Manager, We Are With You
The Prison Recovery Coordinator post was planned and developed with Glasgow’s Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (ADP), with the key aims to:
- Support people to break the cycle of repeat offending due to their alcohol or drug use and reduce the risk of alcohol and drug related harm.
- Ensure that pathways exist to support the transition for people from Prison to Community through the establishment of links between Prison and Community Recovery and Care and Treatment services to ensure sustainability and reduction in points where people could drop out of support.
The Prison Recovery Co-ordinator post was recruited in January 2021 and so encountered the challenges of working with people in prison during COVID-19 restrictions in prison. The co-ordinator worked hard to adapt during this time, building positive relationships with many different agencies to deliver high-quality support packages for people during their transition from prison to the community. The co-ordinator has also built positive relationships across HMP Barlinnie, Low Moss and Castle Huntly to support people leaving these establishment to return to Glasgow, and indeed now has freedom to move around Barlinnie, speaking to people directly.
This has increased new referrals and made it easier to arrange meetings with those that take up this service. Links have also been made with the Sustainable Interventions Supporting Change Outside (SISCO) recovery café in Barlinnie and collaborated with North East Recovery Community (NERC) to establish a recovery café in Low Moss. You can read more about SISCO BY CLICKING THE PICTURE LINK TO the article below:
As part of a co-production session delivered in the HMP Low Moss Recovery Cafe, individuals shared what support the recovery cafe had given them over the last year with the outcomes in the box below:
The Co-ordinator has also established good links with the Glasgow Drug Court team and led on the restart and development of our 10-week Recovery Group Programme at Norfolk Street Criminal Justice Service. These are groups for people currently on a Drug Treatment & Testing Order (DTTO) and who may not engage with the Recovery Hubs through the usual referral route – for more information on DTTOs you can link to the publication at figure 1.
Participants recently completed their 10-week programme and were able to hold a small graduation, where Sheriff Findlay, who presides over the Drug Court presented everyone with their certificates. His opening remarks explained:
“What we are trying to do with the Drug Court is instead of just giving out sentences we want to link people in with the right support and help them get a second chance at life…”.
We received a lot of positive feedback about the role of the service and in prisons where we have been able to do more in person work their feedback was excellent. Some quotes from our feedback forms:
“Having a service that we can refer individuals to in preparation for their release from prison, especially a service which will meet with people prior to their liberation, is so beneficial as it reduces anxiety for the population we work with upon their release.”
“I feel that the input from the Prison recovery service has made a huge difference to the life of the gentleman I referred in as prior to accessing this service he was socially isolated and struggling to reintegrate back into the community. The individual appears to have increased confidence and motivation, this is evident in how he communicates and by the way he has challenged himself to engage with other recovery initiatives.”
“It makes a difference that men can access support on home leaves before release.”
The service has achieved positive outcomes in its first year with:
- 70% remaining out of custody and the majority of those who engaged in the service moving on to positive destinations, with just 17% who did not complete their programme.
The service continues to evolve and learn from feedback and has developed key areas for development over its second year, including increasing volunteer opportunities and development – there are currently 2 North East Recovery Community Volunteers supporting the Prison recovery work which has been invaluable to the development of the service. As COVID restrictions ease, this will expand, with plans to include service graduates in service delivery from across the city, based on the success of this approach with the DTTO groupwork programme.
