The cycle of reoffending remains one of our most significant societal challenges and in response, the Government’s engagement activity this summer prepares to commission the second generation of rehabilitative services for men in prison or those released into the community.
The Prison Reform Trust reports that 42 percent of prisoners in the UK are reconvicted within a year of release, and for those serving short sentences of less than 12 months, the reconviction rate rises to 59 percent. Research commissioned by the Ministry of Justice itself puts the annual economic and social cost of this reoffending at £18.1bn.
The BUSY Group’s work with offenders both in the UK and internationally provides us with insights into the best practice the new programme will need to incorporate and the innovations it must foster if this pernicious cycle of reoffending, reconviction and reincarceration for so many men is to be broken.
We’re clear that the priority for sentence plans, offender licence conditions and resettlement support should be the rehabilitation needs of individuals. This begins in prison where offenders need access to personalised support to provide the framework for a rehabilitative journey, including employability and addiction support services.
This approach has been reflected in the recent successful delivery of a wraparound pilot delivered for HMP YOI Parc by CASE UK who form part of The BUSY Group. The programme, Through the Gate, has supported young offenders in custody, , providing preparation for release and for post-release wraparound family, relationship, community and employment support. This enables individuals to establish the basic building blocks of life after prison through a seamless, trauma-informed service. It’s work that contributed in no small part to CASE UK winning the 2024 Business of the Year at the St David Award, the national awards of Wales.
In Australia, that same trauma-informed approach, this time using a Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change, has underpinned The BUSY Group’s delivery of the Workforce Australia Ex-Offender Program to over 8,000 individuals since 2022, supporting individuals both in and beyond custody.
Offenders moving on from prison will need consistent mentorship to connect to the networks of support, community-based activities and resources they require adjusting to life in the community, withstanding setbacks and committing to alternatives to reoffending.
Our own person-centred mentoring model is used by CASE UK to deliver the Out of Work Service which is commissioned by the Welsh Government for people facing multiple barriers to work including complex mental health conditions and substance misuse. That experience convinces us that for successful mentoring, relationships are key, and the embodiment of a forward-moving journey (for which we have developed an innovative progression workbook to support the mentoring process) is essential.
In Australia our delivery of Step Up, an internationally recognised intervention programme, has also demonstrated the value of a skills-based approach that uses cognitive behavioural therapy and motivational interviewing techniques, partnered with restorative practice. Through this approach, participants are diverted from violent and abusive behaviours, address and resolve family conflicts and reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
With a recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons report indicating that 59% of men in prison had a mental health diagnosis, and NIHCE estimating that over 90% of prisoners have at least one psychiatric disorder, mental health and wellbeing support will need to be an essential part of the community rehabilitation landscape.
This wellbeing provision needs to be aligned to and integrated with the wider package of rehabilitative support. As part of The BUSY Group, Health 2 Employment is a Disability Confident (Level 3) Leader deploying a team of more than forty occupational health doctors and nurses, physiotherapists and mental health practitioners. Together with a pool of associates, these practitioners have extensive experience providing integrated health interventions across the UK for partners that include Shaw Trust, Ingeus, REED in Partnership, Seetec, and The Growth Company.
The BUSY Group is ambitious for the new programme the Government is preparing to commission. That’s why, as the sector gears up for the next round of market engagement events over the summer, is The BUSY Group is already talking to prospective partners. We want to ensure that our multinational experience of community rehabilitation can be part of the solution design and service delivery to assist in breaking the re-offending cycle for the next generation of men. For too long now, the cycle of reoffending has been increasing pressure on prisons, impacting the public purse, disrupting lives and blighting communities.