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In this month's edition...
Clinks is delighted to welcome Sam Julius as our new Head of Influence and Communications. He has joined from Clinks member organisation, Nacro, where he led on their policy and public affairs work.
Clinks CEO, Anne Fox, has been invited to sit on the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise Crown Representatives Expert Advisory Group. This group meets quarterly and we will share any updates coming from this group through our usual communication channels.
Following delays to the announcements around funding for the voluntary sector for 2023/24 from the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), Clinks CEO, Anne Fox, continued to engage with officials on behalf of the voluntary sector to gain clarity about the evolving funding landscape. Following engagement with Amy Rees, Chief Executive, HMPPS, and Phil Copple, Director General Operations, HMPPS, asking for an explanation of these delays and exploring actions to move forward with this, Ms Rees wrote to Clinks. This letter confirmed departmental spending plans will not be completed until the end of the Efficient and Savings Review, commissioned by HM Treasury. This review will settle departmental spending plans through the identification of possible savings but remains ongoing. Ms Rees said HMPPS continues to expect a “significant level of spend” on commissioned rehabilitative services, but the exact amount will not be finalised until the completion of the review. You can read more about the impact of this efficiency and savings review on funding for the voluntary sector and the full letter from Amy Rees in our blog.
Pathways between probation and addiction treatment
The Ministry of Justice and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have published a report looking at people sentenced to a community order or suspended sentence order with an alcohol treatment requirement (ATR) or a drug rehabilitation order (DRR). The report found that 38.9% of people with ATRs or DRRs were engaged with treatment services on the dates they were sentenced or after being sentenced, but those with an ATR appeared to engage more than those with a DRR. Of the 15,121 people who engaged in treatment, 37% dropped out, 35% successfully completed this “treatment journey”, 27% were still on the same initial treatment journey until the end of the observation period, and 1.4% died. Read the report in full here.
Evaluating a substance use intervention at HMP Holme House
The Ministry of Justice published an evaluation of an intervention aimed at reducing substance use among men serving sentences in a category C prison. 200 people agreed to take part, where they were assigned to one of three groups. The first completed a short value affirmation task about times they had been kind, and then read a health message about the risks of psychoactive substance use and information about support services. The second was a control who completed a control activity about their opinions of different things before reading the same messages, and the third received treatment as usual, completing no task and not receiving the health messages. The study found the intervention was not effective in increasing the extent participants accepted the drugs health message as relevant or credible, nor did it influence behaviour change. Read the full report here.
Green social prescribing
The Department of Health and Social Care published two reports about green social prescribing (GSP). This is the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities to improve their mental health. The first report looked into the existing provision of GSP, finding it “diverse, patchy and dynamic”. Despite the variation, the range of activities typically referred to is much narrower, mostly sport and exercise. The second report looks at the perceptions of GSP. It found the appetite for GSP was high among both groups. Nearly all clinicians said they would refer patients to social prescribers in the future, and the majority of patients said they were open to discussing opportunities for mental health support in their local community with a healthcare professional, including spending time in nature. Read the report about existing provision here, and the report about perceptions here.
Diversion and prevention event: South of England
Revolving Doors is hosting an event ‘Diversion and prevention: how to end the cycle of crisis and crime’, which aims to explore solutions outside the criminal justice system to address the root causes of low-level crime. The event [27 April, 11:00 London, free] will see attendees hear from Revolving Doors members with lived experience, practitioners, and policy makers working on diversion in the South of England. The agenda also includes a presentation from Dominic Williamson, who works with Westminster Council on the Changing Futures programme, on some of the issues and potential solutions for people leaving prison. Book your place here.
Doing our stories justice
Clinks is hosting an interactive workshop that will explore how framing can play a part in how we tell stories of lived experience. The event [28 April, 10:00, online, free] will draw insights from FrameWorks UK’s latest work focussed on criminal justice, and from their research in other areas, such as poverty and homelessness. The workshop will look at things including the role of context and telling a wider systemic story, and practical tips which can be applied in a range of communications and situations. Book your place here.
Clinks in conversation with Amy Rees and Phil Copple
Join Clinks for this exciting opportunity for the voluntary sector to engage with Amy Rees, Director General CEO, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), and Phil Copple, Director of Operations, HMPPS. At this event [3 May, 10:00, hybrid, free] we will be hearing about the new HMPPS senior leadership structure and learning about the priorities and vision for the service, including the role and value of the voluntary sector working within it. The event will consist of a conversation between chair Anne Fox, Chief Executive Officer at Clinks, and 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 the voluntary sector is facing in the criminal justice system. Book your place here.
Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) – post release
HM Inspectorate of Probation published its thematic inspection of OMiC, post release. This found that sufficient alcohol misuse services were delivered after release to support desistance in under a third of cases, and to keep other people safe in just under one in four. Similarly, drug misuse services supported desistance in just under a quarter of cases, and supported keeping other people safe in just under one in five. Inspectors also found most services do not provide continuous support before and after release, making resettlement more difficult and can lead to relapses in substance use. They said consistent service provision by the same provider before and after release could help link services, so people can immediately access the right substance use service on release. Read the full inspection report here.
