In this issue...
Welcome to the first specialist ebulletin for voluntary organisations led by and focused on racially minoritised people in the criminal justice system. The ebulletin aims to keep you updated on relevant news, developments and opportunities. Please contact Kaiya Caines at kaiya.caines@clinks.org if there is anything you would like to raise or to include items in the next ebulletin.
Each ebulletin, Clinks’ Race and Justice Network Coordinator, Kaiya Caines, will spotlight one of the members of Clinks’ race and justice network. This time, it’s SHEWISE.
Member Spotlight - SHEWISE
In December we sat down with Salma Ullah Co-Founder and CFO of SHEWISE, providing an opportunity to learn about the great work that they do and what support Salma needs as a Race and Justice network member.
SHEWISE started in 2015 as a social enterprise supporting ethnic minority women in the areas of Hounslow, Tower Hamlet, Ealing, Chelsea, Kensington and Hammersmith and Fulham in London. SHEWISE supports women who are looking to start a business or are running small businesses from home, often the women had business skills but not necessarily all of the “know-how”. SHEWISE found women were working in isolation due to language barriers and a lack of digital literacy which was limiting their growth.
From these findings SHEWISE created a specific platform for women to be trained and gain an in-depth understanding of being a business owner. They facilitated a retail space for women to have pop-up shops, giving them an opportunity to showcase their work. From this, a partnership with Hounslow Mall was established, enabling women to have a retail space for two days a week. SHEWISE created a package from this and worked with organisations such as SOLACE, Hounslow Local Authority and Women in Prison to create a bigger reach.
Their journey then grew and SHEWISE realised that there were other areas where they could provide support to women. They were commissioned to deliver a 12-week programme that was similar to the above but was to be delivered to women that were sleeping rough and were invisible in the system. This programme exposed them to the backgrounds of some of the women they supported with women facing domestic violence and mental health issues alongside many other areas of great challenge within their lives. This presented SHEWISE with a barrier in supporting their women as their historical issues meant they needed to develop a more holistic approach. This inspired SHEWISE to change from a social enterprise to a charity in 2018. SHEWISE now have five programmes that support women in: Domestic Abuse, Rehabilitation, Mental Health, Skills Development, and Enterprise, which encompasses a Holistic Empowered Living model.
SHEWISE are always open to collaborating with like-minded individuals and delivering their programmes where there is a need. To learn more about their work please click here or feel free to contact Salma at salma@shewise.org
Clinks’ thematic networks sit down with Hannah Meyer from HMPPS leadership
In January, a few members from the Race and Justice network and Women’s network attended a roundtable discussion with Hannah Meyer, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Executive Director for Strategy, Planning and Performance. Hannah was keen to hear reflections from voluntary organisations working in prisons and with the Probation Service on the practical improvements where collaboration could be sought in the areas of race, disability and gender equality. The honest reflections from attendees were welcomed from Hannah and the team and we are keen to ensure that conversations between network members and Hannah’s team continue so that the important topics discussed remain a priority and progress is communicated effectively.
Clinks explores inequalities in mental and physical healthcare for racially minoritised men in prison
Clinks has determined its three core projects for next year as part of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The first is a project exploring inequalities in mental and physical healthcare for racially minoritised men in the criminal justice system. The second focusses on health and wellbeing for older people in the criminal justice system. The third project will look at social prescribing for people in and leaving prison. If you are interested in being involved in this work, please contact Rachel Tynan, Influence and Policy Manager, or Olivia Dehnavi, Senior Policy Officer.
New policy briefing by EQUAL on ethnic inequalities published by Action for Race Equality
Six years on from the Lammy Review (2017), new research revealed compelling evidence that race and ethnicity still play a significant role in remand and sentencing decisions. A policy briefing by EQUAL shows that defendants from ethnic minority groups are treated more harshly than White British defendants in the court system. The work was led by Dr Kitty Lymperopoulo (Principal Investigator) and supported by Dr Patrick Williams (Manchester Metropolitan University and EQUAL advisory member). The findings form part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project entitled ‘Ethnic Inequalities in the Criminal Justice System (CJS)’, the briefing makes a series of recommendations for policy and practice in addressing ethnic disparities in remand and sentencing. You can find a copy of the policy briefing here.
