At Anawim we’ve been pleased to be involved in a pilot project – which has the potential to change how some women are dealt with by the Criminal Justice System.
The Intensive Supervision Court (ISC) is a form of Problem-Solving Court. It is designed to be used by women whose offence would normally meet the custody threshold, and who may need intensive support from a range of partner agencies to address multiple and complex unmet needs such as abuse and trauma, mental health and substance misuse. These are needs which often feed into the cycle of reoffending.
Instead of being sent to prison (at a cost to the public of £52,000 per annum) the women will receive a sentence that requires them to work with community partners instead. All appointments take place at the women’s centre, and the women can then build trust through a dedicated caseworker and Judge who remain with them for the duration of their sentence. They will have monthly reviews with the judge and their multidisciplinary caseworkers as a chance to review their progress.
This scheme is something we are pleased to be involved with, and are seeing real results from, so we were delighted to read a recent Guardian article about the positive impact of the ISC.
It followed a visit by former minister David Gauke – who is leading the Government’s sentencing review – and it seems he liked what he saw. Mr Gauke is quoted in the article as saying:
The test of course, is, does this succeed? Does this help reduce reoffending? Does it allow the women to reintegrate into society? It is a relatively early stage, but I think the signs are very encouraging…
We know that working with women in the community is better for everyone concerned. Most women in prison are there on short sentences, which they have been given for non-violent offences. When a mother is detained 19 times out of 20 her children will have to leave the family home. 13% of women are released to homelessness, and although women make up 4% of the prison population, they are responsible for 27% of the self-harm incidences.
Anawim CEO Joy Doal said:
We are honoured to be part of this pilot and hope that it will be rolled out after the initial period. This approach really does work. Of course, there is still time for people to feed into the sentencing review so please do, so that we can change the criminal justice system and make it work for victims and for those who offend.
We are encouraged by David Gauke’s response following his visit to the Intensive Supervision Court in Birmingham, and hope this is an indication of the direction of travel for the Government and the sentencing review. We know that women have better outcomes when they are kept out of prison, in centres in their communities, focussed on working holistically in a gender-responsive and trauma-informed way – and we hope the government will see this too.