NOMS regions

Back to South East Regional Reducing Re-offending Strategy

NOMS South East Pathways

There are seven Pathway Boards, each responsible for taking forward the plans for that pathway set out in the South East's Reducing Re-offending Strategy.

The Pathway Boards

• Housing and homelessness

• Education, training and employment

• Mental and physical health 

• Drugs and alcohol 

• Finance, benefit and debt 

• Children, families and support networks 

• Attitudes, thinking and behaviour
  

The Pathway Boards draw in representatives from the wide range of organisations who have a role to play in reducing re-offending.

Housing and homelessness

A decent, safe and secure home for offenders is a fundamental requirement that underpins the strategy to reduce re-offending. Without this foundation, efforts to help offenders to resolve issues that may be contributing to their offending can be severely undermined.  Housing is also central to keeping families together.

The housing and homelessness Pathway Board is jointly led by Shelter (new window) and Supporting People (new window).  Key stakeholders from the criminal justice system, the voluntary and community sectory, local authorities, housing and housing support providers are represented on the group.  The Pathway Board also feeds in to the Regional Housing Forum, a coalition of stakeholders for housing in the region. The pathway board has identified the following areas which require further development:

• assessment of offenders' housing needs
• provision of housing
• housing advice and support

The Pathway Board also proposes to seek the involvement of offenders or ex-offenders in reviewing and developing the effectiveness of regional housing and housing related services.

Education, training and employment

This pathway aims to contribute to reductions in re-offending by enabling offenders in the region to secure long-term employment (including self-employment) and make a positive contribution in their communities. 

We know that stable and sustainable employment can be a key protective factor in preventing re-offending – it is estimated that being unemployed could double the likelihood that someone will re-offend – and we know that learning and developing skills will be a pre-requisite to obtaining work for many offenders.

The education, training and employment Pathway Board is currently co-chaired by the Learning and Skills Council (new window) and Jobcentre Plus (new window).

The group's membership includes a range of key partners with an interest or role in offender learning, skills and employment from both the voluntary and statutory sectors.  There is not presently a regional employer as a standing member on the group, but Business Link facilitate employer input into the pathway's work where this is appropriate.

Mental and physical health

Improving offenders' health and access to healthcare can contribute significantly to reducing re-offending behaviour and lowering crime.

Our aims for the improved mental and physical health of offenders are to:

• make better use of the criminal justice system, from arrest through to the end of sentence, to provide access to age-appropriate treatment for offenders with mental health problems, including the use of court diversion schemes
• ensure integration of healthcare for offenders in custody with mainstream services, enabling continuity between custody and the community
• register more offenders with a GP in their home community and  facilitate access to healthcare after contact with criminal justice agencies ends.

Health, drugs and alcohol

Offenders, in the community and in custody, have poorer access to mental and physical healthcare, including for substance misuse.  For those in custody, prison can make their health worse, through lack of exercise, smoking culture and the impact of imprisonment on mental health. Improving offenders' health and access to healthcare can contribute significantly to reducing re-offending behaviour and lowering crime.

Our aims for the improved mental and physical health of offenders are to:

• make better use of the criminal justice system, from arrest through to the end of sentence, to provide access to age-appropriate treatment for offenders with mental health problems, including the use of court diversion schemes
• ensure integration of healthcare for offenders in custody with mainstream services, enabling continuity between custody and the community
• register more offenders with a GP in their home community and  facilitate access to healthcare after contact with criminal justice agencies ends

The aims of the pathway in respect of drugs and alcohol are to:

• reduce drug and alcohol related crime
• support drug and alcohol supply reduction initiatives, including in custody
• improve assessment (including dual diagnosis), and referrals and access to treatment, information and advice for offenders with drug and alcohol needs
• ensure greater integration of interventions, preserve continuity of care between custody and the community and reduce attrition from treatment pre- and post-custody

A good deal of work is already in train to ensure that the health inequalities offenders experience are reduced, and that opportunities to facilitate their access to appropriate health and social care and drug and alcohol support are maximised.

Finance, benefit and debt

Three thousand offenders in the South East will need help with benefit and debt problems during their time in custody. This rises to almost 10,000 offenders needing access to benefits in their home community.  It is estimated that one fifth of the 17,000 offenders being supervised in the community in the South East by the Probation Service have financial, benefit and debt problems that put them at risk of re-offending.

This pathway aims to:

• ensure offenders and their families can access financial advice in order to maximise legitimate income and reduce debt, poverty and crime
• enhance opportunities for offenders and their families to access mainstream financial services

The finance, benefit and debt pathway will be taken forward at a regional level by an existing group - the Financial Inclusion Action Group (FIAG), led by the Legal Services Commission.  This is one of three action groups set up in March 2005 within the Social Inclusion Partnership in the South East (new window) (SIPSE).

Children, families and support networks

This pathway aims to ensure that stakeholders from the public, private and voluntary and community sectors work with offenders to help them stop offending, and that their needs are considered throughout our work to reduce re-offending in the South East.

The aims of the pathway are to: 

• maximise the positive impact strong family, social and community networks can have on reducing re-offending
• ensure that the increased risk of social exclusion the families of offenders often face is managed in the South East, and that the risk of offending behaviour being perpetuated through the generations is minimised - this links the work of the pathway into the wider Government agenda around the wellbeing of children and young people through Every Child Matters (new window).

The children, families and support networks Pathway Board draws its members from both the statutory and voluntary and community sector. The Chair of the Board is the South East Youth Justice Board Regional Manager.

Attitudes, thinking and behaviour

The central aim of this pathway is to help offenders to change the attitudes, thinking and behaviours that are likely to be linked to their offending. Aiding offenders to develop the cognitive skills that assist them in addressing other problems that may be contributing to their offending is clearly a key part of the work that we do with offenders.

The aims of the pathway fall into two categories:

• aims relating to accredited programmes specifically designed to help offenders to modify the attitudes, thinking and behaviours that are likely to be contributing to their offending
• aims for wider activities that contribute to improved cognitive skills and behaviours and good citizenship

The attitudes, thinking and behaviour Pathway Board is chaired by HM Prison Service (new window). In its initial work, the Board has focused efforts on maximising the value of offending behaviour programmes across the region, and its initial membership reflects this, bringing together programme leads for the current accredited programmes. 

As the pathway's focus broadens to encompass the wider attitudes, thinking and behaviour activity, it will be important to ensure that the membership of the Board shifts to enable this to be taken forward effectively, including in partnership with voluntary and community sector organisations involved in this type of work