Partnership Manager, Glasgow Council on Alcohol
Glasgow Council on Alcohol’s (GCA) Community Justice First team take a Mentoring Approach to supporting people referred to us from Criminal Justice Social Work Team in Glasgow.
In the 2019/20 Annual Reporter we told you about a new approach we were taking, using mentoring to reduce the risk of alcohol related re-offending, in this article, I wanted to update you on that service and how it has contributed to reducing re-offending in Glasgow.
GCA staff focus on building positive relationships and helping individuals to learn and grow from their experiences. Their aim is to help the mentee to review their situation through a process of reflection, questions, signposting, challenging, and offering advice and feedback which allows the mentee to come to their own decision about changing their situation to reduce their offending and live a crime free life.
PROMOTING AND IMPLIMENTING CHANGE VIA MENTORING – At Community Justice First (CJF) our mentoring service aims to support people to achieve a crime free life and reduce offending. To do this we tailor support we offer to deal with many of the issues that people might face in the community. The service is very much focused on individual needs and is person-centered in approach. Where possible we will engage initially with people whilst still in custody to ensure they have links in the community upon release.
HOW CJF IDENTIFY KEY AREA’S – Various factors can cause a ripple effect that can lead to offending. By identifying what these are and addressing them can then lead to a reduction of re-offending. The team will discuss all aspect of the person’s life so that this can be built into their support package offered. This includes discussing accommodation and living skills as well as their mental health and well-being, do they have friends and feel part of the community, what is their relationships with family like, do they have parenting and caring responsibility, as well as do they have positive use of their spare time. The team will also provide support in how to manage strong feelings to regulate emotions to allow them to ultimately reduce their offending to finally live a crime-free life.
OUTCOME BASED MONITORING TOOL – We use The Justice Star which has a measurable scale that clients can place themselves on. This gives an indication of what areas perhaps need more attention than other’s and also what is important to the client to work on.
CHANGE BY ACHIEVING GOALS – Some of these goals can also help to provide support to meet the requirements of a Community Payback order (CPO). Promoting the use of CPOs – as one alternative to prosecution or a short-term custodial sentences – is one of the key objectives for the Community Justice Glasgow Partnership, of which GCA are a long-standing member, you can find out more about CPOs BY CLICKING THE PICTURE LINK BELOW:
There is also a strong evidence base that points to alcohol and/or drug misuse as a key underlying driver of offending and the risk of re-offending, as noted in our 2019/20 article:
ALCOHOL CHANGE UK provides a helpful summary of statistics from across the UK, you can access these by CLICKING THE PICTURE LINK BELOW:
Mentoring approaches can significantly reduce that risk of re-offending – see for example The independent evaluation of the Reducing Reoffending Change Fund (RRCF) which assessed the extent to which the Public Social Partnership (PSP) model delivers effective mentoring services that reduce the risk of reoffending and support reintegration, and concluded that there is a strong case for the continuation and expansion of mentoring services.
The mentoring service provided by Community Justice First (CJF) can support achieving many of these goals with the completed Justice Star providing the basis for an action plan. Some of these action plans would include the following:
- support to attend appointments and maintain contact with other agencies and services;
- providing housing advice and support;
- promoting independence and choice as well as enhance life and social skills;
- supporting their return to your home community;
- support to address drug and or alcohol problems;
- support to access appropriate mental health services;
- reducing social isolation;
- providing support and advice to access benefits;
- support with coming to terms with the implications of childhood trauma;
- help in completing forms, including, housing, DWP and emergency grants; or
- improving opportunities to access employment, training and or voluntary work.
In the last year (2021-22) GCA’s Community Justice First team has supported 284 individuals. We used Outcome Star to measure progress:
45% reported an improvement in their accommodations
55% reported an improvement in their life skills
65% reported an improvement in their mental health
60% reported an improvement in their relationships with friends and family
55% reported living a crime free life
Client
“I have already made changes. I bought a bottle of spirits to have at Christmas and the rest for New Year. After drinking some at Christmas I thought of all the chats I had had with LM and decided against my planned New Year drink. I didn’t want to ruin what I had worked on so far so decided to pour the rest of the bottle down the sink and take the temptation away.”
Social Worker
“I have found GCA to be a first-class service. Referral process is straightforward and staff approachable. Support staff great at communicating their contact with my clients. Every client I have referred has also provided me with positive feedback about staff being supportive and encouraging. From my perspective I find GCA a reliable and efficient service.”
“I have found the Community Justice First service to be invaluable. I always find the staff very approachable and helpful – feedback I receive from my service users regarding this service also echoes this. The staff liaise well with myself keeping me up to date with service users’ attendance and progress and I do consider this service a valuable criminal justice resource.”
