Do you enjoy working with people and helping them to work through their problems and
achieve their goals?
Do you believe in the rehabilitation of offenders within our communities?
Do you enjoy trying new challenges?
This leaflet is designed to give you some basic information about our prisoner work placement scheme
and the role you can play within the programme.
Why does the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) offer community work placements?
The provision of community work placements for Life sentenced prisoners has been operating from HMP
Greenock for over 15 years. Research demonstrates that offenders who have completed all identified
offence related programmes, have been subject to a phased return to the community via the community
work placement scheme and home leave scheme are better prepared, can evidence readiness for their
eventual release and are less likely to reoffend.
How does the community placement scheme work?
Only after a base criterion is met followed by a robust risk assessment process, which culminates in
approval from the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, can the Scottish Prison Service licence a prisoner
to access the community placement scheme. Each prisoner thereafter is allocated a placement officer
who will oversee all aspects of the placement including:
Assessing suitability of prisoners for each placement; and arrange a face to face meeting between
the prisoner and the placement provider;
Completion of accompanying paperwork, including placement provider and prisoner compact
agreements.
Monitoring the prisoners’ behaviours and attitude through fortnightly visits to the placement
location and provide ongoing support to the placement provider.
What are the benefits of joining the Placement Scheme?
The provision of community work placements can be challenging, but it is also an incredibly rewarding
role. You would be contributing towards the vision of a ‘Safer Scotland’ whilst providing prisoners with
an opportunity for on the job training, developing transferable skills and ‘real life’ work experience.
Prisoners leaving custody face a number of challenges relating to the job market, if you are prepared to
help offenders to make positive changes to their lives the placement scheme is an excellent opportunity
to become involved.
All associated costs, such as transport and prisoner payment, will be met by the prison.
We will be running an Employers Event 15th June 2012 between 2pm and 4pm in HMP Greenock, which
you are invited, where we shall provide further details of this exiting business opportunity. If you are
interested in attending this event please call John Aitken on 01475 883 324 or John Cook on 01475 883
342 to register.
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