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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 12:08 pm
Time: 12:08 pm
Results for prisoner resettlement
4 results foundAuthor: Northern Ireland. Criminal Justice Inspection Title: An Inspection of Prisoner Resettlement by the Northern Ireland Prisons Service Summary: The purpose of ‘resettlement’ is to help prisoners deal with problems that have contributed to their offending. These can include issues such as health, education, criminal attitudes, relationships and employment. Resettlement services are therefore an important part of helping to reduce re-offending behaviours and it is a considerable challenge for the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) to deliver them effectively. This inspection is a follow-up to the last report on the Northern Ireland Prisoner Resettlement Strategy completed in 2007. The context for resettlement has changed considerably with the commencement of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008. It requires prisoners to address their offending behaviours if they are to persuade the Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland (PCNI) that they can be safely released. In turn the NIPS need to provide more opportunities for these prisoners to undertake offending behaviour programmes that will enable them to resettle successfully. The inspection report shows the resettlement process has benefitted from the resources that were provided to implement the Criminal Justice Order. Improvements have been indentified in relation to the appointment of additional staff, co-located offender management teams that were working well together, a better environment for some life sentence prisoners, better engagement with the voluntary and community sector and greater effort to address the resettlement needs of short-term and remand prisoners. Whilst the resettlement process had improved, better outcomes for prisoners were less obvious. This was partly a reflection of the NIPS inclination to measure inputs rather than outcomes which are the real test of whether services are being delivered successfully. In addition the successful delivery of resettlement remained hampered by working practices within the Service and its dominant security ethos. Every aspect of prisoner life contributes to the resettlement agenda and it is important that the Strategic Efficiency and Effectiveness (SEE) programme currently being developed by the Prison Service to enable reform, explicitly deals with the resettlement agenda. Our recommendations for change need to be folded into the reform agenda. Details: Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, 2011. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed October 28, 2011 at: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/c2/c2d298bb-f13b-45ce-91e4-b040074e1383.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/c2/c2d298bb-f13b-45ce-91e4-b040074e1383.pdf Shelf Number: 123160 Keywords: Ex-Offenders, RehabilitationPrisoner ReentryPrisoner ResettlementPrisoners (Northern Ireland)Prisoners Reintegration |
Author: Kerr, Jacqueline Title: The [re]settlement of women prisoners in Northern Ireland: From rhetoric to reality Summary: Penal practices in Northern Ireland are fashioned around the legacy of civil unrest and the imprisonment of politically affiliated prisoners. Women represent a small percentage of the prison population, and most are sentenced for minor 'offences', including non-payment of fines. Women exiting prison share histories of severe social exclusion and complex unmet needs in relation to housing, employment, income, education, training, and mental and physical health. Recently, the introduction of a strategy for the management of women who offend, gender specific standards for working with women prisoners and the establishment of the probation-led Inspire Women's Project, have marked an acknowledgement of women's penality by the Department of Justice. This paper draws upon primary qualitative research data on women's resettlement experience in Northern Ireland to consider the correlation between gender responsive measures and the increasing criminalisation and imprisonment of severely disadvantaged and marginalised women. It explores the failure of gender responsive initiatives to reduce the Northern Ireland female prison population, it examines professional discourse which privileges the responsibilisation of women and the language of choice and reflects upon the up-tariffing of women on the basis of their unmet need rather than the seriousness of their offending. Details: London: Howard League for Penal Reform, 2014. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Howard League What is Justice? Working Papers 8/2014: Accessed September 12, 2014 at: https://d19ylpo4aovc7m.cloudfront.net/fileadmin/howard_league/user/pdf/Research/What_is_Justice/HLWP_8_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://d19ylpo4aovc7m.cloudfront.net/fileadmin/howard_league/user/pdf/Research/What_is_Justice/HLWP_8_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 133300 Keywords: Female Offenders (Northern Ireland)Gander-Based ProgramsPrisoner ReentryPrisoner Resettlement |
