Resettlement
What is it?
Resettlement is the name given to the process after a young person is released from custody of reintegrating into their community.
A resettlement worker is a member of the Staffordshire Youth Offending Service. They can offer young people and their families support throughout their custodial sentence and after release.
Young people are referred to the youth offending team resettlement worker by their case manager. They will work closely together to ensure that young person receives a focused and holistic plan for their future.
Young people who receive custodial sentences are assessed to identify their individual resettlement needs and an action plan will be put in place.
How can they help me?
There are many areas that the resettlement worker can support young people in. These include:
- Finding somewhere to live
- Getting a job or finding a college course; education, training and employment*
- Staying healthy and emotional wellbeing*
- Managing money and learning to budget
- Building positive relationships; staying in contact with family
- Planning for the future; developing positive goals
- Controlling drug and alcohol use*
* referrals can be made to other specialists from the youth offending service for example:
- substance misuse worker
- education training and employment worker
- health worker
What happens next?
During a young person’s time in custody the resettlement worker will make regular visits and attends detention and training order review meetings to make sure resettlement plans are developing.
Supporting the families of young people in custody is a key element of the role of the resettlement worker. This is both during the custodial sentence and after the young person has been released. They can provide families will updates on how the young person is progressing in custody and answer any questions or concerns that they may have about their child. They can assist families in maintaining contact with young people and also refer them to help such as the assisted prison visits scheme.
After the young person has been released, the resettlement worker will continue to support them in the community. They will see them regularly to ensure that the plans are continuing as expected and that the young person is successfully resettling back into the community.
They will also work with the young person in considering their risks of re-offending to prevent them returning to custody.
The resettlement worker aims to provide continuity of care between custody and the community, and is that essential link between the two.
Group work project – Real Time
Real Time is a prevention and awareness programme developed by us for young people who are currently on community orders.
The overall objective of the programme is to provide young people with an awareness of the true realities of prison, as opposed to what they have heard from their peers.
Research has shown the early, preventative, interventions are the most successful in helping young people turn their lives around and the “Real Time” course aims to do just that.
What's involved
The programme is made up of six group work sessions, including one prison visit. Young people consider what their initial assumptions of prison are and they can then compare this with the realities on the prison visit. Young people are taken on a tour of the prison and are able to see what daily life is like for the prisoners.
Young people will see and hear quotes from other young people who have been in prison and learn from their experiences.
Young people will also consider what their risks are and how they can go about reducing their risks of going into custody, and make positive plans for their futures.
Feedback from young people
- “The programme gave me an insight into prison life. I would tell other young people it’s not worth going to prison”
- “The course has shown me what prison is really like. I don’t want to go there”
- “I don’t want to go to prison. Locked up in a small cell and I can’t do what I want”