In this month's edition...
The Health and Justice Network meeting was held on the 20th May, where we consulted with voluntary sector organisations working in health and justice on our policy priorities for the year and the work we will be doing as part of our membership of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
We have recruited two new policy officers to join our Directorate of Influene and Communications. Franklin Barrington and Noorjehan Piperdy started at Clinks in May 2021 and will join our policy team to support Clinks’ influencing work to represent and advocate for the voluntary sector in criminal justice.
Clinks has responded to the Howard League All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System’s inquiry into women’s health and wellbeing in prisons. Our response outlined issues with mental health and substance misuse, pregnancy and maternity, access to healthcare in prisons, and the impact of Covid-19. We also responded to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into mental health in prison. We cited our own research on the services that the voluntary sector provides to people in prison to support people with mental health needs, and the rising levels of service user need evident even before Covid-19, but now more critical than ever. Both responses will be published on our website as soon as possible.
Needs and experiences of pregnant women and recent mothers
Clinks and Birth Companions have come together to publish report on the needs and experiences of pregnant women and recent mothers in the community in England, which was commissioned by the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, and funded by the Department for Health and Social Care. This report focuses on the lived experiences of pregnant women and recent mothers relating to health, criminal justice, social services, and the voluntary sector, and outlines key findings relating to their experiences and recommendations to improve the services provided to them. We will be holding a launch event with a range of stakeholders from health, justice, and the voluntary sectors to discuss the findings and recommendations on the 27th May. Register for the event here and read the report here
Clinks statement on the reformed and reunified probation service
The reformed and reunified probation service will launch on the 26th June. On the 21st of May, Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) announced which organisations will deliver contracts to provide resettlement and rehabilitation services. After our campaigning, we are pleased to see recognition of the knowledge and expertise in our sector, which has emerged as the main partner in the delivery of rehabilitation and resettlement services. Still, many charities are being shut out or given a back seat. A limited few in the voluntary sector are involved – and these are mainly larger organisations. In our blog we look at the announcement in more detail and make recommendations for change. See our statement here and read the blog here
Inquiry into women in prison
The Justice Committee has launched an inquiry into women in prison. The inquiry is seeking to understand the progress made in addressing women’s contact with the criminal justice system and reducing the number of women in custody, since Baroness Jean Corston’s 2007 report A review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system and the publication of the Government’s Female Offender Strategy 11 years later. The inquiry is also seeking to understand how well female offenders’ needs are met in custody. The Committee is seeking written submissions of no more than 3000 words by the 7th June. Clinks will be responding to this inquiry and engaging with our members to inform our response. Read more here
RECONNECT webinar
Clinks is hosting a webinar on the RECONNECT: Care after Custody service, following our guest blog from Kate Morrissey, National Implementation Lead for RECONNECT [9th June, online, free]. RECONNECT starts working with people before they leave prison, giving them access to a RECONNECT worker, and helps them to make the transition to community-based services that provide the health and care support that they need. In this webinar, we will hear from Kate about the national programme, Revolving Doors Agency’s Lived Experience Team that was involved in the design and development of the service, and hear from the service providers themselves. Register for the event here
Covid-19 in prisons: preparing for future pandemics
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is hosting the third and final webinar in a series on Covid-19 in prisons, looking to the future [16th June, online, free]. The webinar will discuss strategies to prevent and manage pandemics in prisons going forward based on the learning from Covid-19, including what governance and accountability structures need to be in place to ensure public health is always prioritised. Speakers include Chantal Edge, Public Health Registrar and National Institute of Health Research Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow, and Dr Éamonn O'Moore, National Lead for Health & Justice, Public Health England and Director UK Collaborating Centre World Health Organisation Health in Prisons Programme. Read more and book your place here
Modernising criminal justice conference 2021
GovNet events are hosting the modernising criminal justice conference in 2021 [23rd June, online, £175/£249]. Speakers will include Minister for Prisons and Probation Alex Chalk MP, Director General for Probation and Wales Amy Rees, and Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Hon David Lammy MP. The agenda will build on the steps already in place to help the voluntary sector working in the criminal justice system deal with the challenges caused by Covid-19, focusing on successfully integrating probation, and using technology for new ways of delivering justice during Covid-19. Register here
Safety in custody quarterly: update to December 2020
