Dumfries and Galloway Community Integration Pathways
Reducing re-offending and integrating short term prisoners into the community is the aim of The Dumfries and Galloway Community Integration Pathways. The new Pathways were launched at Browne House, Crichton, Dumfries on Thursday 1 December 2011. An invited audience of around 50 including representatives from Dumfries and Galloway Council, HMP Dumfries, local community based services, South West Scotland Community Justice Authority partners and national representatives from Scottish Prison Service were present.
A copy of the Community Integration Pathways can be downloaded here.
Read the BBC News report here.
The Dumfries & Galloway Community Integration Pathways set out how HMP Dumfries and other service providers will work together to ensure that short-term prisoners from Dumfries & Galloway experience more joined-up services. Short term in this case means sentenced to less than 4 years. The pathways focus on three of the most important factors for bringing offenders back into our communities:
- Employability
- Prison discharge and Homelessness Prevention
- Substance Misuse
John Dougan is Chair of Social Work Committee in Dumfries and Galloway and Vice-convener of the South West Scotland Community Justice Authority. He said, "Most offenders have multiple disadvantages which can include lack of skills and training, poor physical and mental health and substance misuse. By working together and following these pathways we can make sure that offenders receive a consistent service across the region that helps to overcome these problems.
"Together we can give the right support for people leaving prison. We can try to make sure that no-one leaving prison ends up on the streets or without a job, with all that entails for their personal health and wellbeing and for our services.
"I am confident that by following these Pathways we can contribute to a safer and stronger Dumfries and Galloway."
Group Captain Martyn Bettel OBE, Governor of HMP Dumfries, said “Most of the short term prisoners who come to HMP Dumfries have a number of serious needs that we try to address, but these needs often continue when the prisoners return to the community so it is important that we work with our community partners closely to provide a joined-up service. The Employability, Homelessness and Substance Misuse Pathways are an important first step in providing that co-ordinated effort.” He continued, “Our shared aim is to reduce reoffending in Dumfries and Galloway and I hope that we and our community partners can go on to explore other ways of achieving this together. He added, “I am particularly grateful to those prison staff and those from the community partners who worked tirelessly to produce the Pathways.”
The development of Dumfries & Galloway Community Integration Pathways was inspired by the launch of Tayside CJA Short-Term Prisoner Protocols. It is the first phase of a wider programme of work across South West Scotland to improve community integration for offenders.
The hope is that this approach can be developed across the whole of Scotland. The launch is timely given the current and future work of the Reducing Re-offending Programme and the recent announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice of a review of Throughcare for people leaving prison.