Author: Crow, Iain Title: Resettling Prisoners: A Review Summary: The resettlement of citizens coming out of prison is an important part of the Government's Reducing Re-offending Action Plan. This review looks at the available research to see what can be learned about the most promising approaches to resettlement. Concern about the resettlement of offenders goes back many years, at least to the end of the nineteenth century, and one its most constant features is the high proportion of exprisoners who re-offend, some of them returning to prison several times. Recent concern about resettlement has been fuelled both by the intractable nature of the problem, and by the increasing numbers needing to be resettled. There is particular concern about the resettlement of certain groups within the prison population, including short-term prisoners and women prisoners. Although the available research has its limitations, there are a number of pointers to the lessons that can be drawn from what we know. • Offenders often have a mixture of factors contributing to their offending behaviour. Those leaving custody are likely to have several inter-related resettlement requirements (accommodation, employment, training, health issues). Research evidence underlines the importance of multi-modal action addressing the full range of offenders' needs. • Offenders need continuity of engagement, and not just to be moved about from one person and agency to another. Good linkage between agencies is important. Integrated case management is one of the fundamental principles of NOMS, an aspiration that needs to be achieved for successful resettlement to become a reality. • Important though practical interventions are, successful resettlement is not just about practical support. Several studies refer to the importance of personal determination and resilience in resisting re-offending on release. Agencies can play a part in encouraging and reinforcing ex-prisoners’ own efforts. Not all offenders are equally capable of helping themselves, but this suggests a twin-track strategy of supporting those who have the capacity to help themselves, while targeting resources more effectively on those who are less capable. • Families and friends can play a vital role in providing supportive relationships, and the connections needed to obtain jobs. Research underlines the importance of sustaining those relationships through imprisonment, and on release. • The available literature points to the importance of not only addressing the needs of the offender, but also paying attention to the communities from which they come. Researchers point to the fact that commonly the communities to which prisoners return are disadvantaged, and need support in re-integrating offenders. This highlights the role that restorative justice might play in offender re-integration: a community which feels there has been some restoration and that there is the potential for offenders to contribute to community well being is more likely to support exoffenders. The NOMS vision agreed by the Chief Executive and Board in January 2005 refers to, ‘Engaging local communities in the management and resettlement of offenders’. In this context the voluntary and community sector has a crucial role to play, and the success of NOMS will be judged not only on how well the former prison and probation services work together, but the extent to which the VCS, and employers, become effective partners. • There is a need to extend provision for women offenders in the light of a significant increase in the numbers sent to, and leaving prison in recent years. Research highlights the need of women returning to the community for both practical support, and to repair, or sometimes avoid, damaged relationships. • For the majority of prisoners with mental health problems there is little follow-up post-release. Positive approaches to improving access to healthcare services for prisoners on release are needed. • There is a significant likelihood of people returning to drug use and crime quite soon after release if there is nothing in place at the time of release. The extent of drug misuse, and its close relationship to re-offending, means that treatment in prison needs to be linked directly to aftercare. • Recent research has focused on efforts to understand what factors have been instrumental in desistance from crime: what happens when people cease to offend. Although research in this area is still very much in progress, it indicates the importance of a holistic approach to offenders, and suggests that, as with re-entry courts in America, it is important to recognise the achievements of offenders who desist, as well as punishing failure. • A viable resettlement strategy needs to consider not only individual offenders, but also the social context in which resettlement takes place. This means combating social exclusion by ensuring that there is an adequate supply of social housing, of training opportunities relevant to the needs of offenders, and work with employers to ensure that job opportunities are available to ex-prisoners. Concern about resettlement has been fuelled by changes in sentencing and supervision in recent years, which have contributed to an increase in the numbers released from prison, from 45,557 in 1992 to 88,104 in 1999. Put simply, the larger the prison population, the bigger the problem of re-integration. Reducing the size of the prison population is therefore an important pre-requisite for a successful resettlement strategy Details: Layerthorpe, York. UK: York Publishing, 2006. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://canatx.org/rrt_new/professionals/articles/CROW-RESETTLING%20PRISONERS.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://canatx.org/rrt_new/professionals/articles/CROW-RESETTLING%20PRISONERS.pdf Shelf Number: 141356 Keywords: Offender RehabilitationPrisoner ReentryPrisoner ReintegrationPrisoner Resettlement |
