Supporting women at an early stage to help them address the causes of their offending would cut crime, reduce women’s prison numbers and save the taxpayer money, according to a new briefing launched today (23 May 2014) by the Prison Reform Trust.
Brighter Futures, supported by the Pilgrim Trust, profiles innovative approaches to reducing women’s offending and calls for the development of coordinated services that bring together police, health, women’s services and local authorities to help women turn their lives around.
Inspire was featured in the Brighter Futures report (Prison Reform Trust) you can read the full report here.
Inspire Liaison and Diversion Service, Sussex
The Inspire project, delivered through Brighton Women’s Centre, is a partnership with four other women’s organisations across Brighton.
Inspire is a formal partner in the Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Service delivered through health, police, probation and the voluntary sector across Sussex, accepting referrals from criminal justice liaison nurses based in police stations and the courts. The service supports women with mental health needs, substance misuse issues, learning disabilities and other social needs to reduce their offending. Many do not meet the threshold for statutory mental health support but are affected by anxiety and depression.
In the six months from April 2013, 37 women had been referred to the service by the criminal justice liaison nurse. Whilst referrals are made on a voluntary basis and attendance at Inspire is not mandatory, most women engage to some degree, whether by attending an initial needs assessment or by engaging more fully with the services offered. When a woman referred through Liaison and Diversion has subsequently committed an offence and appeared in court, information on engagement has been included in presentence reports.
Inspire caseworkers are currently only able to provide holistic direct personal support to women from Brighton, with those living elsewhere in Sussex initially supported by an Inspire liaison coordinator. Women across the county will soon have access to an Inspire caseworker based at one of four service hubs which are opening across Sussex in 2014. In addition it is hoped that the range of professionals who can make referrals into the service will be expanded.
Inspire also work with women who are subject to statutory orders, delivering a Specified Activity Requirement (SAR) which local courts can attach to a generic community order when sentencing women. Since April 2013, three women who were originally referred to Inspire through the criminal justice Liaison and Diversion service have been given Inspire SARs, where the value of the work initiated through Liaison and Diversion can be built on during their engagement with the women’s centre under the SAR.
As Inspire continued to expand across Sussex its reach spanned to Eastbourne, Hastings, Worthing and Crawley. A trauma-informed pilot to equip clients with strategies to cope with the effects of trauma in their lives was started in spring 2015 and the project once again received recognition, this time winning Highly Commended award from the Criminal Justice Alliance presented by HRH Princess Royal.