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Some improvements but a long way to go: a national survey of local authorities on the provision of social care for people released from prison
Hargreaves, Claire Roberts, Amy Taylor, Wendy Forsyth, Katrina Robinson, Catherine Shaw, Jennifer Tucker, Susan
Hargreaves, Claire
Roberts, Amy
Taylor, Wendy
Forsyth, Katrina
Robinson, Catherine
Shaw, Jennifer
Tucker, Susan
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2024-11-29
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Abstract
The provision of social care for people in prison in England has historically been lacking. Seeking to address this, the 2014 Care Act clarified that local authorities are responsible for identifying, assessing and meeting prisoners’ social care needs. Against this background, in 2020 we undertook a survey to explore the emerging services for this group. Eighty-six (57%) local authorities responded. A mixed methods approach was taken. Numerical data were analysed through descriptive statistics with comparisons made to the previous survey. An inductive approach to thematic analysis was used to analyse the free text responses. The findings revealed some improvements since the 2015/16 surveys, including the wider introduction of self-referral systems, the success of peer supporters in identifying people in need of social care and greater multi-disciplinary working. However, other issues remained stubbornly persistent, including a dearth of systematic processes to identify those needing social care on release from prison, a lack of timely information sharing and disputes over the sending and receiving authorities’ responsibilities. There were also particular concerns about the shortage of appropriate accommodation for people leaving prison. Perhaps the most striking finding, however, was how little most authorities knew about this population. Building on discussions in previous papers, we explore three ways in which arrangements could be strengthened for this group: the collection of better data, the wider use of release on temporary licence and the greater employment of technology in planning people’s release.
Citation
Hargreaves, C., Roberts, A., Taylor, W., Forsyth, K., Robinson, C., Shaw, J., & Tucker, S. Some improvements but a long way to go: A national survey of local authorities on the provision of social care for people released from prison. Health & Justice, 12(1), article-number 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-024-00304-6
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BioMed Central
Journal
Health & Justice
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DOI
10.1186/s40352-024-00304-6
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Article
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The version of record of this article, first published in [Health & Justice], is available online at Publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40352-024-00304-6
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2194-7899
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This article presents independent research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Social Care Research (C969/CM/UMCR-P136)