A study examined the extent to which information sharing issues were impeding or facilitating the frontline delivery of the public service agreement (PSA 16) for adult offenders under probation supervision in England.
Source: Nicholas Pleace and Jon Minton, Delivering Better Housing and Employment Outcomes for Offenders on Probation, Research Report 610, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2009-Oct
A report said that prisoners with mental health problems were not getting the support they needed to gain employment when they were released. Most employment schemes for offenders placed too much emphasis on learning skills and not enough on what actually helped people to get and keep jobs.
Source: Chiara Samele, Jo Keil and Stuart Thomas, Securing Employment for Offenders with Mental Health Problems: Towards a better way, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Sep
A literature review examined the effectiveness of interventions for persistent and prolific offenders in reducing reoffending behaviour. Some interventions could lead to greater reductions in offending behaviour than others. Positive effects in reducing offending behaviour were found for in-prison therapeutic communities, and for drug-treatment programmes in the community.
Source: Amanda Perry et al., A Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Evidence on the Effectiveness of Interventions with Persistent/Prolific Offenders in Reducing Re-Offending, Research Report 12/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that charities often played a crucial role in helping prisoners to tackle their problems, and in reducing reoffending rates among ex-prisoners.
Source: Adrian Fradd and Rebecca Wyton, Breaking the Cycle: Charities working with people in prison and on release – An update for donors, funders and charities, New Philanthropy Capital (0207 401 8080)
Links: NPC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
An article examined how far voluntary sector expertise was valued in helping offenders into employment. There was limited scope to adopt practices that were informed by knowledge about 'what works' in getting people into employment. A less prescriptive approach from the centre about what should be delivered, and how, would restore effective teamwork and might also open up probation practice to empirical and theoretical insights into the 'desistance process'.
Source: Julie Vennard and Carol Hedderman, 'Helping offenders into employment: how far is voluntary sector expertise valued in a contracting-out environment?', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 9 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Apr
A think-tank report put forward proposals designed to make rehabilitation of criminals the centrepiece of the prisons system. It said that the existing system was 'scarred' by high levels of reoffending, which were costing the taxpayer at least £12 billion a year. Up to three-quarters of young offenders – and two-thirds of other prisoners – were convicted of a new offence within two years of leaving jail. Part of the money saved from cutting reoffending would be used to reward prison and probation staff who succeeded in reducing reoffending rates; and part would be invested in new centres designed to get prisoners off drugs and alcohol and into jobs.
Source: Locked up Potential: A strategy for reforming prisons and rehabilitating prisoners, Centre for Social Justice (020 7620 1120)
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar