Criminal Justice Services
DEPAUL IRELAND TUS NUA Annual Review 2013 Tus Nua Celebrates 10 Years 2003 - 2013
ABOUT DEPAUL IRELAND Depaul Ireland is a charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. We are a cross border organisation working in the local community; established in the Republic of Ireland in 2002 and Northern Ireland in 2005. Our services span community and outreach, vulnerable families, harm reduction, criminal justice and mental health services and help those most in need. Depaul Ireland shares close links with our founding partners and other members of the Vincentian Family and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society but we are separate charities.
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Tus Nua Annual Review 2013
INTRODUCTION FOREWORD In March 2013, the Tus Nua team hosted a very successful conference, with the keynote speaker being the Inspector of Prisons. Throughout the year, the team saw a number of positive developments for the women living in Tus Nua as a number of vulnerable women began to find stability for the first time in their adult lives and others successfully moved into independent living. On behalf of the committee, I want to thank everyone for their part in providing such a high quality service. To our collaborators, especially the Governor of the Dochas Centre, the Integrated Sentence Management team and the many Probation Officers for all their support. To the management, staff and volunteers, who ensure Tus Nua is a place of welcome and warmth for all. To the St Vincent de Paul Society and the local neighbours, who have proven to be real friends and finally to Probation Service, who provide us with the resources we need, we are especially grateful. I hope you find this report informative and trust that it will help to give you an insight of the vital service that the team in Tus Nua provide to some of the most vulnerable women in our society.
Ray Mc Govern Chairman Tus Nua Management Committee
I present this report as a snapshot of the work in Tus Nua in 2013 and of the impact it has made in the lives of the women who came to Tus Nua for support in 2013. Depaul Ireland’s Tus Nua Apartments celebrates 10 years of operation. On opening in 2003, as the only service of its kind in Ireland, it has been important for Depaul Ireland to adapt the service to meet the needs of the women we exist to support and learn from the women so that the service offered is client focused and quality led. It has been vital that we have had a service based on openness and respect so that women facing vulnerability have been able to gain control of their lives. The impact of this approach has been brought home to me time and time again by the spontaneous positive feedback from the women themselves. The Tus Nua team works closely with our collaborators, who are so supportive and helpful. The ties with the Dochas Centre and Probation Services, formal and informal, are critical for our work with the women and these have been further strengthened in 2013. As a team, we have real sense that we are all working to the one goal-- to achieve the best outcome for the women. Women who come in contact with the criminal justice system are particularly vulnerable and share a range of complex needs. In addition many women have faced or will face homelessness because of imprisonment. Therefore the Tus Nua team works very hard to manage the transition from prison to the community with great commitment and care so that women have a safe, stable, and secure home to move to.
Shane Bradley Project Group Manager Depaul Ireland
DEPAUL IRELAND’S VISION, MISSION AND VALUES
Our vision is that everyone should have a place to call home and a stake in their community Our mission is to offer homeless and disadvantaged people the opportunity to fulfil their potential and make positive informed choices about their future.
Our values are: We celebrate the potential of people We put our words into action We aim to take a wider role in civil society We believe in rights and responsibilities
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Tus Nua Annual Review 2013
Personal esteem & confidence issues TUS NUANEW BEGINNINGS The IPRT Position Paper 10 ‘Women in the Criminal Justice System: Towards a noncustodial Approach’ 1 that was launched in November 2013 indicated that there is a growing acknowledgement of the value of non-custodial and communitybased support services, naming Tus Nua specifically for our work supporting women offenders. In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the number and proportion of women in prison. As a result, the external environment in which we work has been changing. We have been developing new working relationships and continue to use limited resources as effectively as possible. In 2013 it was agreed that the Tus Nua service would move to a new site allowing for the expansion of the number of accommodation places available to women coming out of prison. It is hoped that this agreement will become a reality in 2014. We are hopeful that these developments will provide a platform for the exploration of alternatives to custody options for women. Our ten years in existence has given us the expertise and strategies to manage these changes. This is recognised by our partners in Probation and in the Dochas Centre. The Depaul Ireland Risk Management and Support Planning procedures have given us the tools we need to ensure the support we give is as effective as it can be. 1
IPRT Position Paper 10 ‘Women in the Criminal Justice System: Towards a non-custodial approach’ http://www.iprt.ie/files/IPRT_Position_Paper_on_Women_ in_the_Criminal_Justice_System.pdf
As highlighted in the IPRT paper 1, there are a number of complex needs and difficult issues facing women coming out of prison including challenges around housing, accommodation and stability. It is important to support women to address underlying personal difficulties such as low self-esteem and lack of self confidence. For this reason, the Tus Nua team takes a holistic approach to each women and support the women to address this issue in a variety of ways. Our approach to the women is structured through the Depaul Ireland Support Planning Toolkit. This process gives women the opportunity to identify and address the reasons why they came in contact with the criminal justice system. Our support planning helps the women take the incremental steps necessary to make progress in their lives. Communal meals in Tus Nua take place twice weekly. This supports the women to develop learn to cookery and budgeting skills, supporting them on their journey to independent living. The communal nature of the meals contributes greatly to the warmth and homeliness of the service, which is so often remarked upon by visitors. Arts and creative projects have also been cathartic and transformative. In 2013, we also welcomed a community artist to work with the women on creating a mosaic which the women contributed greatly towards. At Tus Nua we support women to find the courage to engage with counselling services while they are with us. Of those who accessed counselling services in 2013, one woman commenced a training course and another used the process to re-engage with her family.
