What we do

David Pinder.

After having trained and worked as a Carpenter and Joiner in the 80s, David studied and completed a Cert.Ed in Further Education. He then spent over a decade working in East and West Africa, setting up vocational training schools and village polytechnics. This led to a position in 2000 at the Ministry of Education in Lesotho, South Africa developing national curricula and assessment procedures for the Technical and Vocational Division and overseeing the national examinations in the seven Technical Schools.
In 2006 he was employed as the Life and Work Skills trainer at the Fanon Resource Centre Lambeth developing vocational and work placement opportunities for service users. Since February 2008 he has been working as a Community Development Worker leading on the Brixton Prison Wellbeing and Recovery strategy based on the recommendations in the Community Engagement Report. He is currently studying an MA in Urban Regeneration at Westminster University. He is an LEA governor at a community school and mental health advocate for a local charity. Currently, he manages the FRC Merton  as the Team Leader for the Resource Centre, CDW and service development.

Equality and Cultural Competency

Recovery Star Approach

Findings

1.1 Age: 60% of respondents were aged between 38 and 41 years old

1.2 Gender: 100% of respondents were Male

1.3 Ethnicity: 50% of respondents defined themselves as Black British

1.4 Place of Birth: 70% were born in the UK

1.5 Citizenship: 100% of respondents were British Citizen

1.6 First language: 100% of respondents spoke, wrote and were fluent in English. 20%

spoke other languages

1.8 Religion: 40% of respondents claimed to be Christian while 20 % followed a

Rastafarian faith and 30% claimed to be Atheist

1.9 Sexuality: 100% of respondents were Heterosexual

1.10 Disability: 90% of respondents did not consider they had a disability

SERVICE USE LENGTH

2.1 Receiving MH services: 10% of respondents receiving treatment for over 10 years

2.2 Previous diagnosis: 50% of respondents previously diagnosed with MH support need

2.3 Diagnosis: 60% of respondents diagnosed with Paranoid delusions or Schizophrenia

2.4 Length MH issues: 50% of respondents had had MH support needs for over 5 years

2.5 Contact with MH services: 90% of respondents came into MH services via Prison / CJS

2.6 Experience: 30% of respondents saw MH services in terms of ‘over medication and     60% saw their initial admission as preventable

2.7 Discharge preparations: 70% of respondents felt no discharge preparations were made

RESETTLEMENT

3.1 Care Programme Approach (CPA): 80% of respondents had no understanding of CPA

3.4 Cultural needs: 100% of respondents stated they would attend culture specific services

3.5 Religious needs: 60% of respondents did not prioritise faith needs in service provision

3.6 User involvement: 60% of respondents would like to get involved in service planning and development with another 30% currently involved.

Focus Group Discussion

1. 1. Circumstances surrounding diagnostic pathways

Most of the group considered the mid 1980s to be a stressful time for Black people and that they were living in a period of overt racism. The Sus Laws were used indiscriminately so that around 1984, three of the group members had already been detained over night in Police custody.

Two members went to their G.Ps for depression, but felt they were given no assistance. One member was offered counselling but no further contact or follow up was made. Four years and three years prior to incarceration respectively two of the members were diagnosed with ‘anger management issues’ by the Courts and incarcerated for 12 wks and 6 mths.

One member was diagnosed with anger management issues and then treated by those around him and authorities as such without taking into consideration the pressures he was under. His greatest annoyance was at the flagrant flout of the law and injustice he had to suffer  began to make him more angry.

Life experiences – unemployment, racism and fear of crime, began to wear one member down and get depressed but no help was sought, as information on available services was not around. He had never felt unwell except for the everyday stress. People around thought he was being ‘extra’ and he sank further into isolation.

2. Forensic profile and context of offence

Two of the members were resident in areas where they lived in constant fear for their safety and so carried around a kitchen knife and sharpened screwdriver respectively to protect themselves. These sentiments were echoed by the whole group who held a consensus view in regard to the increasing amount of peer pressure and violence especially that faced by the youths, that they encountered almost every day.

