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In this month's edition...
Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year from Clinks. Please note the next Health and Justice Bulletin will be sent on 25th January 2022.
In November, we held our Annual General Meeting and conference, on the theme of building a better future. This saw a keynote speech from Matt Grey, Executive Director for Reducing Reoffending, Partnerships and Accommodation, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), who said, “the third sector collectively is an essential partner of HMPPS, and plays a central role in helping the people in [HMPPS’s] care make a success of their lives.” He went on to say that HMPPS has an ambitious and far-reaching plan of work, and the voluntary sector “has a unique and essential role to play.” This focuses on three key areas to improve the rehabilitation and resettlement support for people leaving prison: making sure people have a stable home, a steady job, and good health, free from substance misuse.
This was followed by a panel discussion with Gemma Fox (Managing Director, North Wales Women’s Centre), Josh Stunnell (Director, bthechange CIC) and Hamish Robertson (Strategic Development Lead, St Giles Wise), and a range of workshops covering topics including neurodiversity, supporting racially minoritised and migrant women in the criminal justice system, restorative justice, and improving perceptions of women with convictions. Clinks Annual Report and Audited Accounts are available to read online here
The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Board (RR3) recently convened for its quarterly meeting on 7th December. The group heard from Claire Fielder, Director of Youth Justice and Offender Policy, Ministry of Justice, Matt Grey, Executive Director, Reducing Reoffending, Partnerships and Accommodation, HMPPS and Duncan O’Leary, CEO of the New Futures Network. The notes for this meeting will be published in due course. The group also welcomed two newly appointed members to the RR3 through an open recruitment process, Carolyn Houghton, Rethink Mental Illness for the Mental health seat and Pippa Goodfellow, Alliance for Youth Justice for the Youth justice seat. See all members of the group and their seats here
HMPPS revised Covid-19 controls
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has asked prison governors to review all risk assessments, prioritise vaccination clinics and reintroduce social distancing in response to recent government announcements concerning the risk of Omicron. This is in addition to adhering to the wider community rules regarding working from home and the use of face coverings. Further operational information is available for voluntary sector partners. To request this, please contact covid19@clinks.org
Update for families of people in prisons
On HM Prison and Probation Service's behalf, Pact has published an update to families on managing the risk of Omicron to keep prisoners safe. It contains up-to-date info on visits and testing requirements among other issues currently affecting prisoners and their loved ones. Read the update here
The Lord Chancellor answers questions from the Justice Committee
At the end of November, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP, gave evidence to the Justice Committee on the Ministry of Justice’s work. During this session, Mr Raab spoke about mental health and the importance of providing people with serious mental health difficulties early support, to prevent them entering the criminal justice system. He also spoke about the importance of assessing the needs of people entering prison early, including their mental health and substance misuse needs. In addition, Mr Raab indicated a desire for “ending the addiction dependency and not replacing it”, with a “much stronger focus on eventual recovery”. He also highlighted the need to improve the continuity of support as people leave prison. The recording and transcript from the session are available here
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Covid-19 data
The monthly HMPPS Covid-19 statistics have been published for November 2021. This release shows that there have been 11 deaths of people in prison and supervised individuals within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test. In addition, there were 1,484 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in people in prison or children in custody in November 2021, across 79 establishments. This is an increase of 698 cases, and 13 establishments, compared to October 2021. Read more here
Substance misuse treatment figures
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has published data on adult substance misuse treatment for 2020-21. These found that there were 275,896 adults in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services between April 2020 and March 2021, a rise of about 5,000 on the previous year. The number of adults who entered treatment in 2020/21 was 130,490. Over half of adults (51%) were in treatment for opiate use, and people receiving treatment for alcohol only make up the next largest group (28%). Nearly two-thirds of adults starting treatment (63%) said they had a mental health treatment need. Of the 110,095 people who left the drug and alcohol treatment system in 2020/21, half (50%) completed their treatment successfully, “free from dependence”. Read the report here
The government’s 10-year drugs plan
The government has now published its drugs strategy, setting out its approach over the next 10 years. This strategy implements all the key recommendations from Dame Carol Black’s review of drugs, and has a focus on three areas: disrupting supply, providing treatment to people who use drugs, and cutting demand for drugs. This strategy sets out that addiction will be treated as a chronic health condition, and will provide an additional £780 million of funding for treatment services over the next three years. The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP (Minster for Crime and Policing) will have overall responsibility for the strategy and its delivery, presenting an annual report to Parliament on progress. A new National Outcomes Framework and Local Outcomes Framework will hold government departments and local delivery partners to account. Read the strategy here
