Community justice outcome activity across Scotland local annual return template 2022-23

This reporting template has been developed in discussion with community justice representatives from local areas.

This is designed to support local areas in reporting to CJS on the achievement of outcomes in order that CJS is able to write its annual report to satisfy s27 of the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (‘the Act’).

The process of requesting information from local areas through the completion of this reporting template fulfils the requirement for CJS to consult with community justice partners and stakeholders when preparing the annual report, as set out under section 27(3). Completing the template can also support local areas to make an assessment of progress towards national outcomes and prepare their own local-facing annual report, which is a statutory obligation under section 23.

Significant strategic developments took place in and around the reporting year 2022-23, namely:

• Publication of the Vision for Justice in February 2022 which can be read on the Scottish Government website
• The publication of a revised National Strategy in June 2022 which can be read on the Scottish Government website
• The review of the OPIF culminating in the publication in April 2023 of the Community Justice Performance Framework and the accompanying Community Justice Improvement Tool.

These significant strategic developments had substantial implications for local areas in their delivery of their statutory obligations within community justice. Further, they had the effect of creating a de-facto transition year, where the National Strategy for Community Justice and reporting framework were not aligned. In recognition of this, we have reconsidered the scope of this template and the report it informs for the reporting period 2022-23.

CJS approached community justice coordinators and managers in March 2023 seeking volunteers to participate in the creation of the 2022-23 annual report template. CJS would like to extend thanks to those community justice partners that took the time to participate in the development group and others that provided sense-checking comments on the draft.

The information submitted to CJS using this template will be specifically used for the purpose of fulfilling the requirement under s27 of the Act for CJS to produce a report on performance in relation to community justice outcomes across Scotland. It will also be used by CJS in its role to monitor, promote and support improvement in, and keep the Scottish Ministers informed about, performance in the provision of community justice.

In line with provisions in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), CJS will use appropriate data to ensure that there is continuous reporting, development and progress towards the national outcomes. By providing data to CJS you are consenting to its use by CJS as indicated. Community Justice Partnerships should be aware that any information held by CJS is subject to statutory Freedom of Information obligations.

The template can be used by local partnerships to fulfill their requirements under s23 (1b) of the act, when published as an appendix to a publicly facing summary statement of annual progress.

The template and guidance have been developed using the following principles:

• Retention of the outcomes and indicators from the 2016 OPIF and previous templates, supplemented with additional guidance and direction around answering the questions
• The template should enable a shorter return
• Better support local partners to comply with their local reporting requirements set out in section 23 of the Act. E.g., the inclusion of local outcomes, which also support CJS to understand local issues
• Continue to seek evidence about new collaborative activities
• Support CJS to comply with their requirements in section 27 of the Act.

The return should be completed and consulted on with partners involved in community justice in your local area. In line with the Act this includes statutory partners, third sector bodies involved in community justice in relation to the area, such community bodies in relation to the area as partners consider appropriate, and such other persons as partners consider appropriate. CJS expects that completion of this template will be a collaborative effort.

This template incorporates guidance support completion, with the text (in blue) providing reflective prompts to consider to develop your answer, which can be deleted and replaced with your response. These should be considered together through the development of your answer, rather than addressed individually.

In response to feedback on accessibility and in order to support our analysis, we have removed the text boxes around questions and answers.

There is no expectation that areas will return substantial numerical data. We would encourage partners to develop the response to this template in conversation with each other, and view it as an opportunity to reflect on your strengths and needs in partnership.

Where the template asks for evidence, a written response will suffice and there is no expectation that you send additional supporting documentation – if there are any aspects CJS is unclear on it will be our responsibility to request clarification where necessary.

If any response or evidence requires details about people with lived experience (e.g. evidence in respect of someone’s life story) please DO NOT include any identifiable personal or sensitive information (as outlined in Schedules 2 & 3 of the Data Protection Act 1998) as CJS does not require such information. If this is unavoidable then please ensure that the data is fully anonymised.

This is the sixth iteration of the template and guidance. If you have any queries about completing the template then please email CJSImprovement@communityjustice.scot.