Thematic Inspection Report on the experiences of Black and Mixed Heritage boys in the youth justice system - What’s next?
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published an action plan following His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation's thematic inspection on the experiences of Black and Mixed Heritage boys in the youth justice system. The report outlines 18 recommendations of which the MoJ have either accepted or partially accepted. It was accepted that the Home Office should publish local and national data on stop and search statistics, broken down my gender and age as well as ethnicity and “release under investigation” statistics including outcomes broken down by gender, age and ethnicity. Read the action plan here.
Joint enterprise - a step in the right direction
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has pledged to set up a pilot scheme to record data on the age, race, sex and disability of those prosecuted under the joint enterprise doctrine. In 2012, the House of Commons Justice Committee recommended that the CPS start recording and monitoring data on joint enterprise prosecutions. Following a legal challenge from campaign group JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association) working with Liberty, the CPS agreed to record this data and also to monitor when joint enterprise prosecutions have been presented as "gang-related" cases. The initial findings will be published after six months of the scheme.
Female Offender Minority Ethnic Guidance Event
In January the Race and Justice and Women’s networks came together to do a first review of the Guidance for Women - from arrest to sentencing, that forms part of the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) Female Offender Minority Ethnic (FOME) work lead by Janice James (MoJ). Janice welcomed contributions from our network members on how the guidance can be written with a more trauma-informed approach. The event allowed for two discussions, with one looking at the arrest section, and the other, courts and sentencing. The event feedback shows that attendees found the event useful for collaboration, as well as for understanding the intersectionality of race and gender within the criminal justice system. Janice is re-writing the guidance in line with the suggestions made and has also replied to the questions that were asked. If you attended and are yet to receive a copy of her responses, please let either Kaiya Caines at kaiya.caines@clinks.org or Jackie Lowthian at jackie.lowthian@clinks.org know. Once the guidance is launched, we hope it will be beneficial in supporting those of you that work with women.
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) response to thematic review on the experiences of Black male prisoners and Black prison staff
Following the recent thematic review on the experiences of Black prison staff and Black male prisoners by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have published a response on the Justice Inspectorate’s website. The response includes their short, medium, and long-term actions with focus on improving professional standards, increasing senior leader accountability and promoting collective responsibility. The response includes plans of working with Black people and other underrepresented groups and attempts, for the first time, to take a real "whole system" approach in adopting a zero-tolerance approach to racism. You can read both the thematic review and the full response on the Justice Inspectorate’s website.
Update on funding for the criminal justice voluntary sector
In November, Clinks began receiving feedback from members and concerns from the wider voluntary sector regarding the prolonged waiting and deferred action on promised funding decisions from the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). This concerned those in the process of planning Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) and began impacting those awaiting the outcome of the first probation grants programme for racially minoritised organisations, using funding from the Regional Outcomes and Innovation Fund (ROIF), as well as other strategic grants. Clinks advocated, on behalf of the voluntary sector, and Clinks CEO, Anne Fox, engaged Amy Rees, Chief Executive HMPPS and Phil Copple, Director General Operations, HMPPS, asking for an explanation and exploring actions to move forwards. Clinks have since received a response to this letter that can be read here and subsequently published a blog outlining more detail.
The legacy of Stephen Lawrence- 30 years on
Join TUC and Dr Neville Lawrence [21 April, 18:30 - 21:30] to reflect on 30 years since the death of Stephen Lawrence and the ongoing fight to secure racial justice. Following the public inquiry by the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, the TUC established its first anti-racism task group - The Stephen Lawrence Task Group. The task group set out to oversee the work of trade unions to tackle institutional racism. You can book your attendance to this event here.
