23 May 2022
As part of a recent Community Engagement Day in the county of Ceredigion, Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn visited one of the County’s temporary emergency accommodation premises, made available as part of an Integrated Offender Management pilot project he has funded in the last year.
Over recent years there had been recognition by both Dyfed-Powys Probation and Dyfed-Powys Police, that the existing housing projects did not provide the best environment, or opportunity to rehabilitate many offenders.
Quite often, offenders may lose motivation and disengage from various support and interventions due to negative influences within their environment. Several offenders declined emergency housing options, preferring to remain homeless due to concerns around the negative factors often associated with some multi-occupancy projects.
In 2021, the Integrated Offender Management Team within Dyfed-Powys Police identified the need for a suitable, central, all year-round self-contained property in Ceredigion to be used as a short-term temporary emergency accommodation unit for placement of clients whilst alternative more suitable and long-term accommodation solutions were found. It was intended that placement would be on a licence basis for no more than 4 weeks at a time, thereby being readily available for continued use as the need arose.
On its first-year anniversary this month (April 2022), following an initial investment of £11,000 from Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, this Ceredigion based initiative appears to be leading the way in terms of targeting re-offending and crime prevention.
During his visit to one of the premises, Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn said, “The project has proved to be hugely beneficial to a number of offenders, all of whom had complex needs and were involved in a number of ‘neighbourhood’ type crimes.
“The current multi-occupancy style emergency accommodation doesn’t offer the same benefits as this pilot. Each of the offenders housed have stated this and were keen to move away from the peer pressure they encountered whilst living in such accommodation.
“The project has brought agencies together, with Police, HMPPS, Care Society and Dyfed Drug and Alcohol Services doing weekly home visits to the offenders. The work provided by all partners is intense, but provides the offender the focus to rehabilitate. To date, none of the offenders have gone on to commit further offending which is just one of the positives of this project.
“It is inevitable, that not all outcomes will be positive. However, by looking at individual outcomes of relevant offenders over the last year, along with feedback from partner agencies, I am confident and pleased to say that this pilot has proved to be a success.
Dyfed-Powys Police Detective Inspector Leon Lewis said; “Secure accommodation is widely seen as the stepping stone to long term rehabilitation. For many of the offenders that my team work with this isn’t possible. For some this could be down to previous behaviour preventing them from obtaining accommodation from typical sources. The result often sees them being placed in multi-occupancy buildings in busy town centres where there is often more temptation than support.
“The IOM Housing Project provides a better environment and opportunity to rehabilitate offenders. The robust multi-agency working offers support and motivation for offenders to rehabilitate. It offers them an opportunity of a place that they can call home, and although the design and use is temporary it allows the users the opportunity to show potential landlords that they are tenants of the future and are working towards rehabilitation.”
While the PCC visited the premises as part of a Community Engagement Day in Ceredigion recently, the occupier notified him that; “It has changed my life and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. It has allowed me to have stability in my life, and has led to me getting a part-time job offer, that I hope will develop into something more permanent. It has given me access to support services and given me a different perspective of the Police.”
Following the success of the pilot scheme in Ceredigion, learning will be disseminated and discussed between Dyfed-Powys Police and Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, and consideration given to rolling out the initiative across other areas within the Dyfed-Powys Police area.
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
Below is a Case Study of an Offender who was recently provided support through the IOM Housing Pilot:
Offender X Case Study
Offender X came onto IOM almost immediately upon returning to Aberystwyth from his bail accommodation in Swansea after serving custodial sentence for Supply Class A.
Upon returning to Aberystwyth, Offender X was identified associating with other pro drug associates and reported himself that although he has lived primarily in South Ceredigion, he found a lot of old associates from the South of the County were in supported projects in Aberystwyth, and that he was struggling to break links to them because of their close association to him. This was affecting his mental health and emotional coping as he was struggling to stay motivated to address his drug misuse problems because of these close associations, and he knew this would impact on his ability to have access to his daughter who was taken into foster care.
Offender X tried to avoid these associates by spending as little time as he could in Aberystwyth, however found himself under enforcement action for Breach of his Licence as he would attempt to stay away to avoid associates and subsequently miss appointments. He received formal warnings for failure to reside where directed and failure to attend probation as instructed.
Joint agency meetings were undertaken with Dyfed-Powys Police IOM Officers, Social Services, DDAS and a prison charity called ‘Invisible Walls’. All were reporting that associates and accommodation were significant factors to his poor compliance, his negative drug test results, and his failure to reside where directed.
Given a shortage of suitable accommodation in the county both by the local authority and private sector, Offender X was going to be recalled to custody imminently which would have had a profound negative impact on his relationship with his daughter and his motivation to desist from drug misuse and obtain employment in the community.
The Police then explored the opportunity of the IOM Housing project with the IOM Team and Probation. Offender X was keen to engage with this and understood the consequences should he have failed to make changes in the IOM Housing Project or bring it into disrepute. On arrival Offender X quickly adapted to the property keeping the project clean and tidy and engaging with the services offered to him through the Ceredigion Care Society. There were no further records of Class A substance use on his drug testing results and his engagement with DDAS/ IOM / Probation improved significantly. His emotional wellbeing visibly improved and he stated this was because he was able to avoid associates and focus on looking for work and finding somewhere to live where his daughter could visit.
Offender X has successfully moved on from the IOM Housing Project and continues to engage with DDAS providing negative tests for Class A substances and his attendance with Probation and IOM remains good, he has explored different work options and remains working with supporting services, his contact with his daughter has improved and he is able to see progress to achieving his goals compared to that at the time he was living in Aberystwyth and is thankful for the support the IOM Housing Project has provided.
Other Case Studies can be supplied on request.
Further Information:
Gruff Ifan
Policy and Engagement Advisor