Last year, we asked partnerships to describe their governance structure for community justice arrangements and include links to wider community planning. Please describe any substantive changes since your previous answer.

No changes to the Governance arrangements for Community Justice East Dunbartonshire (CJED) from those reported in previous years.

2022-23 saw substantial developments and change within the service delivery and strategic policy landscape. This section should be used to reflect some of the a) challenges/negative implications and b) opportunities/positive implications from the reporting year on the community justice partnership. This can include impact on the improvement activity, partner collaboration, and delivery of services.

Challenges/Negatives

• The uncertainty over the National Care Service and whether Justice Social Work and Children and Families Social Work will be part of the national service
• The ongoing backlog of cases in the court system and the knock-on effect in the severity and complexity of cases referred for Community Sentences and Diversion from Prosecution
• Change to housing legislation in November 2022 removing the ‘local connection clause’. Adding pressure to already limited housing stock in East Dunbartonshire
• The issues the change brings in terms of ensuring appropriate support is in place, and limits opportunities to assess risk prior to release if registering as homeless in East Dunbartonshire from another Local authority
• The closure of ‘First Stop’ supported accommodation unit took 17 spaces out of the homelessness system, particularly for people in contact with the justice system
• Ukrainian Refugee status and asylum seekers adding additional pressures on demand on limited resources
• The partnership was operating in a hiatus for most of the reporting year until national documents were finalised and published
• Lack of face-to-face meetings and events put pressure on the ability to engage meaningfully with communities of interest
• Pressures on staffing recruitment and retention in partner agencies
• Partners still focussing on Covid recovery processes
• Cost of living crisis and the economic impact on staff and clients.
• Budget constraints
• No meaningful budget controlled by the partnership
• Two outcome reporting processes introduced.

Positives/Opportunities

• Continued positive engagement by partners in the Community Justice Partnership
• Continued joint working to accomplish positive outcomes
• Publication of the new National Strategy, The Community Justice Performance Framework and the Community Justice Improvement Tool gave a clear direction on which to base the new Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP)
• Strategic Needs and Strengths Assessment completed
• 2023-26 Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan developed
• The introduction of the Local Improvement Lead by Community Justice Scotland gave the positive advantage of having a single point of contact
• Introduction of the Peer Navigator Justice Post funded through the CORRA foundation
• Introduction of the No One Left Behind funded ‘Make it Work’ Employability project for people in the Justice system delivered by the Lennox Partnership
• DTTO provision brought back in house with a co located Senior Addiction Nurse jointly funded to manage cases with Justice SW
• Continued progress of the Reintegration and Prevention, Intervention and Diversion subgroups
• Outcome measurement processes introduced for both groups.

This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes.

Communities improve their understanding and participation in community justice.

Where applicable have regard to the following indicators:

• Activities carried out to engage with ‘communities’ as well as other relevant constituencies
• Consultation with communities as part of community justice planning and service provision
• Participation in community justice, such as co-production and joint delivery
• Level of community awareness of / satisfaction with work undertaken as part of a CPO
• Evidence from questions to be used in local surveys / citizens’ panels and so on
• Perceptions of the local crime data.

*Community Justice comprises the activities, services and partners that work with and around people from the point of arrest, through the justice system and supporting their exit from justice contact and integration into their community.

How have you engaged with partners, communities, and individuals to improve their understanding and participation in relation to community justice?

As in the previous reporting period, during 2022/23, opportunities for engagement were limited and the Partnership was not able to undertake as many engagement activities as partnership members would have liked. Opportunities for consultation with communities as part of community justice planning and service provision remained limited, as Community Justice Partners continued to adapt their service delivery in response to the ongoing recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic.

When developing the Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP) for 2023-2026 partners were engaged with both collectively and individually at numerous stages throughout the process. The Community Justice Scotland Local Improvement Lead (LIL) was also consulted with throughout the development process.

