On the 10th May User Voice held a series of virtual events about the transition out of COVID-19 and into recovery for those in prison and on probation. The virtual events brought together the elected National Service User Council and senior prison, probation, and health leaders in criminal justice.
Having directly engaged 23,000 people in prison and probation over the course of restrictions in 2020, national council members presented the issues, but more importantly, provided the solutions from the service user point of view.
Guest Speaker – Amy Rees is the Director General of Probation and Wales.
Amy is responsible for the leadership of the probation service, managing the deployment of rehabilitation services across both custody and community, with accountability for public protection across both public and private providers.
National Service User Council Members
Erica representing Yorkshire and John representing Merseyside.
The Key Issues
Communication was key for those on probation. As probation offices closed and the service went remote, text messages and calls were widely utilised to maintain contact. Some found it difficult to contact probation or to understand the texts received and there was confusion around unpaid work, with service users feeling that they were uninformed about what would happen. The importance of service user and probation officer relationships is well documented, however some felt that there was too much focus on hours of community service completed rather than support and rehabilitation.
The Service User Solutions
Service users believed that peers are the key to combating large probation caseloads and providing the type of support that they need. They wanted greater access to information on the services available to them so that they could start to take charge of their lives and their futures. Service User participation was another solution – they wanted the probation service to move from consultations to genuine partnerships and highlighted the changes implemented through service user insight.
The Partnership Solution
The event aimed to bring service users and the leaders of probation together to solve the big issues facing them as we ease out of lockdown. By coming together they agreed realistic and implementable solutions that will benefit all parties.
Guest Speaker – Stephen O’Connell, Deputy Director Prison Recovery.
Stephen O’Connell is the Deputy Director of Prisons. He leads on a range of operational matters, national programmes, business development and casework management.
National Service User Council Members
Jason representing West Yorkshire, Louis representing Beds, Northants, Cambs & Herts and Lisa representing Northumbria.
The Key Issues
It’s no surprise that the key issues for prisoners during COVID-19 were the regime of being stuck in a cell for 23 hours a day, with limited contact with family and complete lack of purposeful activity. The mental health toll of the extreme conditions experienced by prisoners throughout lockdown cannot be overestimated.
The Prisoners Solutions
Prisoners felt that if there were more peer support and training in place they would have been able to help each other through the lockdown. While virtual visits were welcomed by many, it only emphasized the importance of in-cell technology for maintaining contact with family and for advancing through online or offline training and education courses. Prisoners want to be included in decisions that affect them, and issues like vaccine rollouts need to partner with prisoners to understand if prisoners want vaccines and if so, how best to implement this.
The Partnership Solution
The event aimed to bring prisoners and the leaders of prison together to solve the big issues facing them as we ease out of lockdown. By coming together they agreed realistic and implementable solutions that will benefit all parties.
Guest Speaker – Kate Davies is the Director of Health and Justice, Armed Forces and Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) for NHS England.
Kate’s national role is to assure high quality, consistent and sustained services with a strong focus on health inequalities and outcomes for patients and their families.
National Service User Council Members
Victoria representing Essex, Tyler representing Greater Manchester and Matthew representing West Yorkshire.
The Key Issues
Mental health, access to medications and substance misuse were the top healthcare issues for prisoners. The vast majority of those we spoke to had experienced increased levels of mental distress during lockdown, however mental health support services were scaled back and were often only available for the most severe cases. Substance abuse was exacerbated in some prisons but restricted due to lack of availability in others. Again, with limited access to support services, prisons may be facing an increase in prisoners turning to substances and/or an increase in requests for substance abuse support. Finally, access to medications was highlighted as one of the top issues facing those in prison. Everyone understands that medications are sometimes abused in prisons but they felt that the pendulum had swung too far and that prisoners should never be left without medication.
The Service User Solutions
Prisoners believed that peers were key to providing support during Covid. With professional and voluntary support services scaled back in many prisons, prisoners felt that if there had been a robust infrastructure of peer-support already in the prisons they could have continued to offer support to each other and would not have been left to fend for themselves without the necessary tools to do so. Accountability was another key theme, as was taking a partnership approach. Although they welcomed the current trend towards the inclusion of those with lived experience, they felt that this hadn’t gone far enough and that policy, procurement, service design and service evaluation all need to be prisoner led.
The Partnership Solution
The event aimed to bring prisoners and the leaders of prison together to solve the big issues facing them as we ease out of lockdown. By coming together they agreed realistic and implementable solutions that will benefit all parties.
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