Clinks Light Lunch | Issue 618 | 24th January 2020

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In this week's edition...

CLINKS EVENT: save the date

Our Annual conference 2020 will be in London on 12th May. Be sure to put the date in your diaries so you don’t miss our exciting day of workshops, presentations and panels - celebrating the voluntary sector’s diverse work. Look out for further details in Light Lunch soon. Book here

CLINKS NEWS: mentoring and coaching scheme

The Clinks women’s network is piloting a mentoring and coaching scheme for those working in organisations set up to provide tailored support to women. The scheme will match new and emerging leaders who want to develop their performance with experienced leaders working in the field. If you have experience in senior level management and are interested in developing coaching skills, we would love to hear from you. You will receive a one-day training session in coaching skills and once matched with a mentee, you will provide between four and six coaching sessions over a six month period of time from March 2020. If you are interested in joining the scheme, please find more information here

CLINKS EVENT: working safely to meet people’s needs

Clinks and partners want to hear from organisations working in prison and with people with experience of prison to understand more about the evidence in our 2019 state of the sector research about the safety of staff, volunteers and those you support. We are holding a roundtable [12th February, London] questioning: “How can we balance effectively supporting people in the criminal justice system while keeping staff and volunteers safe in the context of the current state of the system?” We will use the learning to inform our work in the next year. Places are limited. Organisations wishing to send one person are asked to email anne.fox@clinks.org with an expression of interest and paragraph describing the work you do, where you work and who you work with.

CLINKS RESPONSE: criteria for inspecting women’s prisons

Clinks has published a response to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) consultation on the criteria used for inspecting women’s prisons. Our response sets out key priorities for improving the inspection criteria to support HMIP staff to: better assess how well the complex needs of women are being met in a prison; assess whether prisons have embedded a trauma-informed approach; and assess the awareness amongst prison staff of the distinct needs of women with additional protected characteristics. We also made a series of recommendations, including that HMIP should have a greater focus on assessing a prison’s commitment to working in partnership with women’s specialist services, by including and strengthening indicators already adopted in the inspection criteria for the men’s prison estate. Read our full response here

CLINKS RESPONSE: advancing health through prevention

We have published our joint response with Nacro to a consultation from the Cabinet Office and Department of Health and Social Care on Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s. Our response focusses on the health inequalities faced by a large group of people in the criminal justice system, the link between poor health and coming into contact with the criminal justice system, and how prevention is of central importance to address the health inequalities they face. Read our full response here

CLINKS EVENT: criminal justice forums

Our next series of Regional criminal justice forums are coming up [13th February, Newcastle | 25th February, Liverpool | 5th March, Llandrindod | free for members, £50 for non-members]. Our forums provide the opportunity to keep up to speed on new developments in the criminal justice system. They also provide the space for you to step back from your crucial day-to-day work to see the bigger picture and context in which you are working. The Liverpool forum will have an additional arts focus, aiming to highlight some of the fantastic work and to share good practice that criminal justice arts organisations are doing in the North West. Book your place here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: marking 50 years

2020 is a monumental year for Changing Lives as it prepares to mark 50 years of work. Its Golden Anniversary will be a celebration of the hard work, dedication and support of everyone who has ever contributed to the funding or running of the organisation. It will also be a celebration of the thousands of people who have been helped through its services over half a century. Changing Lives has grown enormously since it began in 1970 as The Cyrenians, a small charity in the North East helping people who were experiencing homelessness through hostels and day centres. Read more

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: a woman's view

The View Magazine has announced the launch of The View, a magazine for women in prison and everyone affected by the criminal justice system. This View magazine features content written by women in prison and those on license in the community and their families, lawyers and supporters. The magazine will be distributed at no charge to serving women prisoners. It contains heartfelt content, including poems, prose and artwork of women prisoners. The launch issue focuses on issues of unlawful detention following recall and ongoing Indeterminate Public Protection (IPP) sentences and offers a solutions-led editorial which highlights what prisoners and their supporters can do to access the finest legal help and charitable resources. Read more

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: mental health services for people facing multiple disadvantage

Fulfilling Lives has published a report on the barriers people with multiple disadvantage face when trying to access mental health support. The report makes a number of recommendations, including for commissioners to ensure that specialised mental health support is available for people affected by multiple disadvantage. Fulfilling Lives partnerships are funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and work in 12 areas across England to support people experiencing multiple disadvantage to access services. The Making Every Adult Matter coalition, of which Clinks is a founding member, provides specialist support to Fulfilling Lives partners. Read the full report, summary and case studies here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: deaths in custody a national scandal

INQUEST say deaths in custody are a national scandal in need of immediate and urgent attention, in a new report including case studies and analysis of jury findings and coroners’ reports from 61 inquests. It highlights five main areas of concern related to deaths in custody: insufficient mental health care and assessments; failures to provide basic medical care; inadequate recording and sharing of important medical information; inadequate training of staff in first aid skills to identify medical emergencies; and issues related to both prescription and illicit drugs. The report recommends that the government commits to an immediate reduction in the prison population, and for the establishment of an independent ‘National Oversight Mechanism’ to analyse learning and implementation arising from post death investigations, inquiries and inquests. Read the report here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: criminalising trespassing

