Reducing Offending
The Scottish Executive has done a great deal to promote
a broad range of community disposals involving the
effective supervision of offenders and working with them to
help reduce re-offending. However we have also become
increasingly concerned about the "revolving door syndrome"
of prisoners released from jail in Scotland who end up
being sent back to prison after committing further
offences. If we are to tackle this problem, it is important
that we adopt a more co-ordinated approach to throughcare
to assist prisoners when they leave jail.
What is Throughcare?
Throughcare is the provision of a range of social work
and associated services to prisoners and their families
from the point of sentence or remand, during the period of
imprisonment, and following release into the community.
Local Authorities have a
statutory responsibility for prisoners
sentenced to
over 4 years in prison on release and for
those sentenced to
Supervised Release Orders and
Extended Sentences. (Supervised Release
Orders and Extended Sentences allow courts to impose, at
the point of sentence, additional post-release supervision
on licence where necessary.) Local Authorities also have
statutory responsibility to offer
voluntary aftercare which consists of
supervision, support and assistance to people who
request such a service within 12 months of their release
from custody. This service might be in the form of advice
on access to benefits, accommodation, education and
training or alcohol/drugs rehabilitation.
Throughcare consists of two elements - work done within
the prison setting through programmes to help individuals
change their behaviour and work in the community to
reintegrate prisoners back into society. Local Authority
Social Work Departments work to
the
National Objectives and Standards for Social Work
Services in the Criminal Justice System (NOS)
which set out their responsibilities in respect of the
imprisonment and preparation for release of offenders. You
can find out more about this and access the different
Standards publications via the following link:
National
Objectives and Standards.