prisons - search results

[…] inter ventions (SBI) from primar y care showed it was both effective and cost-effective in reducing levels of alcohol consumption and re-admission. Screening was most feasible in prisons, because of its – literally – captive audience, but brief inter ventions in that setting were more problematic. ‘There’s a ver y high prevalence of AUDs […]

[…] to help ease overcrowding, and sets aside £900m to address maintenance issues and so ‘improve standards of decency and safety’  ‘From our experience running rehabilitation programmes in prisons across the UK, we agree with Reform’s report that the drug problem in custody is getting worse, with more prisoners developing a drug problem inside,’ said Forward […]

Research consultant, Arun Sondhi, from the Centre for Public Innovation (CPI), talks to DDN about the findings of his latest research into take-home naloxone in prisons. ‘Through-the-Gate’forms a key part of the government’s Transforming Rehabilitation strategy aimed at supporting a prisoner’s recovery from drugs and/or alcohol once released back in the community. The provision […]

Jonathan Munro tells DDN about the pioneering partnership working happening among prisons in the North East.  The prison partnership is a new venture formed in April 2013, which brings together all substance misuse treatment providers in the North East under one single partnership umbrella.  The partnership is made up of seven prison service establishments, […]

Phoenix’s Making rehab work report looked at the state of residential treatment provision in England. Liam Ward explores the benefits residential can offer to people with experience of the criminal justice system. The experiences of people involved with substances, crime and the justice system are complicated. Drug offences accounted for 16 per cent of all […]

[…] for the Treatment of Addiction FEDERATION OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROFESSIONALS In this issue News Roundup Drugs Bill focuses on criminal justice | New alcohol strategy for prisons | Rowntree repor t on local community engagement |First random drug testing carried out in school |Hotline to aid drug prevention strategies | A&E staff have […]

The recent Prisons Bill promised the biggest shake-up of prisons since the Victorian era (DDN, June, page 5). At a VolteFace event in London, journalist Philippa Budgen asked panelists: ‘How can we have meaningful prison reform with drug policies that aren’t working? What would be your messages for justice secretary Michael Gove?’   ‘Supply […]

[…] Whether the punishments will affect levels of use remains to be seen, but the fears do appear to be well founded. According to a HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on HMP Dartmoor, safety at the prison has been compromised by ‘the too-ready availability of prohibited drugs’ including synthetic cannabinoids ‘not detectable with current testing […]

Improving systems to ensure that people leaving prison are motivated and supported to engage with community services is a priority for both the government and the sector. Ilo Edwin and Sarah Clowes describe how the Forward Trust is trying to address the challenge. The high risk of relapse and reoffending amongst substance-misusing offenders and their […]

The government has announced sweeping reforms of the prison system as part of the Queen’s Speech, including the establishment of six autonomous ‘reform prisons’. Governors at these will have ‘unprecedented’ freedom in terms of budgets, education and work and rehabilitation services, amounting to ‘the biggest shake-up of the prisons system since the Victorian era’, […]

[…] occasionally, allegedly, smuggled in by corrupt prison staff. There is currently widespread concern about the increased availability of legal highs – especially synthetic cannabinoids – in most prisons, revealed by a series of prison inspection reports and a briefing by the prison drug treatment provider, RAPt. Admission to both prison health care and local […]

[…] response to the national drug strategy.  These are mostly working on a local authority level and are chaired by directors of public health, making the involvement of prisons – which operate across local authority areas – challenging. The partnerships will also have to implement the ‘three strikes’ response to drug testing currently being contemplated […]

[…] bamblinb problem. What’s more, 57 per cent of respondents think that support to address bamblinb harm should be offered in prison. The survey took place in 14 prisons durinb Aubust and September 2020. While a relatively small amount of people said that bamblinb directly contributed to the reason they are in prison (4 per […]

[…] of need | Edinburgh shakes up drug and alcohol ser vices |Mentor UK invites entries for alcohol prevention |Pharmacists want greater prescribing freedom on controlled drugs | Prisons conference shapes agenda |NTA remains champion to 2008 and beyond | Creative challenge for Hep C | 4 Features Cover story A new script for nurses […]

[…] world’s youth.’ News in Brief Prison drug treatment needs ‘overhaul’ A COMPLETE OVERHAUL of the government’s approach is necessary to address the issue of drug use in prisons, according to a new report from the Centre for Policy Studies. Political will and an ‘intelligence-based approach’ will be needed if the government is to eliminate […]