• CJOIP Development session was held in December 2022. This set foundations for the priorities and format of the CJOIP. Gave the basis for how the partnership wanted to progress to achieve the national outcomes and set the agreed priority areas to continue to enhance and develop
• Meeting with East Dunbartonshire Women’s Aid (EDWA) to discuss wording of local priority area for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Discussion resulting in agreed future direction for gathering the views of women in contact with the justice system and agreeing the appropriate wording of a SMART action in the 2023-24 Delivery Plan
• Meeting with Police Scotland to discuss various aspects regarding National Outcome 2 as well as others including Diversion improvement plan and realistic timescales for achieving agreed actions
• Meeting with Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) coordinator and GGC Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) project lead to discuss MAT standards and how they could be implemented in Community Justice settings. Agreement to work in collaboration with the ADP to ensure standards 1-5 are embedded in Community Justice and implement standards 6-10 over the next year
• Meeting with Third Sector Interface (TSI) to discuss the Scottish Governments Volunteering Action Plan and how to embed volunteering in CJOIP as a crucial step in preparing someone for employment. Placed in Outcomes 5-8 as mechanism to achieve local outcomes
• At several key points between December 2022 and March 2023 draft aims were circulated to partners for comment and amendments made to incorporate partners views.

The Community Justice East Dunbartonshire (CJED) Delivery Plan 2022-23, as agreed and submitted, stated that the local priority action area under National Outcome One was to:

• Ensure the voices of service users and people with lived experience are heard and used to shape and improve services.

The agreed activities that the partnership agreed to carry out were to:

• Ensure people with lived experience/ expertise are represented on strategic and subgroups. We achieved this by ensuring that people with lived experience are represented on several strategic and subgroups in East Dunbartonshire. This includes the introduction of peer mentors with lived and living experience across several services in East Dunbartonshire including Justice Services
• Include service user feedback in all outcome measurement of services across partnership.This is an integral part of the service development work that partners are carrying out. For example, information is collated in Justice Services for people exiting a Community Payback Order (CPO) whether Supervision or Unpaid Work and Diversion from Prosecution. This is used to develop the service. Reports are produced and feedback provided in a ‘You said we Did’ approach
• Re-establish the service user group within Justice Social Work settings.The foundation work is ongoing to identify volunteers for the group. The Justice Peer Navigator and Senior Practitioner within Justice Services, with support from the Community Justice Coordinator are leading on this piece of work, to build on the foundation of the ‘Inclusive Justice’ Co Producing Change project which was established pre pandemic. This has been carried forward into the 2023-24 delivery plan.

Partners plan and deliver services in a more strategic and collaborative way.

Where applicable have regard to the following indicators:

• Services are planned for and delivered in a strategic and collaborative way
• Partners have leveraged resources for community justice
• Development of community justice workforce to work effectively across organisational/professional /geographical boundariest
• Partners illustrate effective engagement and collaborative partnership working with the authorities responsible for the delivery of MAPPA.

How has your partnership worked to enable strategic and collaborative service planning and delivery?

In the 2022/23 delivery plan the partners agreed to:

• Encourage, support, and develop multi-agency approaches which improve effectiveness
• Ensure all Partners note their collective statutory responsibilities under the Act.
• Develop and facilitate partnership development sessions. This will be carried forward in the 2023-26 CJOIP

• Develop a Community Justice Strategic Needs and Strengths Assessment (SNSA)
• Through collaboration and consultation with partners establish strengths and gaps in service delivery. Community Justice Strategic Needs and Strengths Assessment was completed through collaboration and circulated in September 2022. Identified strengths and gaps were used to inform the CJOIP development session in December 2022. This enabled partners to set priorities for the 3-year period of the Plan
• Develop a Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP)
• Hold a development session with partners and develop CJOIP from outputs. Circulate drafts for comments.The CJOIP for 2023-26 is in the process of being developed. Partnership CJOIP development session held on 15.12.22. One to one meetings held with various partners. Drafts circulated for comment. Will be completed and submitted on time

• Implement the new Outcome Performance and Improvement Framework (OPIF).
• Participate in national events to develop the new OPIF. Once developed use as part of the process to inform local priority outcomes in 2023-26 CJOIP. The National Community Justice Performance Framework (CJPF) was published on 31.3.23. The Community Justice Improvement Tool (CJIT) was also published on 31.3.23. Both will be used to form the basis of the CJOIP and annual delivery plan moving forward.