When just moving around their own area, never mind travelling to other areas, as part of trying to get on with life and move forward, 60% of the members felt they were in constant danger.  Three members stated that from 16 yrs up “you are constantly having to prove yourself to” prevent future problems with their age mates or some of the other groups who ran the estates. Five members had friends who had died or been injured through being in the wrong place at the wrong time without having the means to defend themselves.

The forensic profile of the group members were fairly diverse and centred mainly around the need for money, as a way of making money, family problems, being overstressed, falling into a nervous depression, having a lot of family members to contend with and problems being bottled up with no external opportunities to engage with people who could signpost to where you can get help. Capital offences ranged from possession of an offensive weapon twice; assault on a policeman; Actual Bodily Harm ; caught in operation swamp SUS; Importation of Class B substances; firearms with intent; theft; Burglary and up to Murder.

During one period of incarceration several members (40%) were diagnosed with either Paranoia, personality disorders or anger management, and treatment begun according to this. The mere fact you are in prison adds to your mental state. However, 70% believed that they were being ‘fram ed’ and did not agree with their diagnosis. Also because they were in Prison it was not seen as valid and just a label so the individual can more easily be pigeon holed.

The group had spent a good total number of time in Prison – 62 years and experienced 34 different establishments between them. Periods of incarceration ranged from less than year 60%, 3½ years 30%, 5 years 50%, 7 years 10% and over 10 years 10%.  One group member believes he has now become institutionalised. The group members felt that having mental health issue made it harder to get their head down in Prison and it was another way to limit your rights. When they complained to higher authorities issues were dealt with slowly. On most occasions it was better to try and Speak to other  Afro-Caribbean officers.

Three group members stated that the Use of medication, in particular Largactyl, were used too often to sedate  people even when not required. They agreed that it was better to opt for liquid doses rather than injection as it can more easily be worked out of the system.

3. Care in the community

The experience of almost all the group members in regard to Discharge from prison is that of an often disjointed process. It is often invariably the case that those who are on remand are discharged straight from court with minimal information about what the next step or options are. Three members of the group recounted how in each of their individual cases they were given a warrant to travel but no tie in to services they could access and where they could go to address their housing needs.

All the group members stated that even prior to ordinary release from prison, their key concerns stem from the lack of information about their options. Two members further stated that ex- offenders are given no exit interview or link to community services and just “left to help themselves…” If you don’t ask you don’t get!”. “You should ask questions about everything” The group further stated that individuals need to be aware of their rights or they will end up missing out on their entitlements.

The group suggested that even through engagement with SLaM services they were only signposted to other organisations as opposed to having the services offered on-site. St. Giles was consistently flagged up as a useful service as well as opportunities gained through Fanon Resource Centre. The members all agreed that in order to address reoffending, it would be useful for ex offenders to get a roof over their head as a minimum level of help. “Not enough of the right people are involved throughout your care”.

Summary of Findings

Housing

The most important resettlement requirement – somewhere to live when released from prison was seen by respondents as the primary concern. Respondents emphasised that without somewhere to live, other resettlement issues such as finding employment or keeping appointments with outside agencies fall by the wayside.

Invariably, this problem of homelessness led in many cases back to crime, in order to get money to live. Furthermore, the lack of housing on release led to many offenders having to stay with those that they had previously associated and committed crimes with.

Drug Rehabilitation

A high proportion of the offenders interviewed were problem drug users, which also contributed to their return to crime on release due to the expense in funding the behaviour. The need to rehabilitate these offenders is clear and some of the participants suggested using a more structured approach to rehabilitation, in order to reflect treatment services within the prison regime. Otherwise, the work done in prisons could be quickly undone on release without the necessary support. Community centres were mentioned as useful way to provide drug treatment, in that they had structure and counselling support attached to them.