[…] cells and communal areas, will allow information slots on issues like drug awareness to be broadcast to the entire prison estate, says the Home Office, with those prisons that already have radio stations noting an ‘increased positive engage- ment with the regime and staff’. Prison radio is also seen as a useful pathway into […]

Sue Reynolds, the clinical lead of sub­stance misuse at HMP Littlehey, tells DDN about joining the growing number of prisons to introduce a life-saving take-home naloxone pro­gramme for prisoners upon release HMP/Young Offender Institute (YOI) Littlehey is a purpose-built category C prison which holds convicted and sentenced adults and young adults. The average number […]

[…] ‘huge increase’ in violence across the prison estate has taken place in the last five years, according to the latest annual report from the chief inspector of prisons. As well as coinciding with substantial reductions in staff numbers, the ‘ready availability of drugs in too many of our prisons sits behind much of the […]

[…] jails are performing’ in getting them off drugs and giving them basic education and employment skills. The white paper also includes measures to introduce no-fly zones over prisons to stop drones being used to drop drugs inside the prison walls, as well as extra sniffer dogs. Prisons should be ‘places where offenders get off […]

At Change Grow Live’s south west prisons service, we see first-hand the impact that neurodivergent conditions can have on engagement with substance support. People in prison are disproportionately affected by neurodivergence, and many of them struggle to engage with or be reached by existing pathways. That’s why our team has been at the forefront […]

[…] most widely available form of support for prisoners with a drinking problem is Alcoholics Anonymous – yet AA groups only operate in around half of all UK prisons. AC has called for ring-fenced funding to ‘kick-start’ the development of alcohol interventions in prisons, and for structured throughcare for prisoners with alcohol dependency. The charity […]

[…] are encouraged to seek treatment at every opportunity in their contact with the criminal justice system. It will also pilot ‘wing-based, abstinence focused, drug recovery services’ in prisons and encourage more offenders to become recovery champions, with more detail in the Ministry of Justice green paper, Breaking the cycle: effective punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing […]

Prisoners are dying ‘preventable deaths – particularly as a result of the alarming levels of drug abuse in jails’, says the annual report of the prisons and probation ombudsman. Acting ombudsman Elizabeth Moody said she was ‘gravely concerned’ at the destructive impact of NPS, with some prisons and their health providers ‘struggling to learn’ from […]

[…] enforce a zero tolerance approach’ towards NPS. ‘Go onto any prison wing and staff will tell you that whilst we’ve made good headway on drug misuse in prisons, there’s a new phenomenon they are increasingly seeing in the form of so-called “legal highs”,’ he said. ‘What we’re also hearing is that these substances seem […]

Why are children starting their lives in prison when there are viable community solutions available to get their mothers back on track, asks Hannah Shead. Six hundred pregnant women enter a prison every year in the UK and about a hundred babies are born inside, despite the fact that the prison environment may pose particular […]

[…] engage at all stages, through arrest, remand, community and custodial sentencing and release. ‘We need to join up systems to get an integrated system of care in prisons,’ he said. Joint work between the Home Office and PCTs would increase the likelihood of prisoners accessing the treatment they needed. An effective treatment needed capacity […]

[…] mental health and drug addiction problems that in many cases have led to their convictions,’ she said. See the next DDN for full reports from the ‘ Prisons and beyond’ conference about managing substance misuse in prison Mediterranean liquid diet Binge drinking, once thought to be the preserve of northern European countries like the […]

[…] 2005 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5 Drug crime link The drugs crime link has driven everything forward, NTA chief executive P aul Hayes told the Sentenced to Tr eatment conference in London. ‘It’s the reason everyone here is in a job,’ he told delegates. Acknowledging the improvements needed in the prison system, Mr Hayes said the NTA’s new three-year strategy would engage at all stages, through arrest, remand, community and custodial sentencing and release. ‘We need to join up systems to get an integrated system of care in prisons,’ he said. Joint work between the Home Office and PCTs would increase the likelihood of prisoners accessing the treatment they needed. An effective treatment needed capacity and the system was on track to double by 2008. Waiting times were being reduced from ten weeks to two, and the NTA had a goal to hold people in treatment for three months or more. Progression was high on the agenda: ‘it’s not enough to dose them up with methadone and forget about them,’ said Mr Hayes. ‘They need to get their kids back, get into education and health systems, move towards being employed.’ […]

