Welcome to HMP Lowdham Grange

Reducing Re-offending

HMP Lowdham Grange works strategically to reduce re-offending and promote its concept of the “responsible prisoner”. We deliver our vision by offering all prisoners a range of employment and education opportunities with activities mirroring the traditional working week.

Regimes for prisoners include employment, religious events, the gymnasium and education in a range of academic and practical subjects. These subjects include Skills for Life, (i.e. Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL), IT, Business Studies, Art and accredited Attitudes Thinking and Behaviour programmes. Furthermore, we are proud of our innovative Vocational Training, Prison Magazine and the integration of NVQ provision in both our Training Kitchen and Industrial Environment.

Local partnerships are in place between the key agencies, including the Learning and Skills Council, Jobcentre Plus, Supporting People partnerships, Drug Action Teams and Primary Care Trusts. We will be seeking to build on these partnerships through working with new partners including Local Strategic Partnerships as they develop Local Area Agreements. In addition, we are developing our links with the voluntary and community sector including faith groups which will bring in new skills, perspectives, and innovation, enabling us to work with offenders in different ways and to provide prisoners and their families’ support, building a bridge into the community to assist with release and reintegration.

The introduction of end-to-end offender management has refocused the individual offender at the heart of all we do. Every offender is assessed, and clear goals are set for reducing their risk of re-offending. This involves a package of interventions from a range of partners, structured according to the level of risk the offender poses.

The Key Strategic Pathways were factors identified in the Social Exclusion Unit’s report “Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners” published in 2002. They are:

Pathway 1

Accommodation - Having accommodation and appropriate support helps offenders embark upon more stable lives and access mainstream services.

Pathway 2

Education Training and Employment - Offenders often lack the basic skills necessary to find and keep employment. The number of basic skills qualifications achieved by offenders in the community has increased more than ten-fold in two years. More than 10% of adults who gain basic skills qualifications are doing so from prison.

Pathway 3

Mental and Physical Health - A thorough medical assessment on arrival into the establishment identifies general and mental health problems. This ensures that appropriate referrals to the Out Reach team and any other specialists are made. Additional clinics available within the establishment reflect what is currently available within the community. 2007 saw the establishment take part in a pilot for the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) which enables offenders tackle an addiction to Heroin in a safe and controlled way.

Pathway 4

Drugs and Alcohol

- Substance misuse is strongly associated with offending, with one survey showing around two thirds of arrestees testing positive for drugs. Early intervention, continuity of care and support post sentence are crucial to reduce re-offending. The introduction of the Drug Interventions Record is ensuring that core case information is shared between agencies. This facilitates a successful transfer between agencies and allows progress to be tracked. Existing services for prisoners are strengthened by investment in a wider range of treatment options though the Integrated Drug Treatment System.

Pathway 5

Finance Benefits and Debt - Ex-offenders can face particular financial problems, including access to benefits. Our aim is to ensure that there is early assessment of financial problems and that identified offenders in our custody will be provided with the advice of which services that will address money related issues, and acquire the skills to manage their own finances.

Pathway 6

Children and Families of Offenders - Offenders’ families can be affected by the offender’s behaviour, and punishment, but can also be a source of support and stability. We aim to work with families in order to aid rehabilitation, improving families’ ability to keep in contact with and visit prisoners, and providing support such as parenting skills, training, and information on mainstream services.

Pathway 7

Attitudes Thinking and Behaviour - Models adopting a cognitive-behavioural approach explore the role of thoughts and attitudes in influencing behaviour. In applying cognitive-behavioural models, the amalgamation of rudiments of behaviour and cognition is central. Cognition here refers to a range of features of an individual, such as: personal beliefs, their inner self-talk and the values that they may hold. There has been extensive research conducted on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural programmes in prisons and there has been positive evidence regarding their ability to impact on re-offending. These programmes focus specifically on the thinking skills that guide behaviour. In terms of offenders, cognitive skills programmes aim to replace maladaptive and engrained thinking patterns with cognitions that promote pro-social behaviour choices. These programmes aim to assist offenders in becoming more reflective, planful and considerate of others in their response to potential problems and more open-minded, reasoned and deliberate in their thinking.

In support of this aim, HMP Lowdham Grange’s vision will be to realise that in order for the objective to be met the pathways cannot operate in isolated silo’s and instead must have a joined up approach to ensure success for example, the drug worker and the basic skills tutor alongside the voluntary and community sector worker must work together to achieve a more stable and constructive future for the offender.