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she points out. ‘And we need to think about where we locate offenders post-
treatment within a prison setting.’ Healthcare-led models can also dilute the
emphasis on treating substance problems, she adds. ‘The focus on overall
wellbeing is welcome – we know that offenders will almost always have many
needs – but it does mean that there are fewer opportunities for intensive
treatment for offenders. I think every positive outcome achieved in a prison is a
testament to the skill and dedication of the support provider.’
In terms of the specific challenge of NPS, their use has changed the prison
landscape ‘significantly, if not completely’, she states. ‘There isn’t an easy answer.
Availability is high, it’s difficult to detect, and it makes an already difficult
environment even harder in terms of treatment and – from a prison perspective
– control.’
Education around the risks and effects needs to be dramatically stepped up, she
stresses, with the allocation of dedicated resources alongside more action to
interrupt supply. ‘It should be a top priority – the introduction of NPS has created
the perfect storm, and I don’t think we saw it coming in time to be anything other
than reactive.’
key concern that predates the NPS crisis is the crucial period
immediately after release, when the risk of overdose can be
high. What kind of support should organisations be putting in
place? ‘We know from experience and data that the take up of
treatment post-release is lower than anyone would like, and
there are many ways it could be improved,’ she says. ‘We’re still
in the position where a great many offenders across the
country walk out of the gate on release alone, and that can be
scary – no matter how many appointments have been made – and transition
between support and/or treatment agencies can be particularly hard for some.’
Many prisoners will have multiple needs to address, and little support when it
comes to safe and positive influences – just trying to navigate services can feel
overwhelming. While peer support and ‘meet at the gate’ services can undoubtedly
be effective they remain underfunded, and those that do exist struggle to meet the
demand. ‘A true through-the-gate
model that holistically supports
offenders through that first few
weeks would be welcomed by many
agencies,’ she says. ‘Then there are the
challenges of working effectively with
someone who may only be in prison
for a few weeks, or remand prisoners
who come and go so quickly and yet
can have the highest needs.’
Our current sentencing system
also means we’re ‘still sending far too
many offenders to prison for short
periods’, she says, which mainly serves
to ‘disrupt already unstable lives
further’. Far more people would
benefit from intensive drug and
alcohol treatment, mental health
treatment or both, she states. ‘I am
determined for Penrose Criminal Justice Services to successfully develop and
promote alternatives to prison for this cohort – and we haven’t even touched on
the need for safe and secure accommodation.’
When it comes to populations whose needs have traditionally been under-
served by the sector perhaps the most obvious is women, and part of her remit
was to set up a residential complex needs service in Brighton, which opened last
month. How important are specialised services like this in the sector? ‘There’s such
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‘When women
feel safe and are
appropriately
supported they
achieve greater
independence
and higher self-
esteem.’
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
a need for female-specific services,’ she says. ‘Demand for our service is high, and
that’s just three weeks in. These services are essential, and there need to be more.
We’ve been able to create a safe,
female-only environment, and all of
the evidence shows us that when
women feel safe and are appropriately
supported they achieve greater
independence and higher self-esteem.’
The women in the service have
‘multiple and very complex needs,’
she continues. ‘Lots of emotion, lots
of trauma – domestic violence and
exploitation is a prevalent need – and
all of our residents have chosen our
service because it’s female only. That
speaks volumes in itself. Women in
our service are able to articulate
themselves away from stigma, away
from control, and reflect. They’re
supported with all individual needs
within the service, including those
who have child ren, and what we can’t provide ourselves we bring in. Brighton has
some amazing partnership working, some of the best that I’ve seen anywhere –
there’s clear progression within the service towards independent living and this
gives our women hope. I definitely plan to develop more female-only services in
the near future.’
‘We could be
working together
in a much more
powerful way to
influence and
deliver real
change in the
sector.’
s someone whose experience covers substance use, offender
services, mental health and more, how far has genuine joined-
up working become a reality? ‘I think things have improved,
but there’s still a long way to go,’ she says. ‘Again, there’s a
mix of examples in the field, from excellence to non-
existence. It’s always troubling when we meet service users
who have failed in recovery or resettlement simply because
they couldn’t navigate, or find cohesiveness between,
community support services. Just a few months ago I was talking to a service
user who had had eight assessments from different services in ten days. Is this
really where we still are?’
The flipside of that is the excitement that comes with seeing great services or
innovation, however. ‘I come away thinking “I want that!”’ she says. ‘It’s not
always reflected in data – what I want to see is the tangible impact. I hope that
one day health and social care can be used in the same sentence in a much more
meaningful way. They’re all too often miles apart.’
The answer ultimately lies in ‘truly joining things up solely to the benefit of
service users, co-producing services and improving access using their experience
– they really do know best’, she states. ‘To see that across the board would be
phenomenal. It’s actually one of the biggest strengths of the Social Interest
Group – we have all of that expertise under one umbrella and we can work in a
very cohesive way to offer more joined-up services, but it’s more than just us.’
So what sort of strategies should the voluntary sector be adopting generally
in these challenging times? ‘Co-production and partnership working – there are
so many great organisations out there, and many examples of organisations
really strengthening their offerings to service users by joining forces.’ Funding
keeps going down while demand keeps going up, and there’s ‘still a lot of
duplication in what we do and how we do it’, she says. ‘We could be working
together in a much more powerful way to influence and deliver real change in
the sector – both locally and politically. We’re so good at what we do – our voices
should be heard more.’ DDN
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February 2018 | drinkanddrugsnews | 17