Services that can be delivered via Commissioned Rehabilitative Services to individuals whilst in prison to support resettlement

Guidance for Probation Practitioners

Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) are a range of services delivered by specialist providers to meet key areas of rehabilitative need including: Accommodation; Employment, Training and Education; Personal Wellbeing; and Women’s Services.

Additional CRS are currently being commissioned and further updates will be provided in due course.

The following services can be delivered to individuals whilst in prison to support resettlement:

Accommodation – starts pre-release and continues after release to support sentenced people in prison to maintain tenancies or move into suitable accommodation.

Women can also be supported into accommodation by CRS Women’s Services.

Social Inclusion – One part of the Personal Wellbeing (PWB) service). This is a pre and post-release mentoring service to support transition from prison to the community and can help those who struggle or cannot cope with returning to the community after being released from prison. Social Inclusion services can help to reduce anxiety for those coming up to release and those who may have little or no support in the community. It can include a meet at the gate service.

Women can also access pre- and post-release mentors through the CRS Women’s Services.

Guidance and what’s new

Wherever possible, referrals should be made pre-release as this allows the Person in Prison to prepare for release.

However, for some men and women it is in effect not possible to make a pre-release referral. With effect from 4th May 2022, Probation Practitioners (via the CORRE for Wales) can now make post-release referrals to the Social Inclusion Service in a limited number of circumstances. These are:

  • Men and women, unsentenced and held in custody, who are subsequently released ‘time served’, following sentence, direct from the sentencing court or from the prison where they have been held.
  • Men and women approved under the Parole Board Executive Release process, where release is directed to take place within 3 working days of the instruction being made.
  • Men and women sentenced to very short periods in custody of 1 day to potentially 7 days, by exception and where there is insufficient time, whilst in custody, for Probation Practitioners to make a referral to the CRS provider using the Urgent Timescale process.  (The current ‘Urgent’ timescale captures Provider obligations for those with 14 days or less to serve but there is still concerns that a Probation Practitioner may not have capacity to make a referral on behalf of people on probation with a 1-7 days sentence.)
  • Men and women who are released with a robust reintegration plan including sources of support during the period of transition from custody to community who, experience a sudden and unexpected breakdown of the plan and would benefit from the support offered within the SI service to reduce risk of reoffending / for stabilisation.

Post-release referrals can be made up to 6 calendar weeks after the date of release. After this time, people on probation should be referred to other pathways within the Personal Well-Being services.

This is a change in practice to how we have asked CRS Providers to deliver the Social Inclusion service. If you require further information or have any questions, please contact your CRS Provider.

Action and Top Tips

Assess all people on probation who are close to release to see if they would benefit from this support. If so, make a pre-release referral to Social Inclusion via Refer and Monitor.
 
Only in cases where it is not possible to refer pre-release, make a post-release referral within 6 calendar weeks of the release date via Refer and Monitor.

If a person on probation has an urgent need for support, contact the CRS Provider to see if the Assessment Appointment can be arranged quickly.
 
For people on probation who – were released more than 6 calendar weeks ago or who are subject to a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement And who have emotional well-being needs or needs in relation to social isolation or poor relationships with family or peers which is linked to re-offending or overall stability – make a referral to one of the other pathways available in Personal Well-being.

This a change in practice to how we have asked CRS Providers to deliver the Social Inclusion service. If you require further information or have any questions, please contact your CRS Personal Well-Being Provider.