The Prisons Strategy White Paper
The government has published its 10 year strategy for prisons in England and Wales. The strategy includes many positive proposals, including increasing the availability of drug treatment in prison and supporting clear pathways into health services for prison leavers. However, the repeated commitment to build more prison places and the absence of measures to address unequal outcomes for racially minoritised people in prison are highly concerning. The Ministry of Justice has provided the opportunity for people to respond to these proposals. Clinks will engage with the sector to shape our response and we encourage as many voluntary organisations as possible to submit a response before the deadline on 4th February 2022. Read the strategy and submit a response here
Alcohol monitoring tags
In 2020, the government rolled out Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirements. These allow courts to require people to wear a tag to monitor their drinking for up to 120 days as part of a community sentence. Following the announcement in its Beating Crime Plan, the government has also introduced alcohol abstinence monitoring tags for people leaving prison, who are known to reoffend after drinking. This means they can either have a licence condition which prohibits drinking for up to a year, or have their drinking levels monitored because their risk of reoffending increases following heavy alcohol consumption. The tags are now available for people leaving prison under Probation Service supervision in Wales, and the scheme will be extended to England next summer. Read more here
Pact wellbeing project
Pact is undertaking a consultation project to better understand families’ experiences of supporting the wellbeing of a loved one who is involved in the criminal justice system. Pact is looking to speak to those with a loved one in custody (or released from custody in the last 12 months) with ongoing health or wellbeing needs. It might be that they have a physical health condition, mental health need or have struggled with addiction; they may have had health and wellbeing needs prior to going into custody, or they may have developed health issues while in custody. Pact is keen to hear from individuals from racially minoritised groups or families of individuals in female establishments. If your service or project is working with individuals who may want to take part please contact polly.wright@prisonadvice.org.uk
Muslim people in prison research project
Maslaha, a charity working to tackle the inequalities facing Muslim communities, is launching a research project looking at the mental health and wellbeing of Muslim people in prison and on release, and their access to support. The evidence will inform recommendations for policy and practice and the development of tools and resources to support the voluntary sector’s service delivery to Muslims. Maslaha are seeking Muslim participants with lived experience of the criminal justice system to participate in one-to-one interviews or focus groups as part of the research. They are also looking to speak to front-line voluntary sector staff supporting people in contact with the criminal justice system for their perspective. Contact Lauren Nickolls, Senior Project Manager, for more information about the project and how to get involved at lauren.nickolls@maslaha.org
Mental Health Treatment Requirements information sessions
Join us for a session with Mignon French, Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) Programme Manager, Health and Justice Non-Custodial Team, NHS England and Improvement [13th January 2022, online, free], where she discusses the MHTRs and how the sector can best work with and utilise these services. MHTRs are one of three possible treatment requirements which may be part of a community order. The overall programme aims to reduce reoffending and divert people from short-term custodial sentences by addressing the mental health needs of the person in contact with the criminal justice system through treatment requirements undertaken in the community. The programme has been largely successful in reducing recidivism and has been expanded by the government, aiming to achieve 50% coverage of mental health provision by 2023/24. Sign up here
Health and justice network meeting
Clinks’ next health and justice network meeting [23rd February 2022, online, free], brings together voluntary sector organisations who deliver health services to people in contact with the criminal justice system to discuss health issues and inequalities that affect their service users, and how they deliver their services. The meetings also include updates from Clinks’ policy team, as well as a chance to share updates and concerns. Book your place here
Joint inspection on mental health in the criminal justice system
The four criminal justice inspectorates, along with the Care Quality Commission and the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, have published a joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders, considering the period leading up to trial, through to post-sentence supervision. The inspection’s findings include that there is no common definition of mental health used across the criminal justice system, and there are also significant problems in information exchange in every agency in the criminal justice system. Amongst other things, the report recommends the Ministry of Justice and Home Office to work with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Welsh government to develop a Memorandum of Understanding on information sharing to promote better joint working. Read the full report here
Alcohol and multiple disadvantage
The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition has published a briefing highlighting the prevalence of alcohol dependence amongst people experiencing multiple disadvantage. Informed by surveys and interviews with MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives areas, the briefing examines the harm caused by high levels of alcohol consumption and the barriers people face in accessing appropriate services. It sets out key principles for more effective services, including the benefits of multi-agency approaches to address co-occurring issues such as poor mental health; building trust with those that have struggled to access support in the past; and the need for assertive outreach support to be built into future tenders and contracts. MEAM is a coalition of Clinks, Homeless Link, Mind and associate member Collective Voice. Read the briefing here
