Psychiatry & Psychosomatic Medicine

The presentation is a summary overview of a three-year project delivered by PLIAS Resettlement, a UK not for profit organization working with offenders and ex-offenders. The Project was designed to address some of the shortcomings in the services and support for women in the criminal justice system identified in the Review of Women with Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System by Baroness Corston in the UK in 2007. This involved developing and delivering a programme of personal development, vocational and soft skills for women who had criminal convictions, mental health difficulties or substance abuse issues and who originated from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background. The project worked with 20 women per year with the goal of achieving a 75% success rate in getting programme graduates into paid work, education or training or voluntary work. The project worked through building confidence, skills and worked to improve family relationships. Group workshops, individual goal planning sessions and personal mentoring was central to the operation of the programme. The development of network links with a wide variety of local organizations helped to provide a wide range of work and trainingn opportunities for the programme candidates. The presentation explores the factors that contributed to the programmes success in achieving its goals and identifies recommendations for further progress using the Phoenix Project approach.