Author: Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Inspection Title: Resettlement: An Inspection of Resettlement in the Northern Ireland Prison Service Summary: A core function of the prison service was to reduce reoffending and provide resettlement services for prisoners being released back into the community. The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) could not deliver resettlement alone - prisons had a duty to accept people committed by the courts and many had chronic mental health and learning difficulties, drug and alcohol addictions and chaotic lifestyles. The NIPS and the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) had to work with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT), addiction services and other social and voluntary and community service partners to help prisoners address these problems during the time they were incarcerated. There had been a significant change in the NIPS since the publication of the Prison Review Team (PRT) Report in 2011, including to resettlement practice. The offender management model was based on the PRT recommendation and was delivered through the Prisoner Development Model (PDM). This was a structured framework, and provided the individual prisoner focus, to identify and assess a prisoner's risks, needs and strengths. A Prisoner Development Plan (PDP) was developed with the prisoner to support his/ her resettlement back into the community. This defined the purpose of work, actions taken and support provided for an individual to: - reduce their risk of harm; - reduce their likelihood of reoffending; and - prepare them for return to the community. This work included interventions to address offending behaviour, maintain family contact, gain skills and qualifications to help access employment, together with practical assistance and support with housing, finance and debt, health and addictions. The PDM was jointly delivered by the NIPS and the PBNI. CJI would be very supportive of this collaborative working model as having the potential to produce the best outcomes for prisoners. However a change in working practices had reduced joint working and impacted on the operational delivery of the model, and Inspectors were concerned that it was not operating as effectively as it could. Working practices between the NIPS and the PBNI needed to adapt to address prisoner need and increase the effectiveness of joint delivery. There were significant resources deployed to provide resettlement services for prisoners. The PDM had been in place since 2015 and there was a broad provision of specialist support by voluntary and community sector (VCS) and statutory organisations to support prisoner need. The NIPS, PBNI and VCS staff worked hard to provide support, sometimes for very difficult prisoners, many of whom had complex and multiple needs. Inspectors were impressed by the attitude, knowledge and commitment of many of the prison and probation officers and VCS staff that we met during the inspection. There was an effective system to measure resettlement processes and activities, but measurement of the impact of these on outcomes for prisoners was less well developed. CJI saw a need for meaningful performance measures of outcomes, over the longer-term, to allow both the NIPS and the PBNI management to assess the effectiveness of resettlement provision, and to allow planning for future delivery and resourcing. Previous reports have highlighted the need for a more integrated psychology provision across the criminal justice agencies, and whilst work had been progressed there was a need for the outstanding work to be completed. The PDM was a comprehensive process which covered the prisoner's journey from committal to release, and recent prison inspections have found this to be the area where the NIPS performed most strongly. Inspectors would be of the view that implementation of the model could be improved in a number of areas and have recommended the introduction of a system of supervision for NIPS staff in their casework with individual prisoners. The NIPS also needed to do more to fully integrate the important role of residential officers to contribute to the PDM and successful prisoner resettlement. The NIPS recognised that there had been limitations in the prisoner assessment process and this had led to an internal review which Inspectors welcomed as an opportunity to reexamine its effectiveness. For prisoners to address their offending behaviour was crucial to successful resettlement and to reduce the reoffending and recall rate. Inspectors were concerned that the schedule for the delivery of programmes significantly underestimated the needs of the prison population and the demand for interventions. Programmes should be delivered on the basis of need with suitable interventions for short-term prisoners, a streamlined process for referral and assessment, and the ability to fast-track and prioritise prolific offenders. There was also a need to assess the outcomes of programme delivery to inform future provision. There was some good work to target and provide support for the wider needs of prisoners serving short-sentences and the NIPS should take action to target resources to reduce the reoffending rates for this group. The transfer of prisoners between Maghaberry and Magilligan could be disruptive and unsettling for prisoners and their families, and were primarily for population management rather than to further prisoners' resettlement prospects. It was the view of Inspectors that the NIPS should review its transfer policy to prioritise resettlement opportunities. Details: Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection, 2018. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 31, 2018 at: http://cjini.org/getattachment/1ded7a6c-034e-4a62-bf02-96ee30584645/picture.aspx Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://cjini.org/getattachment/1ded7a6c-034e-4a62-bf02-96ee30584645/picture.aspx Shelf Number: 150416 Keywords: Correctional ProgramsPrisoner ReentryPrisoner RehabilitationPrisoner ResettlementResettlement |