Catherine Hennessy

Ending the revolving door

20 September 2012

Our new briefing sets out how police and crime commissioners can cut crime by working in partnership to address multiple needs.

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Communities of Practice

16 July 2012

In recent weeks, I have been thinking a lot about the impact of austerity, change and uncertainty on people facing complex problems and on the frontline staff who support them.

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Launch of St Mungo's Rebuilding Shattered Lives Campaign

18 June 2012

I am delighted to be able to contribute to the expert group for the Rebuilding Shattered Lives campaign which is due to be launched later today by St Mungo’s. The campaign aims to raise awareness, showcase good practice and innovation on the issues faced by homeless women.

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World Book Night

7 March 2011

On the occasion of World Book Night, I have been thinking of those writers whose work has illuminated for me the various lived experiences of mental health problems, substance misuse, homelessness and imprisonment. Here are some personal favourites.

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The trouble with labels

14 February 2011

Friends often enquire about my work. They find it hard to relate to the concepts of partnerships and development. They want to hear about people. A person with multiple problems is helpful shorthand for those of us who work in the field but spoken out loud to a friend or relative, it sounds like jargon and it is. So I tell them about Jacky.

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Partnerships work

21 December 2010

The publication of the Ministry of Justice green paper “Breaking the Cycle” has re-ignited the debate as to whether prison works in reducing offending. While this battle rages, let’s consider the fact that when it comes to reducing re-offending, there is a strong case that partnership working undoubtedly works.

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The importance of getting in early

18 November 2010

This week, I was fortunate to attend the International Juvenile Justice Observatory conference in Rome on behalf of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance.

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“You can’t whistle a symphony”: The value of partnership working

28 October 2010

The saying goes “you can’t whistle a symphony; you need an orchestra to play it”. Three years ago we launched a national development programme designed to act as a catalyst for the development of services for people with multiple problems, including poor mental health, who are in contact with the criminal justice system. We called it a development programme, which it indeed was, but I feel confident in asserting that partnership working has been the real leitmotif for the programme.

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Finding familiar things in unfamiliar places

12 October 2010

A change, they say, is as good as a rest. So, last week I took a break from my day job at Revolving Doors to do some voluntary work delivering mental health training to staff working with homeless people in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava.

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