Clinks in conversation with Amy Rees and Phil Copple
We have an exciting opportunity for the voluntary sector to engage with Amy Rees, Director General CEO, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and Phil Copple, Director of Operations, HMPPS. The event [3 May, 10:00 - 11:30] will consist of a discussion between the chair, Anne Fox, Chief Executive Officer at Clinks, Amy Rees and Phil Copple focussing on the themes which have emerged from our recent State of the Sector research findings as well as other current issues that the voluntary sector is facing in the criminal justice system. This will then be followed by a Q&A session, you can book your attendance to this hybrid event via our website here.
Racial disproportionalities in the criminal justice system
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Race and community is hosting a parliamentary event [17 April, 18:00 - 20:00] exploring racial disproportionalities in charging, prosecution and judicial decision-making. This event will see the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), legal professionals and civil society campaigners discuss why these disparities exist and what can be done to mitigate them. The session will be co-chaired by Labour MPs Clive Lewis and Bell Riberio-Addy. You can learn more about the in-person event and book your place here.
Working and volunteering in prisons training
Clinks are hosting a training session for volunteers/staff members that are new to working in prisons and want to increase their understanding of the prison system. The training should help attendees feel equipped with understanding the complexities associated with the prison environment and the role of the voluntary sector within the prison. This will be a three-hour training session held online via zoom. To book your place please click here.
Unconscious Bias in the Criminal Justice System
Wipers Youth CIC are hosting an event that explores strategies and techniques to reduce the potential for unconscious bias to adversely impact upon practice. The training course is targeted towards prison and probation staff and aims to enhance the awareness of unconscious bias within the context of racial disproportionality and overrepresentation of global majority people within the criminal justice system. This is an in-person course held in London, book your place onto the course today.
The Lammy Review: 5 years on
In the absence of any published update since 2020, the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) have published a RAG report looking at the progress against each of the 14 recommendations in the review and whether the policies have changed to meet Lammy’s original recommendations. The Lammy review investigated the treatment of people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in the criminal justice system. The RAG report highlights whether the review has led to a change in outcomes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Prisoners. Of the 14 recommendations the RAG report spotlights that six remain red, with one of these being the use of force in prison. Regular statistics on the use of force are still not published, and there is no available evidence of performance in the application of the use of force policy. PRT’s report can be accessed here.
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Living While Black - Book - Living While Black empowers you to adopt radical self-care tools that improve day-to-day wellness. It teaches you how to thrive not just survive and find hope - or even joy - in the face of racial adversity. It is also an essential anti-racist resource for allies who want to do better.
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Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain - In his bestselling book, Sathnam Sanghera shows how our imperial past is everywhere: from how we live and think to the foundation of the NHS and even our response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Kinship Across the Black Atlantic - This book considers the meaning of kinship across Black Atlantic diasporas in the Caribbean, Western Europe and North America via readings of six contemporary novels.
Reflections on the Race and Justice network
If you have not already, please take the time out to read my blog post on the Clinks website that looks at the history of the Race and Justice network and the plans ahead. For ease of access to the blog please click here.
Black Women passing on the Baton
In honour of this year’s International Women’s Day, Jaqueline Hinds, Emotional Intelligence Coach (CEIC) and a role model/mentor on Action for Race Equality’s Routes2Success project wrote a blog looking at some of the incredible Black women who have been inspiring us and those to come. The blog post outlines Jaqueline’s personal inspirations and highlights the importance of Black women celebrating each other’s successes and how mentoring can be beneficial. Read Jaqueline’s Top Tips reminding you to always show up as your authentic self.
About Clinks Race and Justice bulletin
Your feedback on this first publication of the Race and Justice network ebulletin is very much valued as I aim to develop an ebulletin that is most beneficial for you as members. It would be great if our ebulletin could feature more content from members, so please do share any resources/publications/guides/training or events you would like to include in the next one at kaiya.caines@clinks.org. If you could take some time out to complete this form providing feedback on the ebulletin I would be most grateful.
This regular bulletin provides Clinks members with the latest news for voluntary organisations involved in the tackling racial inequality in the criminal justice system. To submit content please complete this form.
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