The Home Office is consulting on proposals to criminalise the act of trespassing when setting up an unauthorised encampment in England and Wales. Organisations working with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups have raised concerns that they may be increasingly criminalised if the proposals in the consultation are enacted. Friends Families and Travellers (FFT), a charity representing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups, recently found that 75% of police forces who responded to their freedom of information (FOI) requests felt current police powers were sufficient and 84% did not support the criminalisation of unauthorised encampments. FFT calls on the government to adopt an approach focussed on providing suitable sites, rather than increasing enforcement. The consultation closes on 4th March. Read the consultation documents here

CLINKS MEMBER’S NEWS: child sexual abuse prevention helpline

The Stop It Now! Helpline (0808 1000 900, stopitnow.org.uk), run by the Lucy Faithful Foundation provides support to anyone concerned with any aspect of child sexual abuse prevention, online or offline. The helpline supports adults worried about their own thoughts, feelings or behaviour, adults concerned about another adult or young person, and professionals who work with those groups. Stop It Now! has a range of public and professional resources available, which are free to download and display. Find out more

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: separation of children

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has published the findings of its thematic inspection into the separation of children in young offender institutions. The inspection found that the experience of most children who had been separated amounted to solitary confinement. In the worst cases children left their cells for just 15 minutes a day and were unable to access basic necessities including daily showers and phone calls. Oversight locally and nationally was found to be poor. HMIP has recommended that a new system be implemented which encourages human interaction and provides an equivalent regime for non-separated and separated children. Read the full report here

CLINKS MEMBER’S TRAINING: violence and trauma

Project 507’s six-week training course, ‘Understanding the relationships between violence and trauma’ [24th February-30th March, London, early-bird £199] is available for a special early-bird price - equivalent to around £33 per four-hour session. The course is CPD accredited and participants must attend all six sessions to receive a certificate of completion. The course includes six sessions: an intro to child development; the internal world: understanding the mind; trauma and personality development; understanding complex trauma; working with violent young people; compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and burn out. Find out more and book here 

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: engaging with the media

The Academy for Social Justice is holding a seminar: ‘A story of Crime and Justice: how to engage effectively with the media’ [25th February, Bristol, free] with Kieran McCartan, Professor of Criminology in conversation with Penelope Gibbs, Transform Justice and former BBC journalist Philippa Budgen about how the public conversation around crime and justice can be reframed and more nuanced. For further details or to request your free seminar place book here

CLINKS MEMBER’S EVENT: prevention of sexual abuse

The Sexual Offences, Crime and Misconduct Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University is holding a one-day conference [Nottingham, 20th May, £65] in association with the Safer Living Foundation. The conference will bring together leading researchers in the field of the prevention of sexual abuse, together with practitioners and organisations in the UK, to discuss best practice in prevention treatment and research, and future avenues to tackling sexual crime. For more information, please contact imogen.byrne@ntu.ac.uk. Book your space here

NON-MEMBERS’ EVENTS AND TRAINING

  • “Tear and Repair” exhibition talk. 13th February | Blackburn | free. Details

PUBLICATION: the prison system and priorities for investment

Reform has published a report on the prison system in which it recommends the government focusses on four priority areas: more effective sentencing; improving the prison estate; improving prison safety; and developing the workforce. The report recommends that the government launches a consultation to consider implementing a ban on, or presumption against, short custodial sentences and considers how to encourage magistrates to increase the use of community alternatives. They also recommend the government funds the Ministry of Justice £900 million to address the growing maintenance backlog in prisons. Reform is a think tank focussed on public service reform, founded by Nick Herbert, a former Conservative MP and Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice. Read the report here

CLINKS MEMBERS’ VACANCIES

Vacancies on the jobs board this week include: Resettlement Caseworker with St. Giles Trust [HMP New Hall], Senior Project Officer - Prisons Support with Samaritans [Surrey], National Quality Manager with Circles UK [Reading], HR Advisor – Recruitment with Changing Lives [Gateshead], Fundraising Officer with Switchback [London], Senior Finance Assistant with Humankind [County Durham], Casework Coordinator (Criminal Justice) with Julian House [Yeovil], Resettlement Support Worker with The Clink Restaurant [HMP Downview & High Down], Substance Misuse Nurse – Homeless Community with Kaleidoscope Project [Cardiff], Parental Rights in Prison - Project Co-ordinator with NEPACS [HMP YOI Low Newton]. For more information about these vacancies, and many more, click here

TIPS OF THE WEEK

  • Tip I: Budapest: Four star city break with flights. £79 per person. Details
  • Tip II: Fitbit watch. Save 38%. Details
  • Tip III: Magnetic windscreen frost, ice and snow covers from £3 Details

EXTRA INFORMATION

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