Employment and Training

The desire to gain employment or train for a particular profession was cited by some of the interviewees, although many emphasised that without suitable housing and the resolving of other issues such as substance misuse, this would not be possible. Many felt a job would provide financial support, but also structure, social support and motivation to desist from offending and help them ‘get back to society.

Improving Access and Awareness

Many offenders reported that they were aware that community and voluntary services existed, but they had no knowledge on what they were or the services that were offered. Within the prisons, most offenders stated they had not seen any information, or been presented any by prison staff or outside agencies. Some offenders stated that a general counselling service or mentoring of some type would be useful to them, and as many felt probation were not doing enough, for a variety of reasons, making use of community and voluntary services could prove useful.

It could be argued then, that resettlement is only the tip of the iceberg; it is necessary to address much wider institutional and societal issues for ex offenders. Needless to say, these areas require further, far more in-depth research. This will only address re-offending if we ensure the focus is on improving the quality of every individual service user’s journey throughout the mental health system by linking them into Peer volunteers who will support offenders whilst in Prison, and continue the relationship into the community as they cope with the varying demands of life.

DISCUSSION

Constraints

After having spent over 6 months developing the Brixton Prison Wellbeing and Recovery (BPWR) strategy project documents, putting in place processes, researching appropriate survey tools and instruments and engaging with Prison stakeholders and agencies, the focus of the project was changed by the Sponsors. Due to this change in the focus of the activity the project had to be completed within a much tighter timeframe of 3 months and was unable to make use of all the existing partnerships previously cultivated with the various organisations having ex offender membership;

Due to restrictions on funding and work remits, some organisations were not able to provide as consistent and collaborative approach to partnership work as they would have liked. The engagement that did take place was still beneficial as contacts for future activities in this area were cultivated and the gaps or shortfalls in what they are commissioned to offer noted;

Incentivising the focus group participants and the Peer Volunteers to remain within the Project was an area for consideration prior to commencement of the activity. Many of the participants did not want to be associated with Mental Health issues or Criminal Justice; the issue of stigma is still a big obstacle, and so were reluctant to engage with the project. By ensuring a training element was attached to the PVR role, the project was also able to support volunteers into follow on activities and acquiring a work related qualification.

The project itself achieved its goal of data collection and data analysis completed within the 3 month project period. Further dissemination, review, promotion of the findings and follow on capacity building can take place with Resettlement stakeholders. We recruited three volunteers for the entire duration of the project as proposed and as has been the practice for all volunteer activities within Fanon, training and development of workplace essential skills underpinned their involvement.

The size of the sample population was below the expected number, mainly in part due to the change in the project scope and the narrow criteria for the project participants. As a result of this, it is not claimed that this survey is fully representative of the Criminal Justice system as a whole. Nor can we ensure the relevance of the findings for an accurate picture of the total African Caribbean ex offender population. However, what has been found in the sample population is a general lack of sufficient and meaningful continuity of care to meet the needs of released offenders.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The key recommendations that can be drawn out from the findings point to the need for a more robust court diversion scheme, the need for psychological therapies to be made available as a preventative method, cross-agency practical partnerships that more closely serve the needs of ex offenders – housing, substance misuse, mental health and training and recognition of the life journeys many service users take prior to engaging with the Mental Health (read Criminal Justice) system. These elements need to be embedded into all resettlement interventions to enable engagement with offenders that supports their wellbeing and recovery and sustainably link themselves back into the community.

Therefore, the key components of a resettlement model to ensure the needs of BME ex-offenders will comprise:

• Establishing the needs of offenders during their sentence and prior to their release;

• Promoting resettlement services within prisons;

• Continuing to increase awareness of diversity issues among prison / probation staff;

• Improving access to good quality housing, on a long-term basis;

• Improving access to immediate financial support / assistance with claiming benefits;

• Ensuring a continuation of healthcare in the community, avoiding delays in accessing such treatment, specifically for problematic drug and alcohol users;

• Promoting the work of community based organisations in the prison, probation service and the community itself;

• Promoting the work of faith-based organisations which assist ex-offenders with a range of support needs;

• Establishing links with employers and educational institutions to provide more opportunities for jobs/training for ex-offenders, in a wider range of industries and services.

