Revolving Doors Logo

Connect London

Connect London is a two year development programme funded by the London Housing Foundation, through which we are working in partnership with three London boroughs to improve responses in meeting the needs of the revolving doors group.

Building on the successful model used in our National Development Programme (NDP), over the last year Revolving Doors has provided a range of development support.  To date, this has included needs analysis, service scoping, facilitation of multi-agency meetings and on-going evaluation.  

                                     ndp-process
                                         

Within these pilot projects, there is a strong focus on short-term prisoners – who emerged as one of the most disadvantaged group in the findings from our National Development Programme.  The key lessons from this work are summarised in our Thinking Local report.

Initial scoping undertaken in early 2011 with senior strategic stakeholders across criminal justice, health, housing, and social care agencies helped to inform the priority themes of Connect London.

The themes to emerge from discussions with stakeholders were:

  • The almost universally unmet needs of alcohol misusers
  • The continued existence of health inequalities within the offending population
  • The forthcoming transfer of health commissioning within police custody to the NHS
  • Improved collaboration within Integrated Offender Management (IOM) programmes, and incorporating the learning from the Diamond Initiative.
  • Community sentencing options
  • The challenges of commissioning for the multiply disadvantaged group (formerly PAS 16 – socially excluded adults) within a financially constrained climate.

We have been working with key partners in the London boroughs of Islington, Newham and Brent, building on the areas in which local priorities map onto these overarching themes.

Islington

The project’s primary focus is on addressing health inequalities and improving access to mental health services for the revolving doors group.  Working with key partners under the umbrella of Integrated Offender Management, the project aims to improve the professional support available to those managing this cohort, and also, to improve access to mental healthcare for the clients themselves.  Strengthening the relationship and flow of information between probation staff and mental health services has resulted in some innovative solutions to long standing challenges.  Starting in March 2012, tailored packages of Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) will be on offer to those on Probation caseload, and delivered in two of the borough’s Probation offices.  Options are also being explored as to how those clients least likely to engage with statutory mental health services via mainstream referral routes might undergo mental health assessments on site in Probation. 

Newham

Working with key partners from the Police, Probation and the Criminal Justice Intervention Team, the project aims are to improve physical and mental wellbeing amongst the IOM cohort and reduce reoffending.  The project began with an in-depth assessment to identify the target cohort, and better understand their presenting needs.  The findings of this analysis have had a direct impact on the final structure of Newham’s IOM strategy, with the revolving doors group included in the borough’s overall strategic objectives. We are now assisting the IOM strategy group to build relationships with the range of service providers required to meet the needs of the revolving doors group, with a particular focus on meeting their alcohol related needs.

 Brent

This project is centred upon reducing health inequalities within the revolving doors group.  Working together with London Probation’s community hub initiative, which is piloting ‘one stop shop’ approaches for disadvantaged and excluded adults, two housing organisations within Brent will be hosting ‘hubs’ offering a wide range of services to the revolving doors group.   Full GP services will be on offer at both sites, of particular significance given low registration rates with GP practices amongst the revolving doors group.  Access to these services will be facilitated through Offender Managers for those under statutory supervision, and through a voluntary sector partner (P3) for non-statutory offenders.  Referral routes from HMPs Wormwood Scrubs and Holloway for non-statutory offenders have also been facilitated by Revolving Doors, to ensure any needs can be identified and support provided to link into relevant services. 

 

 

Connect London is funded by the London Housing Foundation LHF logo