People have better access to the services that they require, including welfare, health and wellbeing, housing and employability.

Where applicable have regard to the following indicators:

• Partners have identified and are overcoming structural barriers for people accessing services
• Existence of joint-working arrangements such as processes / protocols to ensure access to services to address underlying needs
• Initiatives to facilitate access to services
• Speed of access to mental health services
• % of people released from a custodial sentence
  • Registered with a GP
  • Have suitable accommodation
  • Have had a benefits eligibility check
• Targeted interventions have been tailored for and with an individual and had a successful impact on their risk of further offending.

What steps have you taken to improve access to services, and what impact has there been as a result?

• Enhance individuals’ access to health and social care and continuity of care following release from prison by improving the sharing of information between relevant partners
  • Improve the reintegration of those individuals who have served a custodial sentence, through the continued case management of all releases to East Dunbartonshire through the multi-agency Reintegration group
• Ensure that the housing needs of individuals in prison are addressed consistently and at an early stage by fully implementing and embedding the Sustainable Housing on Release (SHORE) standards across all local authority areas.
  • Continue to address housing needs through the reintegration group for residents released from custody. The Reintegration Group continues to meet every six weeks to case manage scheduled releases from a custodial sentence. The group ensures that all aspects required to support the person on release are set up and in place prior to their release. Support is offered for non-statutory releases through voluntary throughcare offers. Of the 32 people who were released from a custodial sentence from April 2022 to March 2023, the group achieved 69% engagement of individuals referred through the above group to alcohol and drug recovery services and a positive outcome for 79% of the individuals referred through the above group to the Housing and Homelessness Service, 47% of released residents had a statutory Justice social work intervention.

• Enhance individual’s readiness for employment by ensuring increased access to employability support through effective education, learning, training, careers services and relevant benefit services
  • Introduce employability service for people in contact with Justice Services through Local Employability Partnership funded Lennox Partnership initiative. ‘Make it Work’ East Dunbartonshire’
  • Co-locate a dedicated job coach within Justice Services 1-2 days per week
  • Continue to work with East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action (EDVA), to offer volunteering opportunities for people in contact with the Justice system, where appropriate.The ‘Make it Work’ initiative funded by the Local Employability Partnership (LEP) through the No One Left Behind (NOLB) fund has been introduced operating successfully. The initial funding was to work with 20 people in contact with the justice system.
    
    A specific women’s support group ‘Taking the Next Step’ has been developed for delivery from mid-April 2023.
    
    An employment advisor is co located within Justice Services and takes referrals from Justice Social Workers (JSW) as well as supporting clients.
    
    During 2022/23 there were:
    
    Starts on programme – 21
    
    Attained a qualification – 11
    
    Undertake a work placement – 5

• Continue to work with East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action (EDVA), to offer volunteering opportunities for people in contact with the Justice system, where appropriate. This will be carried forward into CJOIP 2023-26 and ties into the previous actions as a key part of journey to help a person become employment ready. We will build on the relationships with EDVA as a partner in Community Justice East Dunbartonshire (CJED) and the associated Vol.Orgs
• Enhance community integration and support by increasing and promoting greater consistency in the use of voluntary throughcare and third sector services.
  • Continue to offer Voluntary Throughcare to all non-statutory residents returning to East Dunbartonshire from custodial sentences. Voluntary Throughcare letters are sent to all residents, who are not open to Justice Social Work on an order, prior to release from a custodial sentence along with a list of key support services. Of the 32 people who were released from a custodial sentence from April 2022 to March 2023, 13 were offered voluntary throughcare. No one took up the offer.

Effective interventions are delivered to prevent and reduce the risk of further offending.

Where applicable have regard to the following indicators:

• Use of ‘other activities requirements’ in CPOs
• Effective risk management for public protection
• Quality of CPOs and DTTOs
• Reduced use of custodial sentences and remand
  • Balance between community sentences relative to short custodial sentences under one year
  • Proportion of people appearing from custody who are remanded
• The delivery of interventions targeted at problem drug and alcohol use [NHS Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard]
• Number of Police Recorded Warnings, police diversion, fiscal measures, fiscal diversion, supervised bail, community sentences (including CPOs, DTTOs and RLOs)
• Number of short-term sentences under one year.