CONCLUSION

The issues surrounding the effective resettlement of BME prisoners require a substantial amount of further in-depth research. However, this report hopes to have given an outline of the current situation for a snapshot of African and African Caribbean male ex offenders resident in Lambeth, together with indications of the direction of further explorations.

The successful resettlement of BME offenders into the community is a complex and sensitive topic. Based upon the limited research conducted for this report, tentative conclusions and recommendations can be drawn. On the whole, the needs of BME offenders on release reflected previous research findings relating to good quality housing on a long-term basis; access to financial support immediately on release; realistic job opportunities and assistance with accessing benefits and information regarding all the services available to them in their community.

Overall, the needs of BME offenders are similar to those of all offenders, although there are some distinctions that can be made. These include the type of support ex-offenders from BME groups are likely to seek on release, or more likely to respond to positively if approached in prison or through probation services.

©David Pinder 2009

(RaW Project: Addressing African and African Caribbean Reoffending – Extract)

Social inclusion and employment

Target for User Involvement Project 2009/10

PROJECT REMIT aims to involve service users in consultation and planning of services to influence change.

TARGET 1: to revise the user involvement project terms of reference by the end of June 2009.

OUTCOME: all user representatives to be aware of their roles and responsibilities to the user involvement project.

PLAN: to circulate revised terms of reference and consult with new and existing executive members and give timescales for necessary amendments and changes.

TARGET 2:Peer Support, to set up 1 additional group on the Merton inpatient wards (Jupiter and Seacole) on a fortnightly basis.

OUTCOME:to provide mutual friendly support to patients on the wards.

PLAN: the co-ordinator will encourage and facilitate more service users to get involved. He will minimise his input over 3 month period of starting  a new peer support allowing it to function autonomously.

TARGET 3: to facilitate and develop recovery and peer support training for all users within the user involvement project.

OUTCOME:to ensure service users have a greater awareness of recovery and peer support  issues and can participate in user-led activities.

PLAN: to devise a training programme and identify the following topics;

• Communication skills
• Conduct and boundaries
• Group leadership
• Assertiveness and confidence

Dealing with bullying and aggression

TARGET 4:at least 2 executive members (user representatives) must attend strategic meetings of the local authority and primary care trust.

OUTCOME: to ensure service users are represented at all levels of decision making.

PLAN: service users are involved in the following meetings;

• Partnership board
• Service user feedback meeting
• Visits to Merton services and mental health trust
• Acute care forum
• SIA meetings with mental health trust
• Autumn assessment

TARGET 5: to increase the project database by 10 percent by the end of March 2010 and  provide statistical data on equality,diversity and referral agencies on a 6 monthly basis.

OUTCOME: to increase capacity and provide accurate equality and diversity data.

PLAN: all executive members to encourage 5 or more service users to get involved and be part of the project database.

TARGET 6: to maintain six quality charter assessments by end of March 2010

OUTCOME: to monitor standards across service users in Merton.

PLAN: to involve 2 service users in monitoring key providers. The co-ordinator will plan and facilitate the delivery of the quality charter.

TARGET 7: the executive committee to agree a user agenda with at least 3 priorities throughout  the year.

OUTCOME: to  influence decision making with the statutory services.

PLAN: the co-ordinator to identify 3 priority issues in 2009/10 and will inform partnership board. 3 Priority issues 2009/10

• Transparency of financial agenda
• Development  of community services
• Peer support and recovery

TARGET 8: to produce a newsletter twice yearly- Christmas and Summer.

OUTCOME: service users have a channel of communication and are kept informed on local service developments.

PLAN:(1) to ensure service users have a voice on main issues/concerns. (2)to involve a service user in its production and(3) to collaborate with other agencies to reflect service developments and local issues.