Four mentoring services to reduce reoffending will share £3.4
million in funding, Scottish Justice Secretary has announced.
The services, delivered by third sector organisations across
Scotland, provide practical and flexible one-to-one mentoring to
individuals leaving prison and in the community.
The four schemes receiving funding are:
- Shine – a national service for women leaving prison, on
remand, or struggling to complete community sentences
- New Routes – a national service for young men leaving prison
- Moving On – which supports young men leaving HMP Polmont
- Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA) – which provides support for
men and women on community sentences and other court orders.
Mr Matheson visited TCA offices in Dundee to meet management,
staff and some of those being supported to successfully complete
their sentences and court orders. Mr Matheson said:
“One-to-one mentoring has been shown to turn people away from
crime by helping them address practical or personal problems,
such as relationship issues, accessing housing or healthcare, or
finding training or work. Supporting people to overcome these
challenges can stop them offending in the future.
“This funding follows the £15.5 million we have invested through
the Reducing Reoffending Change Fund, to create new services that
offer mentoring for men and women, either to build a new and
better life after their release, or to comply with community
sentences. This is a key element of our record support for
community justice services, which has helped to bring down
Scotland’s reconviction rate to its lowest level in 18 years.”
Kathryn Baker, Interim Director of TCA added:
"We are delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to TCA today
and are very pleased that the Scottish Government is continuing
its support for our Public Social Partnership (PSP) which has
seen the development of a strong public and third sector
partnership across Tayside.
“Our community based mentoring service has made a real difference
the lives of women and young men seeking to break the cycle of
offending. Today Mr Matheson was able to learn at first-hand how
our partnership works in action and hear the real stories from
people who are gradually getting their lives back on track."
Background
TCA has delivered mentoring services for the last decade,
including a bespoke women only mentoring service for women on
court orders since 2010, and has won a number of awards from the
Scottish Mentoring Network.
The organisations receiving funding work in partnership with the
Scottish Prison Service, social work services, and other third
sector services, to help men and women to reintegrate into their
communities, and not reoffend. They are:
New Routes Public Social Partnership (PSP) – The Wise Group leads
this broad partnership of eight agencies delivering a national
service offering support to 18 to 25 year old men with a history
of offending, as they leave prison after completing sentences up
to 4 years. It will receive £1,300,000 in 2017/18.
Shine PSP – SACRO and their third sector partners deliver a
national mentoring service for women leaving prison, on remand,
or struggling to complete community sentences. It will receive
£1,431,000 in 2017/18.
Moving On PSP – This partnership between Action for Children
Scotland and Barnardo’s delivers a throughcare support service
for young men on remand or serving short term sentences at HMP
Polmont, and who are returning to East Ayrshire, the Highlands,
Inverclyde or Renfrewshire upon their release. The mentoring
programme involves engagement in prison to identify needs and
develop an action plan and other services to prepare the young
men for employment. Moving On PSP will receive £500,000 in
2017/18.
Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA) PSP – This service builds on
Tayside Council on Alcohol’s previous work across the three
Council areas (Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Angus) working with
women and men in the community to support them to complete
community sentences, other court orders, bail support and
pre-court disposals. It will receive £155,635 in 2017/18.
The Reducing Reoffending Change Fund was established by Scottish
Government in 2012, in partnership with Scottish Prison Service
and Robertson Trust. The Scottish Government provided £15.5
million between 2012-17 (alongside £2 million from The Robertson
Trust, and £500,000 from the Scottish Prison Service).
