This blog is written by Lisa Moseley, a PhD student at Newcastle University who is currently undertaking an internship with the Changing Lives policy team. In this blog, Lisa reflects on Changing Lives’ recent submission to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into rehabilitation and resettlement.
Housing post-release is a priority for most women, but this can be a difficult system to navigate. When I was working as a social worker, I often saw people leaving prison housed in unsuitable accommodation due to the shortage of places. This left women vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, as well as not supporting their resettlement. It came as no surprise to learn from Changing Lives staff that some women feel the accommodation is so awful they would rather return to prison.
Women make up a much smaller proportion of people in prison and so there is a lack of services tailored to their unique needs, making post-release resettlement much more difficult, including finding appropriate accommodation. We also know housing poses an extra challenge for women who receive custodial sentences because they are more likely to lose their home, as well as their children and their jobs, adding an additional layer of complexity when released. I would argue that stable accommodation is the foundation of resettlement. How can we expect women to manage the requirements post-release if they don’t have somewhere safe and secure?
Ideally, support to women should begin in advance of release and we’re seeing some great examples of this. One of the prisons where Changing Lives operates hold resettlement meetings up to 8 weeks in advance of release connecting women with homelessness services, drug and alcohol support, as well as ensuring women are supported to claim appropriate benefits. Several prisons have also implemented a ‘departure lounge’, located in or near the prison, which allows women to access services all in one place on the day of release, including probation, housing, addiction support and benefits.
Despite these initiatives, too many women are leaving prisons without the support that they need. A big factor in this is short term sentences or recall to prison. This is often incredibly disruptive to resettlement as well as sentences being too short to provide any rehabilitation support while in prison. Further, uncertainty around release dates can pose a real issue for ensuring appropriate support is in place on release day and can leave women more vulnerable. The rationale for short sentences and short recalls has always seemed counterintuitive to me and serves little purpose in rehabilitation, while actively hindering resettlement and progress. In my opinion recall should be reserved only for serious cases and instead women should be supported and consideration given to the factors that led to a breach of conditions.
We’ve seen some great joined up working between agencies however, due to lack of funding these services can be limited to only provide the support they are specifically commissioned for, so Changing Lives aims to bridge that gap. Higher caseloads for probation and statutory services mean it is challenging for them to provide the support required. Programmes like our Women’s Enhanced Support Services (WESS) can provide the intensive provision required, to ensure women are appropriately resettled and supported with these challenges, including accommodation. However, I am concerned that the number of women in prison is increasing and so these services are going to be stretched even further when they already have limited resources. This is also going to put further strain on accommodation provisions and risk more women ending up in unsuitable accommodation and without the support they need.
There is an obvious need for more funding across services, however we are all aware of the current economic challenges and I think measures can be taken to improve women’s journeys out of prison even without additional financial resources. Given the success of strategies like the departure lounge and women being connected with support in advance of release, consideration should be given to implementing such schemes to all prisons. While this would require collaboration and logistical support, this could be achieved with little to no financial burden but would make a huge difference to the support women receive, and ultimately to their successful community resettlement. This has to begin with accommodation needs being appropriately met so that we no longer hear that prison seems like the better option.