What changes have been made to community justice arrangements to enable desistence, reduce reoffending, and promote integration, and what impact has there been as a result?

• Optimise the use of diversion and intervention at the earliest opportunity
• Increase the use of Diversion from Prosecution options through the continued work of the Prevention Intervention and Diversion (PID) working Group. Diversion from Prosecution (DfP) has increased in East Dunbartonshire. The dedicated support of the Social Work Assistant (SWA) and women’s support officer has increased the effectiveness of DfP. The PID continues to monitor and make improvements. A post diversion questionnaire has been developed and piloted to gather the views of people on DfP and make improvements based on feedback. This will be ongoing throughout the 2023-26 CJOIP working towards the recommendations from the joint review report.

During 2022/23 there were:

• • • 39 diversion cases commenced
    • 29 adult cases with 19 males and 10 females
    • 10 young people cases with 9 males and 1 female
    • 34 of the 39 (87%) successfully completed their Diversion.

• Improve the use of Structured Deferred Sentence (SDS) as a sentencing option in East Dunbartonshire
• SDS was introduced in East Dunbartonshire in September 2021. Over the last year there has been 12 SDS cases imposed. Work will continue to be undertaken to enhance this sentencing option
• Support the use of credible and robust alternatives to remand by ensuring high quality services are consistently available and delivered effectively
• Strengthen supported management in the community by increasing and widening the use of electronic monitoring and technologies
  • Develop and implement Bail Supervision and Electronic Monitoring (EM) options in East Dunbartonshire. Bail Supervision will be introduced in East Dunbartonshire as a priority for the 2023-26 CJOIP. There is a National Outcome in the CJPF for bail supervision with an end date of December 2023. There is currently no national outcome in the CJPF for EM. We will await the publication of the EM guidance prior to introducing.

• Review existing mechanisms and develop pathways for people in contact with the justice system in relation to Drugs and Alcohol use.
  •  Development of local Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) provision. Review of current provision and development of local arrangements. Alcohol and Drug Recovery Service (ADRS) support to develop locality provision. DTTO provision has been brought back in house in East Dunbartonshire. A process has been established and the necessary equipment sourced. A Senior Addiction Nurse is collocated with Justice Social work for two days per week. Work is ongoing to further enhance the service. Current DTTO figures are low. The partnership responded to Scottish Government (SG) questionnaire and independent research questions. Awaiting final report from SG.

• Introduce and Develop the Peer Navigator (Justice) Test of Change post, funded through the Drugs Death Task Force (DDTF). Funding was secured through the DDTF to employ a Peer Navigator (Justice). The procurement process was completed with APEX Scotland the preferred supplier. The Peer Navigator has been in post embedded in the Justice team since late 2022
• Co-location of drug/alcohol practitioner with Justice Social Work (JSW). Joint funded Senior Addiction nurse is co located two days per week in the JSW building primarily to carry out DTTO testing as well as harm reduction interventions
• Provide Naloxone training to Justice SW staff. The Peer Navigator has undergone training to deliver this training to JSW staff and clients where appropriate. This will be carried forward to the 2023-24 delivery plan.

Life chances are improved through needs, including health, financial inclusion, housing and safety, being addressed.

People develop positive relationships and more opportunities to participate and contribute through education, employment and leisure activities.

Individuals’ resilience and capacity for change and self-management are enhanced.

Have regard to the following indicator:

• Individuals have made progress against the outcome.

• Justice Social Work uses Justice Outcome Star to measure and track people’s progress along the journey of change and find out about their strengths and needs
• The use of the Star gives a visual representation of people’s progress on their journey and allows a joint action plan to be established to address needs
• The Reintegration Group measures the outcomes of people case managed by the group on release from a custodial sentence, based on the needs highlighted prior to release. This information is collated and reported to the CJ Partnership
• Diversion from Prosecution cases are supported by a dedicated Social Work Assistant and a Women’s Support Worker commissioned through Sacro. They support people on Diversion to address their needs and explore the circumstances surrounding their offences whilst linking with services and moving people on to positive destinations. An end of Diversion questionnaire was introduced at the end of this reporting year
• East Dunbartonshire Justice Services offer a questionnaire to people to complete at the end of their time working with the service, to enable the collection of valuable qualitative data on their experience of completing their Orders. The exit questionnaires capture feedback that can help to evidence progress towards both the structural and person-centric national outcomes for community justice.

