Day One Support for Prison Leavers

CESI Welfare to Work Conference: July 10th 2012

Introductions

• David Perrins, Director of Business Development

• Laura Jones, Business Development Manager

• Katy John, Business Development Manager

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Overview

• Introduction to Avanta

• Context – Reducing reoffending by supporting offenders into work

• Day One Support - What’s working?

• Moving forward – How can we improve outcomes for offenders?

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Introduction to Avanta

Avanta Today

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• 30 years’ experience of delivering high-performing employment, enterprise and skills contracts

• Evolved from a community organisation to a national leader (in the top 5 largest welfare-to-work providers)

• Work Programme Prime in the North West, North East and South East

• Track record of community knowledge and services (embedded in local communities)

• Substantial supply chains comprising public, private and not-for-profit delivery partners

• 40,000 offenders supported into employment and training over last 10 years

• Over the next five years, we will support 177,000 offenders through Day One provision

• Strong investment in the Justice sector – Framework provider for MoJ Payment by Results Pilots (Lots 1 and 2); providing prison industries as a subcontractor on PCP2

Context – Reducing reoffending by supporting offenders into work

Context: the challenge

• Cost an average of £38,000 to keep someone in prison for one year

• Rehabilitative regimes in prisons cost £300m a year

• Re-offending rates rising – 2011 data shows 90% of those sentenced in England and Wales had offended before

• Multiple offences – a third of those sentenced had committed/were linked to 15 or more crimes

• Particular challenge around those on short-term sentences – this group has higher re-offending rates, as well as less statutory support/supervision

• Offending behaviour linked wider deprivation – for example, 2005 Houchin Report found that a quarter of all Scottish prisoners come from just 53 out of 1,222 Scottish wards

• Human cost – prisoners’ families and their communities

• And the issues are increasing – Prison numbers have increased by over 25,000 over the past 15 years (from 60,000 to 80,000 – includes 2,000 increase during riots)

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Offender Demographics – Multiple and complex issues

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(Ministry of Justice, 2010)

Welfare and Justice:an opportunity for change

• Given the challenges set out, this represents a significant opportunity for joining up the Welfare and Justice agendas

• Day One and other initiatives will give Work Programme providers access to this client group and the opportunity to break the cycle

• Prison competitions – establishing relationships with prisoners prior to release

• Probation Review – testing new models of working together to reduce reoffending

• Community Budgets – a genuine join up of money and services

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MoJ Direction of Travel: addressing the challenge

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• Measures to reduce re-offending, including PBR Pilots. PBR principles to be rolled out across the UK by 2015

• Fast-tracking offenders to the Work Programme – Day One

• Probation Review – consultation recommends increased role of private and third sectors in driving results/innovation

• Community payback – Meaningful placements informed by community needs/priorities

• Reducing the prison population through measures such as increased tagging

• OLASS – increased focus on preparing prisoners for work

• Coordinated approach – through the gate, IOMs to coordinate statutory services, particularly for PPOs

• Custody/industries – increased role of private/third sectors in creating ‘real work environments’ to increase the successful transition through the gate into employment

Current and proposed MOJ PBR Pilots

• HMP Leeds - PBR Custodial Pilot

• HMP Doncaster - PBR run by Serco

• Manchester and London - PBR public sector ‘Justice Re-Investment pilots’

• HMP Peterborough - Social Impact Bond

• Wales Probation and Staffs & West Midlands Probation - PBR Community Pilots being tendered

• HMP High Down - PBR public sector

• Wales/ West Mids – WP Top Up Pilots

• Innovation Pilots – Locations TBC

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The role of employment providers

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• MoJ and DWP joint analysis of the criminal records of benefit claimants:• 33% of JSA claimants have a criminal record;• 26% of all claimants (just under 5m) have been cautioned or convicted in the last decade;• 75% of people convicted in 2008 had claimed out of work benefits during the last two years;• 50% of those released in 2008 were still claiming benefit two years later.

