Developing a Haringey Response to Reducing Adult Re-Offending through Coordinated Rehabilitation and Resettlement
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Minutes:
The board was introduced to the report by hearing an example of a real life story of the issues and circumstances which can lead to adult offending and re – offending. The board was asked to take account of the cost to the various systems and services and the community costs that re-offending produces and which can be prevented. The report proposed to the board that reducing re-offending and monitoring progress should become a core part of the SCEB agenda.
The report discussed how there is a mis-match of services available for those who are statutory offenders (i.e. those under the care of probation services) and those who are non-statutory offenders and receive no support services. It was reported that one in seven on the Probation caseload currently re-offend and noted that these people were invariably not offending for the first time. It was suggested that a significant proportion of re-offending is likely to be committed by non-statutory offenders and that further work was required to confirm these assumptions. The gaps in services available and the importance of the resettlement agenda indicated the need for a time-limited, dedicated Project Manager with agency champions identified and allocated from the 7 report pathways. It was agreed that consideration be given to a pilot project to identify non-statutory offenders possibly by focusing on a couple of prisons and by examining their pathways.
The board learnt that actual investigation into reducing re-offending and a focus on resettlement was a relatively new issue despite having been part of a three-pronged approach to Prolific and Priority Offenders alongside prevention and conviction. As far as we know, only two boroughs have started any serious work on this (Tower Hamlets and Lewisham) and they are still in the process of compiling a strategy. It was suggested that Haringey should investigate further the outcomes of Tower Hamlets’ experience so far, as this work has already been running for a couple of years.
The MPA representative announced at the meeting that the London Mayor was launching a London Youth Strategy including a stream to look at young offenders. Therefore, it would be beneficial for accessing future funding that local authorities demonstrate an awareness of the resettlement issues.
The board discussed the shift to the prevention agenda by Government and the need to work early with identified families to ensure that the causes leading to offending were addressed early. In response to the challenge that further information gathering was required, it was important to keep in mind the information which would be produced by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment; the wealth of information held by the stakeholders on the board and the research continuing on the 3 ‘diamond’ districts by the Home Office. It was also important to ensure that new research is not undertaken if data already exists.
Clarification was sought on the funding for the proposed Project Manager and it was noted that there was some Area Based Grant money earmarked and available for this project in the ... view the full minutes text for item 87