Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...

Justice Committee: Evidence Ev 3929 January 2013 Jacqueline McKenzie, Deborah Cowley, Rachel Halford and Sherry AshfieldQ188 Andy McDonald: Do you think there aresome opportunities with the proposed nationalcommissioning regime, working alongside localarrangements, to plug these gaps to some extent? Doyou have any optimism that that may happen?Rachel Halford: In what way?Q189 Andy McDonald: We are talking about newarrangements coming on board for probationaryrehabilitative services. Can they address these gapsthat you have identified?Jacqueline McKenzie: They will only be able to addressthem with the provision of more accommodation andmore housing and, as a step before this—which is alsoproblematic and which we think perhaps is more to dowith prison or possibly probation and of which I thinkthe members of this Committee must be fully aware—arrangements for women coming out of prison are notalways very well organised. For instance—and we donot just work with foreign nationals, by the way—this is an example of a non‐foreign national who wasreleased from prison about three weeks ago, who hadnowhere to go. She was a victim of domestic violenceso could not go back to what was her family home.She could not find any accommodation and we spent,I think it was, two to three days literally trying to findher somewhere, which included walking up and downthe high street trying to book her into bed and breakfastat our own cost, which we had great difficulty doingbecause she had no ID because her ID was at thehome that she shared with her former partner. So thearrangements that are made before people are releasedare equally as important as the ones that happenafterwards and the long‐term housing plans and so on,and that ought to be part of any new strategy.Rachel Halford: Absolutely. We are looking at somereally big implications as we move forward, so it isimportant that that plan is in place. For many women,particularly returning to London, for example, theywant to go back to their local communities—that iswhere their support networks are—but we have theuniversal credit system, so we have this cap on benefits.We have women who are, on a daily and weekly basisat the moment, having to leave their accommodation.Because there is no social housing, they are in privateaccommodation. That was a fantastic answer and it hasbeen a solution that has worked really well; and now,all of a sudden, they are being evicted from this privateaccommodation because the benefits cap has meant thatthey cannot afford the accommodation and the onlyaccommodation we can find them that is appropriateis right out in the sticks in the outer boroughs, so theywill lose all their contacts. We have women who arenot eating so as to provide the extra rent, the top‐up forthe rent, because their benefits don’t cover it. That isjust so that they can stay where they are familiar withand feel safe.Q190 Andy McDonald: It seems to be a matterof common sense that, if you have improved accessto better accommodation and better mental healthservices, that it is going to impact upon the rates ofreoffending.Rachel Halford: Absolutely.Q191 Andy McDonald: Can you give any evidencethat would support that proposition or is it simply aself‐fulfilling statement?Jacqueline McKenzie: It is not just self‐fulfilling. Forinstance, our client would have got into shoplifting—which I think is what she was in prison for originally—if we had not been there to pick her up, because sheneeded to find somewhere to sleep for the night. Whatwas she to do? That is a real and very current example.Rachel Halford: Exactly the same, we have manyexamples of projects that we run. We work withThrough the Gate and mental health specialistprojects, where we engage with the women prior tothem leaving the prison, engage them with the localcommunities, walk beside them and encourage them.One of the things that we find when we work withwomen is that a great many find it really difficult toform relationships—and they have. They find it verydifficult to engage with the statutory services—that is,community mental health and probation—and whatthey need is the support of an independent voluntaryorganisation that is going to work with them to engagewith the other agencies, to help them understand theneed and the benefits for them of engaging with theseother agencies. So we have projects.I can give you an example of a project we ran justoutside Manchester: 47 women came through theproject, Through the Gate. At the end of the year, 46still had not reoffended. It is proven and that is justone example. It has been proven time and time againthat, walking beside a woman, with Through the Gatesupport to enable them to address their issues andreintegrate back into society works, absolutely works.Q192 Chair: Thank you very much. Did you wish toadd something?Deborah Cowley: Sometimes it is very difficult to provethat the intervention you have provided, the particularaccommodation or whatever, has resulted specificallyin lower offending or desistance. I am very keen thatwe should be able to look at the research evidencethat there is of the relationship between, for instance,accommodation or strong family ties and desistanceand to be able then to point to intermediate indicatorsand say, “This person is accommodated according togood practice,” or, “This person has established ormaintained strong family ties and therefore we candeduce that there will be less reoffending.” That isoften overlooked. It means also that for interventionsthat have more than one outcome, both accommodationand family ties, you can turn both ways. So peopleworking on strong family ties can turn to the PrisonService and say, “Look at what is happening. This is astrong family.” But you can also turn to the “troubledfamilies” team or to children’s health and say, “This iswhat has been achieved here, too.” It is a way that wecan stop compartmentalising everything and producemore than one effect.Chair: Thank you all very much indeed. We are verygrateful to you for your evidence.________________