HM Prison and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice have published quarterly statistics on safety in custody, reporting on deaths in prison custody to March 2021, and assaults and self-harm to December 2020. In the 12 months to March 2021, there were 408 deaths in prison custody, an increase of 42% from the previous 12 months. Of these, 79 deaths were self-inflicted. In the most recent quarter there were 154 deaths, 45 more than in the previous quarter, and a record high quarterly total. A higher proportion of deaths in the latest quarter were from Covid-19. There were 55,542 self-harm incidents in the 12 months to December 2020, down 13% from the previous 12 months. Over the same period, the rate of self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners decreased by 13% in male establishments, but worryingly, increased 13% in female establishments. Read more here
Analysis of the Female Offender Strategy
Prison Reform Trust has published an analysis of the government’s female offender strategy, demonstrating that the government has fully implemented only 31 of 65 commitments. Key deliverables relating to health that have had no progress include improving women's safety in custody partially through implementing Independent Advisory Panel and Prison and Probation Ombudsman recommendations; replicating holistic care models across prison healthcare in the women's estate; and updating instructions to probation staff on childcare so childcare issues are not a barrier to compliance. Other deliverables with only partial progress include the roll out of NHS England-commissioned Liaison and Diversion Services with women's lead in each service and enhanced women’s pathways, with a similar plan in Wales. Deliverables such as the protocol to increase the use of Community Sentence Treatment Requirements in England have been met. Read more here
HMPPS Covid-19 weekly data
HM Prison and Probation Service has published weekly data on Covid-19 in adult prisons and the Youth Custody Service (YCS). In the week ending 26th April 2021, there was one death confirmed or suspected to be due to Covid-19 in the adult estate, and none in the YCS. 56 service users in the adult estate tested positive for Covid-19 across 13 sites, and no YCS service users tested positive. Read more here
Young women transitioning to the adult justice system
Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice have published a briefing on young women transitioning to the adult justice system, finding that they face multiple disadvantage, with their experiences underpinned by violence and abuse, poor mental health, addiction, exclusion from education, and poverty. Black and racially minoritised girls can face a ‘double disadvantage’, discriminated against due to both their gender and race. Despite some recognition that this cohort have unique needs, there is no strategic policy focus or action plan in place to respond to this. Recommendations call for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to integrate an age-informed response to young adult women within the Female Offender Strategy, and for the MoJ to update the Concordat on Women in or at risk of contact with the Criminal Justice System to reflect the needs of young adult women. Read the briefing here
Creativity in a restricted regime: a guide for prison staff
The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance has published a guide for prison staff to enable creativity for wellbeing and a continuing rehabilitative culture in criminal justice settings during Covid-19 and beyond. The guide notes that access to arts and creative activity is essential for prisoner health and wellbeing, and therefore these activities have a crucial role to play in a restricted regime. The guide recommends creative and artistic activities that support participants to feel they are a part of something beyond their cell. Recommendations include seeking out creative partnerships and projects which foster and maintain family connections for people in prison, and having a lead member of staff for creative delivery. Read the guide here
Swire Charitable Trust
Swire Charitable Trust is offering grants of a discretionary amount to charities that are directly addressing the challenges faced by the most marginalised and disadvantaged people, supporting them to make the most of their talents and boost long-term outcomes. The Trust specifically focuses on organisations working with children and young people who are in the care of their local authority; involved with the criminal justice system; and/or from the most economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Read more here
Improving mental health in the criminal justice system during the pandemic and beyond
The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) has produced a blog on improving mental health in the criminal justice system during the pandemic and beyond, based on a recently held expert panel discussing the topic. Key insights were gathered from Prison Reform Trust, the Zahid Mubarek Trust, Centre for Mental Health, and Changing the Game. These include the improvements required in the commissioning of mental health services in prisons, and strong accumulating evidence that the pandemic affects people’s mental health differently depending on a number of risk factors – many of which are present among racially minoritised communities. People in prison identified some things that have helped them cope during the pandemic, such as in-cell phones, kindness and empathy from prison staff and regular check-ins from mental health teams. Read the blog here
Senedd Elections 2021 – where do the manifestos stand on criminal justice?
Clinks’ Health and Justice Policy and Development Officer Zahra Wynne has written a blog on the manifestos of the three main Welsh parties in the run up to the Senedd elections. Since Clinks published this blog on the 4th May, the Senedd elections have been held, with Welsh Labour winning 30 of the 60 seats in the Senedd and leader of Welsh Labour Mark Drakeford returning as First Minister of Wales. In this blog, we analysed what each of the party’s commitments were with regards to criminal justice. Welsh Labour’s commitments included pursuing the case for the devolution of policing and justice, and pledging to implement and fund the commitments made in their Race Equality Action Plan to tackle inequalities and racism faced by racially minoritised people. Read the blog here
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This regular bulletin provides Clinks members with the latest news for voluntary organisations involved in the health and care of people in the criminal justice system. It currently has 2,428 subscribers.
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