Alcohol and drug treatment in secure settings 2021 to 2022
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities published statistics on substance use treatment in prisons and other secure settings. These found there were 45,096 adults in alcohol and drug treatment in prisons and secure settings between April 2021 and 31 March 2022. Around three-quarters of these people started treatment during that year, with 46% saying they were using opiates. The proportion of people starting treatment for opiates, crack, or both has been decreasing from an all-time high in 2017 to 2018 (60%). A total of 27,520 people left treatment in secure settings over the year, with 32% of them being discharged after completing treatment free of dependence. The proportion of adults released from prison and successfully starting treatment in the community within three weeks was 37.4%. Read the full report here.
Living (and dying) as an older person in prison
The Nuffield Trust has published a report that used hospital data to look at the healthcare needs of older people in prison. It found more than 40% of men in prison aged 50 or over admitted to hospital in an emergency showed signs of frailty, risking poorer health outcomes. This is a much higher proportion than in the general population. The report also found that while the number of older women in prison is relatively small, they were found to have significant healthcare needs associated with depression. The report sets out a number of considerations for policy makers including ensuring prisons have access to the resources and equipment necessary to support older people in prison living with frailty. Read the report here.
Polling on the public’s understanding on sentencing
As part of its inquiry, the Justice Committee commissioned polling on the public’s understanding of, and attitudes towards, sentencing. This found that people did think health should be a mitigating factor in sentencing, with 48% saying someone’s mental health condition or learning disability should be taken into account, and 24% saying a serious medical condition should be considered. However, 10% said none of the listed factors should be considered in mitigation. When asked about the factors that were the most important in setting sentences, people ranked protecting the public from further harm as the most important. This was followed by ensuring the victim and/or their family feel they have secured justice, and punishment of people who commit crimes. Read the findings in full here.
Resources on psychologically informed management
Homeless Link have developed a suite of resources for managers of frontline homelessness services. Their six-month Community of Practice (CoP) focused on ‘Psychologically Informed Management’, based on the principles of Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE). These are services designed and delivered with consideration of the emotional and psychological needs of the people using them. A key part of the PIE approach is staff training and support, enabling workers to move away from crisis management and work in a more therapeutic and planned way. The CoP discussed ways to become more psychologically informed in managing teams and developed these resources to support managers in doing so. Resources are designed to help managers ensure frontline staff receive person-centred support, in a psychologically informed way, and include topics such as understanding burnout, vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress. Find the resources here.
Voluntary sector contract readiness programme
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched its Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise Contact Readiness Programme, designed to enable the voluntary sector in England to better compete for government contracts. It primarily provides fully funded and tailored training to voluntary organisations, complemented by offering public sector commissioners ways to increase their awareness and understanding of the sector. The programme is being delivered by School for Social Enterprise in consortium with Social Enterprise UK, and Voice4Change England, running until the end of the 2024/25 financial year. Find out more here.
Transition guide for boys and young men moving to the adult prison estate
The Young Justice Advisors have published a guide to provide boys and young men with information about moving into the adult male prison estate. This includes details about arriving at prison and reception, the daily regime, parcels and post, roles in prison, and organisations and agencies that can provide support to people in prison. This is accompanied by the experiences of individual people. In addition to this guide, the Youth Justice Advisors have produced several other resources including a guide to the care system. Read the latest guide about the male estate here, and find their other guides here.
The Cheshire Community Foundation are offering grants of up to £20,000 to organisations looking to support people leaving prison. Its Unlocking Brighter Futures programme is looking to fund projects in Cheshire and Warrington which are working to reduce reoffending and helping people with things like support for addiction, accommodation, access to healthcare, opportunities to continue building skills or to get a job, practical advice on finance, benefits and bills, and emotional support on being back with family and friends. The programme can fund projects with a duration of up to 12 months. Find out more here and apply by midday, 9 May.
Pregnant women in prison and stillbirths
The Observer published an article based on figures it obtained through freedom of information requests to 11 NHS trusts serving women’s prisons in England. These found that women in prison have a seven-times higher probability of suffering a stillbirth than women in the general population. This is an increase from a five-times higher probability since the data was last collected two years ago. The Observer also found, for the years 2020-22, 25% of babies born to women in prison were admitted to a neonatal unit afterwards, almost double the national figure of 14%. Moreover, 12% of babies born to women in prison had a low birthweight, compared to 6.5% among the general population. Read the full story here.
Rethinking the criminalisation of drugs
Revolving Doors published a blog by Stephen Walcott, who works at cross-party think tank Demos, about the criminalisation of drugs. He argues the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 has failed to prevent and control the use and supply of illicit drugs, and that “enforcement-led, punitive ‘solutions’” are harmful. Walcott sets out some of the problems he identifies with this approach including that the policing of drugs is socially and racially disproportionate, and that harm reduction approaches, such as diversion programmes and the police carrying naloxone, is variable across the country. He concludes by offering suggestions as to public health and harm reduction policies the police can follow within the current legal framework, such as referring people to treatment, education or safe consumption facilities, and carrying naloxone. Read the blog here.
The importance of charities in the criminal justice system
Revolving Doors published a blog by Theo Clay, who leads consultancy NPC’s criminal justice portfolio. He notes the total income of charities working in criminal justice compares to about a sixth of the annual budget of the Ministry of Justice. Of this, analysis found 86% of charitable funding is supporting people after they have been released from prison. So, he asks whether charities are “enabling a broken system to continue limping on, hiding its fundamental flaws and contradictions”. Clay goes on to argue that charities should lead the way in creating a justice system fit for the future, by innovating – he says charities have the “unique ability to expand our notion of what is possible” – and influencing wider change – noting charities do this at many levels. 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. To submit content please complete this form.
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