[…] period in prison drug treatment. ‘I started as a volunteer, progressing to CARAT worker, CARAT manager and then eastern area manager, overseeing 11 drug treatment services in prisons across the East of England,’ she says. So was the drugs sector something she’d always been interested in? ‘Not specifically. I always knew I’d work with […]

Sweeping reforms of the prison system were announced as part of last month’s Queen’s Speech, including the establishment of six autonomous ‘reform prisons’. Governors at these will have ‘unprecedented’ freedom in terms of budgets, education and work and rehabilitation services, amounting to the ‘biggest shake-up’ of the system since the Victorian era, the government […]

[…] serving short sentences that gave little time for any kind of effective treatment. This created a situation where drug users were ‘cycling in and out of our prisons at great expense but very rarely achieving recovery or finding meaningful work’, she said, and meant they were consequently ‘very likely to re-offend’. The review supports […]

[…] of the deaths resulted from overdose, yet the community policy of maximising access to naloxone (to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose) still hasn’t reached English prisons. Only 12 per cent of prisoners who were previously dependent on heroin left prison with naloxone in 2017-18 because of reluctance among NHS providers to fund […]

[…] white drug users outnumber blacks by a five to one margin, blacks comprise 62.7 per cent and whites 36.7 per cent of all drug offenders in state prisons. In Illinois, the state with the highest rate of black male drug offenders behind bars, a black man is 57 times more likely to be sent […]

[…] Prison Service re-tendering exercise, RAPt has been awarded 14 new drug service units to provide CARAT Services and accredited 12-step based Substance Abuse Treatment Programme in HM Prisons across England. We are therefore undergoing a major expansion, offering many exciting opportunities to become part of one of the country’s foremost providers of drug treatment […]

[…] maintaining and refining delivery, he said, demonstrating staff competence through DANOS and being more creative in the way RAPt delivered services – particularly in developing services outside prisons. ‘We have some good practice and models, but we’re not doing enough outside release,’ said Mr Trace. Understanding outcomes better was now a key priority he […]

[…] under-prescribing remains rife in spite of the publication of two ‘Orange books’ guides on clinical care of drug users. The quality of care for drug users in prisons has improved beyond measure over recent years – yet still there are no needle exchange services in spite of a government commitment to ensure that prisoners […]

Katy Swaine Williams and José Aguiar discuss much-needed steps to reform women’s justice. Too many women are imprisoned unnecessarily in the UK, many on remand or serving short sentences, and most for non-violent offences. For many of these women, drug and alcohol issues are intimately connected with their offending behaviour. In turn, problematic substance use […]

[…] David Clark Douglas Husak argues that the injustice of criminalisation provides a strongr eason to abandon punitive drug policies. He also argues that prohibition has caused a great deal of harm because it is counterproductive. He describes a number of bad consequences that are caused as a result of insisting that illicitdrug users be punished.  Husak views racial bias as perhaps the most scandalous aspect of the punitive drug policy of the US. Eventhough white drug users outnumber blacks by a five to one margin, blacksc omprise 62.7 per cent and whites 36.7 per cent of all drug offenders in state prisons. In Illinois, the state with the highest rate of black male drug offenders behind bars, a black man is 57 times more likely to be sent to prison on drug charges than a white man. The disparity in punishment for possession of powder and crackc ocaine is further evidence of racism in US drug policy. Whilst a first time offender convicted of possessing more than five grams of crack receives a mandatory sentence of five years imprisonment, 500 grams of powderc ocaine are needed before offenders r eceive a comparable sentence. About 90 per cent of federal crack offenders are black, whilst almost 50 per cent of […]

[…] wanting to get deeply involved in the project, he’s gone on to facilitate more than 2,000 of the 14,000 meetings held in Massachusetts, 700 of them in prisons. ‘I’m a physician but my professional interests are internal medicine and pain management,’ he says. ‘I didn’t know a thing about addiction. I thought I did, […]

The government has published its prison and courts bill, which it says will pave the way for the ‘biggest overhaul of prisons in a generation’. The bill ‘underpins’ measures in the prison reform white paper (DDN, December 2016, page 5), setting in law for the first time that ‘a key purpose’ of prisons is […]

[…] it says. Recent analysis found that women entering prison were more likely than men to report issues with drugs or alcohol Recent analysis by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) found that women entering prison were more likely than men to report issues with drugs or alcohol, and more likely to report feeling depressed, […]

[…] release. ‘This is not simply a crisis of prison capacity,’ said director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, Andrew Neilson. ‘Our overcrowded and violent prisons are breeding grounds for crime, while probation services are overstretched and under-resourced within the community. We welcome these findings from the Review and look forward to […]