• MoJ research outlined the key factors identified as preventing people from re-offending:•Having a job (67%) •Secure housing (61%)•Having enough money (52%)•Not using drugs (47%)•Avoiding certain people (45%)•Family support (36%)•Fear of returning to prison (36%)

• A clear opportunity and role for Employability providers in reducing re-offending

Day One Support – What’s working?

Avanta Day One Claimant Journey

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Day One Support: Initial Challenges

• PRaP issues – manual process to identify clients referred pre and post release date

• Implementing ‘warm’ referral process, enabling clients to be identified and referred prior to release

• Clients not always being referred to WP prior to release. Additionally, JCP not consistently identifying and referring PG9 group when they sign on within 13 weeks

• Speed of implementation has created operational issues/risks, such as MAPPA cases

• EBAs not always informing providers when a client’s release date is delayed

• Initial engagement made more challenging by:– Lack of contact details – E.g. in North East, 83% of clients have no phone number – Chaotic lifestyles including lack of stable housing/address– Some clients attending appointment in prison to ensure benefits paid and then not

attending initial appointment

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Day One Support: What’s working well

• Developing links with Prison Employment and Benefit Advisors (EBAs) – including through sharing good news stories and marketing material

• Alignment of Day One Support with NOMS ESF (e.g. in North East) – enabling more ‘contact points’ for initial engagement (e.g. working with IOM teams, EBAs)

• Early identification of job goals- vacancies prepared prior to appointments

• Early identification of disabilities/ additional needs via contact centre

• Coordinated approach by Primes – e.g. Seetec, G4S, Avanta & JCP working with the learning, skills and employability practitioners at HMP Thorn Cross to develop referral models, and align existing action planning and training into Work Programme activities

• Employing specialist job coaches with experience of supporting offenders

• Integrating with joint working initiatives – e.g. Avanta are part of the Stockport Reducing Re-offending Group

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Work Programme provider experiences of Day One

• Have we captured all the challenges?

• How else can we work together to create seamless delivery?

• What ‘lessons learnt’ can we learn from providers and other countries to continuously improve outcomes?

• How will wider changes in Justice sector effect Day One – prisons under competition, increased use of tagging and probation

• Challenge of coordinating with existing statutory and non-statutory services

• WP Provider Forums led by DWP address on-going Day One issues

• Example – Joint meeting held in NW with EBAs, JCP, DWP, Probation and Providers

• Opportunity – NOMS have a lead person responsible for alignment with the Work Programme

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Moving forward – How can we improve outcomes for offenders?

How can we improve outcomes for offenders?

• Promoting enterprise – E.g. Our Inside Out programme at HMP Kirklevington achieved a 33% business start-up rate and 75% sustainability after 6 months

• Alignment of existing services – NOMS ESF, JCP, Through the Gate mentoring provision

• Desistence theory- promoting offender ownership of journey

• Awareness raising amongst prison teams

• Involving the third sector – Link up with existing third sector support for ex-offenders, e.g. West Yorkshire Community Chaplaincy Project at HMP Leeds (for PBR Pilot)

• Involvement of families – ‘support the support system’ to create positive influences

• Alignment with substance misuse services

• Integrating support for ex-offenders into our local Employer Engagement Strategies and providing progression from prison industries

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HMP Leeds: improvingoutcomes for offenders

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•E.g. Work Programme - total funding £60m p/a;

•Youth Contract funding for young people

•ESF Workless Families

E.g. ESF Skills Support for Unemployed funding £15m

E.g. NOMS – ESF Drugs Treatment Services funding 2012 - £916,000

E.g. OLASS 4 held by The Manchester College – budget for Leeds prison is £1.7m

E.g. NOMS ESF – West Yorks PT total value for Y&H (excluding SY) 2012 - £3.6m

E.g. West Yorkshire Probation 2012/13 - £38.5m

E.g. Horton Housing (community specialist) Leeds Housing Concern

E.g. £34m City Centre Growth Fund Bradford (2012)

E.g. Jigsaw & WYCCP

Learning from local Pilots

Questions?