Clinks Light Lunch | Issue 473 | 17th February 2017

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In this week's edition...

CLINKS RESPONSE: review of youth justice

Clinks, in partnership with Nacro and Peer Power, has published a response to the Taylor Review and the Government response to it. In September 2015 Charlie Taylor was asked to lead a departmental review of the youth justice system for the Ministry of Justice. Taylor’s final report was published in December 2016, together with the Government’s feedback. Our response evaluates the proposals against the issues highlighted in the original submission that we made to the Taylor Review in April 2016, in order to identify what is welcomed as well as a number of areas that we believe continue to require attention. Read the response here

CLINKS RESPONSE: funding of supported housing consultation

Clinks has responded to the Department for Communities and Local Government and Department for Work and Pensions consultation on funding for supported housing. It is essential that the funding mechanism for supported housing enables providers to continue to deliver their services and meet the needs of their clients. Many people who have a conviction rely on supported housing. Our recommendations include: the Ministry of Justice should develop a cross-departmental accommodation strategy to support positive accommodation outcomes for people in contact with the criminal justice system and that people with a conviction should be defined as a vulnerable group. Read the response here

CLINKS BRIEFING: safe and secure homes

Clinks has published a briefing on the results of research into accommodation needs of people in contact with the criminal justice system. Commissioned by Clinks and Homeless Link, the research aimed to understand how these needs are being met since the implementation of Transforming Rehabilitation (TR). The results show that many challenges remain in terms of securing appropriate and stable accommodation. Some of these challenges are directly related to the implementation of TR, such as a lack of accommodation advice given by some Community Rehabilitation Companies. Others exist due to external factors including pressures on housing supply leading to fewer housing options and reductions in local authority budgets. Read more here

CLINKS EVENT: involving your service users

How can you best involve people with lived experience of the criminal justice system in designing and delivering your services? Clinks is running two events to inform and grow this aspect of the sector: 'Service user involvement managers' network' [24th February, Plymouth, £25] and 'Service user involvement training: payment, reward and benefits' [22nd March, Birmingham, £75]. Whether you're new to service user involvement or have plentiful experience, these specialist events will give you the chance to share your ideas and grow your expertise. We’ll also hear from voluntary sector organisations leading the way in best practice, and from experts by experience who are now helping to shape the services they use. Find out more and book here

CLINKS EVENT: criminal justice policy

For the latest on probation, the new Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, new government reviews and strategies and other key criminal justice developments, come to Clinks regional policy forums [28th February, Darlington | 7th March, Bristol |14th March, Chester | from £15]. Speakers across the three events include Community Rehabilitation Company chief executives, the Deputy Director of the National Probation Service, voluntary sector leaders and the Clinks policy team. The forums will also give you the opportunity to discuss key challenges you face and inform Clinks’ national policy work. Read more and book here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: funding to help vulnerable people

The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition - formed of the national charities Clinks, Homeless Link and Mind – has welcomed £2.78 million in new funding from the Big Lottery Fund to significantly expand support for people with multiple needs across England over the next five years. People with multiple needs face a combination of problems including homelessness, substance misuse, contact with the criminal justice system and mental ill health. Baroness Claire Tyler, Chair of the MEAM coalition, said: “We strongly welcome the support from the Big Lottery Fund for this expansion of our work.  We know that by using the MEAM Approach local areas can improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged people in our society". Read more here

CLINKS MEMBER'S NEWS: women with brain injuries

The Disabilities Trust Foundation has launched a brain injury Linkworker service at HMP Drake Hall. People with brain injuries may experience poor memory, lack of concentration, aggression, problems sleeping and other difficulties which impact on their everyday lives and may make it difficult to engage with rehabilitation programmes. The pilot Linkworker service will deliver direct one-to-one support to women with brain injuries and develop partnerships with health, social care, probation, homeless, and drug and alcohol services to ensure each woman has the appropriate network in place on discharge from prison. Prison staff will also be provided with brain injury training. Read more here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: sentencing and prison population

The Secretary of State for Justice, Liz Truss, gave a speech on criminal justice reform at The Centre for Social Justice on the 13th February. She expanded on her previous announcement regarding prison reforms, and discussed the issue of prison overcrowding. Plans put forward in this speech include better mental health provision, better provision for families based on the Farmer Review, employment of more prison officers and the introduction of the Prison and Courts Bill. Immediate sentence reduction was ruled out, with the focus being on reducing the prison population by tackling the causes of offending behaviour. Read the speech here

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: automation of the courts

Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Services (HMCTS) has released a new document detailing how current changes are intended to improve services. The document discusses the guiding principles of HMCTS, improvements in technology and the use of new technology in the justice system such as online courts, and large scale investments being put in place to support these. It has a particular focus on the automation of the court system. Read the report here