Girls in the children and young people’s secure estate
The Centre for Mental Health has published a report on girls placed in the children and young people’s secure estate (CYPSE). The Centre’s findings include that girls find coming into the CYPSE ‘petrifying’ and re-traumatising, and racially minoritised girls are overrepresented through the youth justice system, but they are less likely to have their mental health needs recognised. The Centre recommends that the support available when girls first enter the CYPSE is strengthened, including improving the identification of mental health needs, neurodiversity needs, and vulnerabilities. They also recommend that staff need more training, strategies and resources to support the management of self-harm, which could involve collaborative learning in partnership with girls themselves, the inpatient secure estate, and forensic CAMHS. Read the report here
Deaths in custody statistical analysis
The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody has published its latest analysis for 2016 to 2019. This covers people in prisons, hospitals whilst detained under the Mental Health Act, Immigration Removal Centres, and Police Custody. The key findings from the data presented in this report include that, between 2016 and 2019, one in five deaths in all custodial settings are self-inflicted; deaths in all custodial settings are much higher than the average number of deaths for the general population of similar age and sex; most deaths took place in prison, but the highest rate of deaths was in psychiatric hospitals; and whilst there were more deaths in men than women in all settings, when the accompanying rates are considered, the difference in deaths narrowed. Read the report here
Making rehab work
Phoenix Futures has published a report that makes recommendations to ensure the system in England that funds and delivers effective residential treatment for substance use enables access for everyone who needs it. The report finds that Residential Rehab ‘Successful Completions’ have improved for every drug group over the past three years, and people who use rehab services are three times more likely to complete their whole treatment journey in a residential setting. However, there are barriers to people being able to access residential treatment. Recommendations include ensuring people with lived experience are integral to the review of eligibility criteria, referral pathways and communication plans, and ensuring preserving residential rehabilitation is part of the planned response to the Dame Carol Back review. Read the report here
Women's access to drug treatment
With You has published a report that seeks to explore the type of support that is available to women who use drugs, their experiences of treatment, and how services can be improved to support these women. The report’s findings include that there was a wide variation in the services local authorities provided for women who use drugs; relationships with a partner playing a much larger role in women’s drug use than men’s; and women were more likely to be introduced to drugs by a partner. The report’s recommendations include ensuring the Drugs Strategy fully addresses the diverse needs of women who use drugs, and investing in women’s services focussed on racially minoritised communities’ experiences, addressing the additional barriers these women face in accessing treatment. Read the report here
Project ADDER guidance
The Home Office and Department for Health and Social Care have published some guidance on Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery), the government’s pathfinder programme combatting substance misuse. The project has received £59 million of investment and is set to run until March 2023. It focusses on co-ordinated law enforcement activity, alongside expanded diversionary programmes. It seeks to make sure that more people get effective treatment, with enhanced treatment and recovery provision. This provision includes housing and employment support, and improved communication between treatment providers, and courts, prisons and hospitals. Central government has worked closely with the police and local authority treatment commissioners in each area to co-produce detailed delivery plans, taking local need into account. Read the guidance here
Suicide prevention fund
The Department of Health and Social Care has made £4 million available for a grant fund to support suicide prevention voluntary organisations across 2021 to 2022. Part of the grant fund will be ring-fenced specifically to help support small community-led and user-led groups and organisations. The strategic aims of the fund are to support suicide prevention voluntary organisations to meet the increased need or demand for suicide prevention services brought about by the pandemic, and to support service provision particularly to high risk groups, including people in contact with the criminal justice system. Applicants must have experience of delivering activity that is intended to prevent suicide. The deadline for applications is 5pm on 16th January 2022. Read the guidance and apply here
Assessing the impact of maternal imprisonment
Russell Webster has published a guest blog from Sarah Beresford, Prison Reform Trust Associate and Churchill Fellow. The blog explores the impact on children of having a parent in prison, especially the child’s main carer. In this context, Beresford has co-created, with children with lived experience, a Child Impact Assessment for children with a primary carer, normally a mother, in the criminal justice system. This aims to ensure children are listened to at every stage of their mother’s journey, and that they are reasonably involved in decision-making about their own care and support. Through the Churchill Fellowship, Beresford is now testing this assessment framework in a variety of UK contexts. Read the blog here
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About Clinks Health and justice bulletin
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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