During 2022/23, 9 people completed an exit questionnaire following a period of working with Justice Social Work on a Supervision Requirement as part of a Community Payback Order or other statutory requirements. Although a low number, this has remained similar over the previous 3 years. A snapshot of some of the questions asked along with comments:

• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that all their needs were taken into account
  2022/23 100% (9/9)
  
  “All needs were taken into account and caring and understanding at the same time”
  
  “Definitely 100%”
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that they had contact with other agencies during their order and found this helpful
  2022/23 67% (6/9)
  
  “SAMH and ADRS”
  “218 service and college”.
  
  “Spoke to and had appointments with Glasgow Council on Alcohol found the service very helpful”
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that they had issues, which were not dealt with during their order.
  2022/23 11% (1/9)
  
  “My mental health was a factor in in beating myself up about the offence and the victim’s feelings”
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that during their order they looked at why they offended?
  2022/23 89% (8/9)
  
  “Reflected on the offence most days and never let myself repeat my wrong doings”
  
  “Alcohol misuse”
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that during their order they considered the impact their offending had on their victims 2022/23 89% (8/9)
  
  “Often reflected on the hurt/distress I may have caused on victim”
  
  “My family and the pain I caused them”
  
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that being on an order has helped them to stop or reduce offending.
  2022/23 100% (9/9)
  
  “Certainly, don't want to live through any form of offence as been dealing with a lot of emotions”
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that their attitude/behaviour to offending changed during the course of their order? 2022/23 89% (8/9)
  
  “To never let myself sink so low in depressive and intoxicated times”
  
  “I am a respectful person and due to my behaviour, I saw that what I did had a big impact on me even more”
  
  “I now always put my own safety first”
• % of people who had been on Supervision who said that things in their life improved as a result of being on an order?
  2022/23 89% (8/9)
  
  “To be more careful with social media as you can be easily trapped”
  
  “I am better person for it”
  
  “To focus on my life and my son, to focus on my goals for life. 218 project has really helped all thanks to Justice SW”
  
  “A more positive outlook in life and moving forward from an emotional rollercoaster of a year. “

During the reporting year, 12 people completed an exit questionnaire following a period of Unpaid Work as part of a Community Payback Order. This is a decrease in comparison to previous years.

• % of people who said that during the experience of Unpaid Work all their circumstances were taken into account 2022/23 100% (12/12)
  
  “The service is very accommodating”
  
  “All staff have been very supportive and understanding during the duration”
• % of people who said that the experience of Unpaid Work they carried out helped to improve their skills?
  2022/23 83% (10/112)
  
  “Some activities e.g., tools used were a first and I gained experience from usage”
  
  “It's gave me structure routine and more important the skills to work as a team”
  
• % of people who said that during their experience of Unpaid Work they carried out any other activities other than unpaid work?
  2022/23 75% (9/12)
  
  “Blended learning packs which made me realise the consequences”
• % of people who said that they had found these activities useful?
  2022/23 75% (9/12)
  
  “Gave me time to reflect”
  
  “Gives an insight into other things”
  
• % of people who said that the experience of Unpaid Work has helped them to stop or reduce their offending?
  2022/23 83% (10/12)
  
  “Made me see the brighter side to life and helped me do so”
  
  “Don’t want to go back to the jail”
  
  “Was always nice to help the community.”

Paul was released on a Parole licence after serving a sentence of over 4 years for several assault and robbery convictions. He has a history of offending and substance misuse.

Prior to his custodial sentence Paul had been supported through the Alcohol and Drugs Recovery Service (ADRS) and he continued to engage with addiction services whilst in prison. He successfully completed the ‘Pathways: Roads to Recovery and Desistance’ programme whilst in prison. He reengaged with ADRS on release.