[…] increases the risk of relapse or overdose, which is particularly high in the first weeks after release. More than 11,000 people were released on a Friday from prisons in England and Wales in the first six months of 2018, as this includes prisoners whose release dates fall on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday […]

[…] project was taking place on naloxone. Giving prisoners access to care plans had been an important priority for Phoenix Futures, who ran the contract for most Scottish prisons, said Ms Parker. Care after release included a contract with service providers that accounted for prisoners’ reduced tolerance. Information on harm reduction was being distributed, through […]

[…] www.drinkanddrugs.net 5 May 2008 | drinkanddrugsnews| 5 Third wave of prison treatment approved The third waveof Department of Health funding for the integrated drug treatment system for prisons (IDTS) has been approved for treatment in 38 more prisons, following implementation in 53 prisons in the first and second waves. IDTS aims to provide more […]

[…] McPhee, lecturer in postgraduate alcohol and drugs studies, University of the West of Scotland IDTS is an asset to prison nursing Drug treatment has been available in prisons for many years, but has not always been successful. In 2006, the prison Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) was introduced to provide evidence-based drug treatment for […]

[…] carr y a five- year sentence, while selling the drug could mean 14 years in prison, with ‘stiffer penalties’ for selling near schools, mental health facilities or prisons. Release has described the on-the-spot fines as ‘little more than a cynical money raising exercise, which will likely serve to punish those least able to pay.’ […]

[…] I would be happy to arrange a cost- free confidential visit for her. Kenneth Eckersley, CEO Addiction Recovery Training Services ‘ D rug use is illegal in prisons, therefore there is no drug use in prisons, therefore we don’t need to provide drug ser vices for prisoners.’ This was a quote heard by a […]

[…] and understand different ways to cope.’ Another participant called it ‘a bright light in a dark place’, and this was the intention of Louise Scherdel, Addaction’s Lincolnshire Prisons service manager, when she wrote and developed the programme under the supervision of Andrew Beaver, operations manager at Grantham Community Service. ‘Our ultimate goal on the […]

[…] approach to drugs’ forms a central part of the government’s proposed new prison strategy, launched the day after its ten-year drug strategy, From harm to hope (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/government-announces-largest-ever-increase-in-treatment-funding). Prisons will have a ‘zero-tolerance approach to drugs’ All prisoners will be assessed on arrival for drug and alcohol issues, says the Prisons strategy white paper, with […]

[…] eighties, when ignorance about HIV/AIDS caused so much stigma and fear, that Una became assistant director of the Standing Conference On Drug Abuse where she helped educate prisons and prisoners about the issues involved. She co-authored a staff training manual that helped bring about a more con- sidered approach to the treatment of individuals […]

[…] Andy Stonard in his capacity as Chair of Conference Consor tium, to rectify a misunderstanding that has arisen in the publicity material for our for thcoming conference Prisons and Beyond (16-17 February 2006). I am happy to do so. Prisons and Beyond is being organised by the National Offender Management Ser vice and is […]

[…] value of targeting the ‘high crime- causing user’. Mr Wheelhouse said there would be tougher responses to breaches, and closer working and information sharing with probation and prisons to prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs). There was still a need to align DIP and PPO schemes more closely with more routine cross-referencing, to make […]

[…] of the total.’ A ‘new approach to identification’ would therefore see legislation introduced to enable the sharing of information between job centres, the police, probation services and prisons. Drug users on benefits would be required to see a specialist employment advisor and draw up a rehabilitation plan with their help. The government is also […]

Turning Point’s volunteer scheme to help people prepare for release from prison has been a pathway to paid employment – and a source of highly valued staff for the organisation, says Eoin Bolger. When Billy got arrested with five kilos of cocaine on the M5 in 2019, he could never have imaged that four years […]

[…] state benefits. The first time a person tried heroin was usually with drug using peers and 18 | drinkanddrugsnews| 31 October 2005 www.drinkanddrugs.net Classified |education and services Prisons and beyond... Ramada Hotel, Leicester16-17 February, 2006 Organised by NOMS Prison Drug Strategy Unit, in association with the Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals (FDAP) and […]

[…] not likely to be transferred whilst on treatment •  Actively engaging with DARS psychosocial interventions •  Looking to be abstinent from OST within four weeks IN THE PRISONS DELPHI INTRODUCED PRB: •  To offer services that mirror the community •  To provide choice in detox options •  To support plans for future recovery •  […]