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Dear colleague,
State of the Sector 2023 is live! The criminal justice voluntary sector has been mapped out, highlighting the changes over the past year and, unfortunately, some of the recurring themes.
Clinks’ role is to support, promote and represent the voluntary sector working in the criminal justice system. Our annual State of the Sector research, produced in partnership with NCVO, is a free resource evidencing what our members and sector are experiencing and the impact on their service users.
State of the Sector 2023 explores the landscape of the criminal justice voluntary sector as it responds to a year of reduction of funding and resources for many.
We have summarised key findings relevant to you:
Challenging Operating Environment
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24% of survey respondents, who said their main purpose was to support women, were specialist women's organisations, and 39% provided a specific service for women as part of a broader remit
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Organisations delivered services to women if all ages: aged 26 to 49 (72%), aged 50 and over (68%), and aged 18 to 25 (68%)
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77% of women’s specialist organisations reported increased operating costs
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Continuing the trend seen for many years in this research, organisations face increasing numbers of new service users, with a greater level, complexity, and urgency of need
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While focus group participants felt there was specialist support for specific cohorts, it was not available at the necessary scale
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Whilst many organisations responded to this by working more flexibly with their clients, increasing partnership working, and sourcing more funding, many also said staff were taking on larger caseloads.
Contract and Grant Funding
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77% of women’s organisations said they delivered services under contract or sub-contract
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61% of survey respondents said they do not achieve full cost recovery on at least some of their contracts, and more than one-in-ten organisations (11%) said they did not achieve full cost recovery on any of their contracts
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Respondents were positive about their experiences of grant funding, particularly from charitable trusts and foundations, but slightly less so about government grants
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Organisations were broadly negative about their experience of contract funding, which are almost always commissioned by the government or statutory bodies.
Cautious Confidence about Financial Sustainability
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Organisations were broadly confident about their financial sustainability over the next two years, but in focus groups, organisations qualified this optimism
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In focus groups, voluntary organisations said whilst they were confident their organisation would still be delivering services in two years, there was uncertainty as to the scale and capacity of this service delivery.
Clinks’ Women's Network
Clinks' women’s network members support women who have experienced repeated trauma (often from childhood), including domestic abuse, sexual violence, criminal exploitation and racism/discrimination. These experiences often result in mental health needs, substance/alcohol misuse, children lost to the "care system" and criminal justice system sanctions. Specialist organisations offer a trauma-informed, gender-specific, women-led approach; from safe, women-only spaces. They work in partnership with other agencies and provide co-location opportunities so that women can be supported with all their needs under one roof. Gender-specific assessment and case management systems underpin holistic service models. Some of our members provide early intervention/diversion services as well as being contracted to provide probation Community Rehabilitative Services as part of community sentences. Many support women in prison and after release, and in some areas in England and Wales they are part of a "whole system approach" for women.
The Value of Women’s Centres, a report from Women in Prison and Alma Economics, found that a hypothetical example Women’s Centre receiving £1m investment in a given year can support over 650 women and generate £2.75m in socio-economic benefits, plus produce savings for public services and gains in welfare for women and their children. These economic and social benefits are paid back over a five-year time period, outweighing all costs related to service delivery.
Involving people with lived experience
The women’s sector is leading the way in valuing and understanding lived experience expertise, and promoting lived experience leadership. Work is being carried out by the National Women’s Justice Coalition (NWJC), involving Birth Companions, Working Chance and several women’s centres across England and Wales to ensure access to women-led services that reflect the priorities, needs and real lives of the women they serve. This entails ensuring funded routes for women with lived experience of the criminal justice system to be involved in the NWJC via structures for longer-term participation.
Our pledge to you
The sector's resilience is incredible; organisations continue to support people who need it most. As the infrastructure organisation for the criminal justice voluntary sector, we want to continue to support organisations. Over the coming year, we will continue to advocate for the sector. We will share learning and offer opportunities for connection, providing a platform for the sector to come together to highlight issues that matter to organisations and the people they work with.
View the 2023 research on our new State of the Sector webpage here
Download the executive summary here
Share State of the Sector on Twitter and LinkedIn
Best wishes,
Jackie
Jackie Lowthian
Women’s Network Coordinator
Clinks
020 4502 6774 | 07891 293093
she/her
#MyNameIs JAH-KEE LOH-TH-EE-AN
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