Safety Induction, Accredited
FETAC Workshops, Drug and Alcohol support, Welding, Engineering, Woodturning, Yoga, Art
Therapy, Driver Theory Test, Team Building, Philosophy, Safe Pass, Forklift etc
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Programmes Provided
PALLS Core Programme
(mens programme)
PALLS part time light
Helping Women Recover
(Low threshold Group
and Recovery Group)
(mens programme)
Specialised Offender
Integration
Continuation Programme
(through care)
(individualised)
Prison Support
(pre + post release)
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Details of Programmes Provided
Core Programme
20 hours a week- Structured programmeSeptember-July
Trainees remain on social welfare
Capacity 12
Referrals accepted from Probation Service, IASIO
and some partner organisations
Referrals must have a current or previous
relationship with the crimnal justice system
Continuation Programme
2-7 hours a week-individualised
Trainees remain on social welfare
Capacity 1-10
Internal Referrals from Core Programme/Part
Time Light/ Specialised
Referrals must have a current or previous
relationship with the crimnal justice system
Part Time Light
2-7 hours a week
Trainees remain on social welfare
Once off training-Capacity 15
Individualised support programme-Capacity 1-5
Referrals accepted from Probation Service, IASIO
and some partner organisations
Referrals must have a current or previous
relationship with the crimnal justice system
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Prison Support
Inreach with trainees who received sentence
while on the programme
Capacity-2
Recruitment of trainees preparing for release
on Community Returns/PSSSO/TR
Referrals accepted from Probation Service,
IASIO and some partner organisations working
in the prison
Specialised Offender Integration
2-14 hours a week-individualised plan in
partnerhip with Probation Officer to support
reintegration
Trainees remain on social welfare
Capacity 2
Referrals accepted from Probation Service only
for clients needing intensive support to
reintegrate
Helping Women Recover Groups
Low Threshold Drop In
2 hrs a week
Capacity 10
Open referral via ALDP + PALLS
HWR Recovery Group
2-4 hrs a week group + holistic activities
Capacity 10
Open referral for women in early recovery
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Internal and External Referrals for 2013
Male Referrals Jan-Dec 2013
Total: 70 referrals
12 No
Engagement
17%
58 Engaged
83%
Referrals include trainees who continued with PALLS from 2012 (Internal Referrals) along with new referrals
submitted between January and December 2013
12 No Engagement includes:



No Shows for training or interviews-8
Those who declined support due to safety reasons (2) or personal preference-(1)
Not contactable -1
70 Male Referrals Jan-Dec 2013
by referrer
Probation
Linkage
3%
other=MCC, NOVAS, Bedford Row
13%
84%
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Summarised Statistics for 2013
Summarised Statistics for 2013
80 people supported by PALLS
Men
58 people
Women
22 people

Intensive Support
o Core Programme-21
o
Continuation Programme-16
o
Part Time Light-9
o
Specialised Offender
Integration-2
o
Prison Support +
Recruitment-5

Once off training or programme
o Vocational Training Course15
o Soccer -4

Low Threshold Women’s Group

Helping Women Recover

Drop in, gender specific and trauma
aware
Designed and delivered in
partnership with ALDP

17 week modular programme
designed by Dr. Stephanie
Conington,2 hrs a week
Gender specific and trauma aware
Holistic Activity programme-2 hrs a
week



PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme Ltd
Highlights of 2013
Milford Project
For over 200 years a magnificent oak tree grew and flourished in what became the grounds of Milford Care Centre in
Limerick. Every year the tree was covered in lights in memory of those who died in Milford. In 2011, at the end of a
long life, the lower body of the tree died and 10 tonnes of wood from the oak tree was donated PALLS to work on a
restorative justice project. PALLS trainees progress from their FETAC course and are tutored in more advanced wood
turning and rustic furniture making, so that projects can be made from the wood and used to fundraise for Milford
Care Centre. In 2013 the project developed memory bowls for speakers of the International Palliative Care
Conference, organised by Milford. Additionally throughout the year trainees created numerous crafts and organised
the pilot PALLS Christmas Fair in December 2013. All aspects of the fair were coordinated by staff and trainees who
had progressed from the Core Programme. The event was a great success and over €2000 was fundraised for Milford
Care Centre.
PALLS, Unit 2 Docklands Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick. Ph: 061 608180
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