FUNDING: coalfield communities

The Coalfields Community Investment Programme is a £500,000 fund created to support activities that tackle some of the key challenges that remain in coalfield communities across England. Grants of up to £10,000 are available for projects that are delivered in the top 30% most deprived coalfield communities and that make a positive difference across the themes of skills, employment and health. The eligible wards are in the North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Kent. The deadline for the eligibility survey is 10th March. Find out more and apply here

FUNDING: rugby union

Comic Relief has opened the Try for Change Small Grants Fund to applications from smaller charities, community groups and local community rugby clubs in England. Grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 are available for one year of activity, and the work must take place in England. The funding is to deliver projects which use rugby union to achieve social change and work towards outcomes including: increase community cohesion, improve educational attainment, increase employability, reduce involvement in gangs and reduce the risk of re-offending, improve mental and physical health and increase social integration. The deadline for applications is 31st March. Find out more and apply here

FUNDING: armed forces

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund is open for the next round of funding applications of up to £20,000.  Local grants are available for projects that respond to the local needs of the armed forces community and improve recognition of the Armed Forces Covenant, and that help integrate armed forces and civilian communities across the UK, and/or deliver valuable local services to the armed forces community. Read more here

CLINKS PARTNER'S EVENT: researching criminal justice

The University of Sheffield is hosting a two day conference [5th-6th June, Sheffield. £55-75]. 'The voluntary sector in criminal justice: Setting the research agenda' will bring delegates from academia, practice and policy together to discuss research needs and the current state of research within criminal justice. The conference aims to identify needs and gaps in research capacity, voluntary sector governance, and the tools and ethics of current research. Speakers include several prominent figures from academia, the voluntary sector and UK and US criminology departments. Find out more and book here

CLINKS MEMBER'S EVENT: supporting families

i-HOP is holding a launch event for their 'Handbook for Supporting Offenders’ Families' [20th March, London, £25]. This practical resource will inform practitioners of the impact of a loved one’s offending on the whole family and equip them to provide effective interventions from assessment onwards. Each delegate will receive a copy of the handbook with practical tips, visual tools and resource lists to guide practice with children and families. Speakers will include a senior representative from Barnardo’s, Anne Fox CEO of Clinks, practitioners from the voluntary and statutory sector and a contribution from young people affected by a loved one’s offending behaviour. Read more and book here

CLINKS MEMBER'S EVENT: action on suicide

Positive Justice Gloucestershire is holding its spring meeting [23rd March, Cheltenham, free] on the topic of preventing suicide in prison. Lorraine Atkinson, senior policy officer at The Howard League will be speaking, and there will be a discussion to follow. For more information phone 01453 759438

CLINKS MEMBER'S TRAINING: impact on families

Nepacs is offering a one day course [1st March, Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 23rd March, Northumberland £35-50 plus VAT] on the impact on offenders' families from arrest to release, and how to support them. 'Hidden Sentence' training is for employees or volunteers whose work brings them into contact with families of prisoners, including health professionals, probation/Community Rehabilitation Company staff, school staff, child care providers, social workers, youth workers, play workers, local authority staff or community/voluntary workers. For more information email training@nepacs.co.uk

PUBLICATION: armed forces veterans

The Probation Institute, Forces in Mind Trust and Centre for Crime and Justice Studies have published a report on the provision of services for veterans under probation supervision in England and Wales, following the 2014 Phillips Review of ex-armed forces personnel in the criminal justice system. The report concludes that the development of services for veterans remains patchy and suggests that planning for improved and extended services for veterans must include a strategic vision that combines research and development with a plan for funding services and support. Read more here

PUBLICATION: Latin American prisons

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has released its most recent Prison Service Journal, Issue 229, 3rd January 2017. This issue has a special focus on Latin American prisons. The Latin American prison population has grown from 50,000 in 2000 to over 1.3 million by 2014. Read more here

CLINKS MEMBERS' VACANCIES

Vacancies on the jobs board this week include: a Locality Lead with Change, grow, live [Worthing], an Interim Service Manager with Social Interest Group, a Case Manager with Recoop [Devon], a  Youth Mentor with Sova, a Caseworker with St Giles Trust [London], Trustees with Women In Prison, a Reducing Reoffending Worker with Nacro [Rochester], a Head of Service with Working Chance [London], a Summer Internship with RAPt and a Resettlement Manager with Shelter [Lincolnshire and Humberside]. For more information about these vacancies, and many more, click here

TIPS OF THE WEEK

  • Tip of the week I: Free katsu curry at Yo! Sushi! Details
  • Tip of the week II: 40% off at The Body Shop. Details
  • Tip of the Week III: 25% off homewares at Argos. Details

EXTRA INFORMATION

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Clinks