St Giles Trust warns of rise in re-offending rates

St Giles Trust is warning of an increase in re-offending rates in the capital following the demise of its London Probation-funded Through the Gates service.  The decision to end funding in November has resulted in overwhelming demand on related projects at the Trust.

Through the Gates offered practical support to prison leavers returning to London to reduce the likelihood of someone re-offending.  It helped with issues such as arranging accommodation, helping with benefit claims and making referrals to training and employment support.  During the 16 months it was operational, it worked with 1,500 people and successfully housed over 1,000 prison leavers.

The Trust is now aiming to plug the gap left by its absence through boosting the number of volunteer caseworkers on its Meet at the Gates service. 

“We’re simply unable to provide the same level of support on the shoestring budget we now have,” said Bernie Kastner, Community Services Manager at St Giles Trust. “Since the end of the Through the Gates service, the alternative Meet at the Gates service has been overwhelmed with referrals.  We are seeing over 100 referrals a month and simply don’t have the bodies to deal with this. We have now had to restrict referrals to prisons where St Giles Trust already has a presence, along with a number of prisons with a high number of inmates returning to London.” 

Through the Gates employed 17 full-time caseworkers, whereas Meet at the Gates employs only two members of staff full-time, supported by part-time and voluntary workers, ex-offenders and even serving prisoners on day release.
 
“The demand has been immense, and there has been considerable overspill,” said Kastner.  “I’m still receiving emails from offender managers at approved premises, and from prison staff, saying ‘What are we supposed to do now?’. There are hundreds of released prisoners returning to London each month either homeless or with serious housing problems and these people no longer have a support service and are therefore a risk. Re-offending rates are inevitably going to rise, and communities will be less safe.”

The Trust is now aiming to train an increasing number of Peer Advisors to work on its Meet at the Gates service in an attempt to meet the high levels of demand for support amongst custody leavers. Peer Advisors are mainly ex-offenders trained to NVQ Level 3 in Information, Advice and Guidance able to provide services and support to other offenders.  Unlike Through the Gates, the Meet at the Gates service is able to use ex-offenders who are still on licence to work on the service.  It is hoped that this will boost the number of ex-offenders involved in delivering services for other offenders, using their first-hand experience and skills to provide added value.