Initially, Paul struggled to adjust to being back in the community and complying with his licence conditions and Electronic Tag. He was supported through this initial difficult period and given ongoing support by his justice social worker and other staff members, including the Justice Peer Navigator, who assisted him to engage with the recovery community to maintain the good progress that he had made.
He provided feedback that he felt that the Peer Navigator really cared and was genuine and helped him to engage with services.

One key area that had been identified by Paul was finding suitable employment to get his life back on track. He started looking for a job, however his licence conditions and curfew hours restricted what he could apply for.

Paul was referred by his Justice Social Worker to the ‘Make it Work’ programme delivered by the Lennox Partnership for people in contact with the Justice system, funded through the Local Employability Partnership.

Paul chose this project as he was happy to receive as much support and advice as possible in order to get back into employment and make up for lost time.

He felt rather lost before the programme with little direction on where to even begin, however through support and guidance from his key worker, he felt focussed and had a clear vision of what he wanted his future to look like.

Paul benefited most from the ongoing support from his key worker through completing 1-1 confidence building workshops and mock interview preparation sessions to break the barriers of anxiety prior to these and finding his confidence again in order to believe in his abilities.

Paul also gained his CSCS card which enabled him to apply for jobs in the construction industry. He is most proud of his engagement with the programme through taking away everything he learned and put this into practice, which in turn resulted in a successful interview and a job offer. He successfully began employment as a labourer with a local company and has resumed in this position to date.

Paul provided feedback on the project:

“My Key Worker from the Lennox Partnership helped me look for many different jobs that met my criteria. She was very motivated to help me find a job and always kept in contact with me most days to see how my job search or interviews went. I believe it was important to work with the Lennox Partnership as they knew which jobs were hiring as I had the issue of an unspent conviction. There were jobs that I didn't even know would hire with no discrimination towards convictions. This is how the Lennox Partnership helped me. They are all motivated people who want to help you and will do everything they can to get you a job/ career”.

Jack was a man in his 20s accused of assault, on his then partner, which was reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Service. The case was marked for Diversion from Prosecution and sent to JSW to carry out a suitability assessment.

Jack was staying in temporary shared accommodation; he has congenital deafness and was on the learning disability register. He also had a problem with alcohol and a gambling addiction that impacted on his financial situation. Jack is unemployed and receiving benefits however he has had to use foodbanks when his money runs out.

As well as his deafness, he has suffered from poor mental health suffering from panic attacks, low moods, and depression.

Jack was assessed, using a trauma informed approach, as suitable for Diversion with the offence focussed areas to be addressed recommended as: consequential thinking and domestic violence prevention.

Jack engaged well and made himself available when required.

The areas that were initially identified were Consequential Thinking and Domestic Violence Prevention. Since his involvement in the Diversion Scheme, Emotion Management was identified as a treatment requirement following an incident where he displayed suicidal ideation.

Consequential Thinking:

Jack completed exercises on Consequential Thinking where he examined how his behaviour/actions had affected himself as well as people close to him. He also completed exercises on the longer-term effects that could occur due to his actions as well as the positives and negatives of changing his problematic behaviours for himself and others.

Domestic Violence Prevention:

Jack completed a number of exercises including identifying the behaviours he needs to keep in his relationships as well as those that he needs to change in order to maintain a healthy relationship. He completed exercises where he could recognise that domestic abuse/violence is an unhealthy behaviour within relationships and explored areas where he could improve the healthy behaviours, he already has in order to make his relationship even more fulfilling for his partner and himself. He looked at how his different behaviours could affect his children (if/when he has them) and influence their future behaviour, he also explored how family members or certain friends could influence his behaviours within his relationships, both good and bad.

Emotion Management:

Jack completed exercises on Emotion Management where he went on to identify how his emotions/feelings affected his decision making  before looking into coping strategies to manage these emotions in a more constructive manner resulting in a more positive outcome.

Jack was referred to the Lennox Partnership for potential employment opportunities and has engaged with them. He has also been referred on to a support agency for gambling issues, ADRS for Alcohol related problems and Adult Support Services for any ongoing support that he may require. As he is residing in supported accommodation, he has the benefit of further support from the residential staff working there.

