Housing for Released Prisoners
Up to 12,000 prisoners in England and Wales at risk of being released homeless will be offered temporary housing for up to 12 weeks as part of the Community Accommodation Service scheme. This follows on from the recent introduction of legislation to stop prisoners being released on a Friday. Where a prisoners sentence would otherwise have ended on a Saturday or Sunday, they would have previously been released on the Friday before instead. This meant that by the time they had been released, many places where they could access help and support had already closed for the weekend before prisoners could get there.
A lack of accommodation upon release is one of the major issues faced by many prisoners. In 2019/20 (the last pre-COVID performance publication), there were approximately 12,000 prisoners (16%) released either rough sleeping or homeless.
The Community Accommodation Scheme began in July 2021 in 5 of the 12 Probation Service regions: Yorkshire and Humber, Greater Manchester, the North West, the East of England and Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Wales was added in July 2022. The scheme is now being rolled out among the remaining 6 regions: the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, South Central, South West, and London.
In the regions where this service was introduced, the number of offenders who had somewhere to stay on their first night out of prison was 7.6% higher than in the regions not taking part in the scheme.
It is proven that offenders in stable accommodation are 50% less likely to commit further crimes. This goes a long way to reducing the cost of reoffending, which is an annual £18 billion. Having an address also allows offenders to find work and access treatment for addictions and mental health problems, while being closely monitored by the Probation Service.
This scheme is complemented by employment assistance helping thousands of prisoners into employment upon release following innovative schemes such as Employment Advisory Boards, which have been rolled out in 92 prisons to improve the education and training on offer.
These measures have helped more offenders into a steady job with the latest statistics showing the proportion of prison leavers finding work within 6 months increasing from 23% to 30% since 2022.
As a firm, we are delighted to see these and other initiatives supporting those who have served their time and wish to start afresh with a clean slate. If you experience any difficulties in accessing these schemes, please get in touch with us as soon as possible so that we can offer assistance. Our commitment to helping our clients does not stop when you are sentenced.
How can we help?
If you need specialist advice in relation to any criminal investigation or prosecution, from the initial investigation through to court proceedings, please get in touch. Call John Howey on 020 7388 1658 or email jhowey@jfhlaw.co.uk. Let us help.
Image credit: “Sleeping rough” by sk8geek is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