Feedback from Jack was: "I think my time on Diversion was worthwhile and appreciate the help I was given. It has helped me to stop offending because of changes in my thinking by being able to use different coping strategies it also helped to get me back on track re my emotions/ anger and support with mental health. Personal achievements have been linking in with the Lennox partnership and now being able to talk about the problems in my life".

He did not offend again during or after his Diversion from Prosecution Order.

Of the priorities set out in the new National Strategy for Community Justice (2022), the SNSA has identified the following as areas of strengths for the Partnership.

Enhance intervention at the earliest opportunity by ensuring greater consistency, confidence in and awareness of services which support the use of direct measures and diversion from prosecution.

Enhance individuals’ access to health and social care and continuity of care following release from prison by improving the sharing of information and partnership-working between relevant partners.

Ensure that the housing needs of individuals in prison are addressed consistently and at an early stage by fully implementing and embedding the Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone (SHORE) standards across all local authority areas.

Enhance individual’s life skills and readiness for employment by ensuring increased access to employability support through effective education, learning, training, career services and relevant benefit services.

Enhance community integration and support by increasing and promoting greater use of voluntary throughcare and third sector services.

Ensure that those given community sentences are supervised and supported appropriately to protect the public, promote desistance from offending and enable rehabilitation by delivering high quality, consistently available, trauma-informed services, and programmes.

Deliver improved community justice outcomes by ensuring that effective leadership and governance arrangements are in place and working well, collaborating with partners, and planning strategically.

Support integration and reduce stigma by ensuring the community and workforce have an improved understanding of and confidence in community justice.

Ensure that people in East Dunbartonshire have consistent access to person centred and trauma informed support to successfully complete diversion from prosecution.

Ensure that people in police custody from East Dunbartonshire have their needs identified and receive support to address these needs.

Ensure that people in East Dunbartonshire have greater access to bail supervision and co-ordinated support where appropriate.

Ensure that those given community sentences in East Dunbartonshire are supervised and supported appropriately to protect the public, promote desistence from offending and enable rehabilitation by delivering high quality, consistently available, trauma-informed services, and programmes.

Increase knowledge and awareness of restorative justice and the ability to direct people to appropriate restorative justice services as and when these become available in East Dunbartonshire.

Ensure that people’s needs are addressed prior to release from a custodial sentence.

Ensure that people in East Dunbartonshire have greater access to co-ordinated support where appropriate on release.

Ensure Community Justice Services are responsive to the specific needs of women.

Ensure all Partners understand their collective statutory responsibilities under the Act.

Deliver improved community justice outcomes by ensuring that effective leadership and governance arrangements are in place and working well.

Enhance partnership planning and implementation by ensuring the voices of victims of crime, survivors, those with lived experience and their families are effectively incorporated and embedded.

Support integration and reduce stigma by ensuring the community and workforce have an improved understanding of and confidence in community justice.

The Partnership will develop their Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP) for 2023-26 based on the areas identified above to provide better outcomes for our residents and communities.
As part of this process each year CJED will collaborate to develop an annual delivery plan, which will identify the SMART actions that partners will undertake to deliver the aims of this CJOIP.
The delivery Plan will be a fluid document that will adapt to any changes that may occur during that year.
The outcomes outlined within this CJOP will be prioritised into Short to Medium Term (Year 1-2) Medium to Long Term (Year 2-3) based on need and national priority. We will also continue and enhance the areas that we identified as strengths over the 3 years of the CJOIP.

CJED sees an opportunity to work towards the delivery of the nine national outcomes, and make positive changes to outcomes for people, by making positive progress in our local priority areas.
The Community Justice Performance Framework outlines several suggested indicators to measure against the outcomes. We will collect the required quantitative data to report against the national indicators and will report improvement by providing contextual evidence against the actions and activities outlined in the annual delivery plan.
To ensure that the approach is wide and holistic we will measure progress across the complex needs throughout the person’s journey, use the relevant available quantitative data and encourage partners to provide case studies and qualitative contextual information as we move forward. This will demonstrate real life change, allowing the partnership to build on the most successful, evidence-based ways of working.