Substance use issues & supports offered As noted in the IPRT paper1, ‘women offenders tend to come from a background of social disadvantage and poverty, and often suffer from mental health problems, substance dependency, accommodation problems and poor family relationships.’ Though the statistics do not indicate a significant increase in numbers presenting with substance use in the past year, we have found that the level of need for individuals with these difficulties has increased. This has meant that we have had to work hard to encourage participation in treatment services. The first few weeks are critical. In our support planning, our key working staff are comprehensive in their conversations in this area so that they are able to gauge the support needed. The interventions in this area are a key part of the work of Tus Nua staff and volunteers. One service user, who was supported by the Tus Nua team to agree to going into treatment, commented ‘There was a tendency to be down after relapsing or
‘having a slip’ but ‘I felt supported to carry on positively and not judged by members of staff’. Our volunteers have a critical role in supporting women as they move towards treatment options. The friendly rapport, regular engagement and communal activities led by the volunteers all helps ease the transition from the Dochas Centre to life at Tus Nua. Volunteers accompany women to a variety of appointments including accessing treatment. As one woman commented, simply having someone to talk to makes a significant difference. The collaborative working with the local community is at the core of our approach. Our work is supported by close working relationships with the addiction services treatment clinic in The Mews, with doctors and local pharmacies. Women in Tus Nua also find solace and support from agencies such as SAOL and Chrysalis.
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family related issues It is recognised that a custodial sentence can have a significant impact on family members and especially the children of women offenders. There are consequences when women can no longer fulfil the caring responsibilities that they have for their children and their immediate families. Tus Nua is based in small building that does not have specialised visiting rooms for young children. Despite these space limitations, we have been creative and flexible and have been able to offer women the support they needed to host visits. Several of the women living in Tus Nua made contact with their children in 2013. For two women we facilitated on site visits for their children and for others we supported the women in their engagement with social workers. One woman met her son for the first time in many years. Another women, with the support of social services and the staff at Tus Nua, had access to her child reastablished which not been the case she was in prison. Some of the women who have come to Tus Nua have experienced domestic violence in the past. In order to support them, we have developed stronger ties with Sophia visiting support services in 2013. One service user spoke of ‘a sense of stability’ that the support of the Tus Nua staff and volunteers brought her. This trust and consistency contributes to the women’s growing sense of hope and confidence in their family relationships.
Tus Nua Annual Review 2013
HOMELESSNESS Many women leaving the Dochas Centre are at risk of homelessness. Homelessness is a multifaceted issue. In order to address this with the women in Tus Nua we create individually tailored support plans with an emphasis on resettlement. We offer a structured environment which promotes independent living and helps develop the skills that will assist their reintegration into the community into the future. Since opening in 2003, Tus Nua has become a key player in the post custodial response offered to women leaving the Dochas Centre who are in need of additional supports to continue integration into the community. All of the women living in Tus Nua, if it were not for our service, would either have to continue serving their custodial sentence, or if they were on temporary release would be referred to homeless services. Though Tus Nua as a service sits outside the homeless sector, we are connected to a greater network of homeless services through Depaul Ireland and have an intimate knowledge of its workings and challenges. Given the external environment and the noted lack of resettlement options for homeless people, which has been well documented in the media, it is remarkable that over 40% of the women who left our service in 2013 had progressive moves back with family, into support accommodation, or into private rented accommodation.
COMPARISON STATISTICS Occupancy Levels & Move-on Numbers Year
No. of Service Users Occupancy levels % Resettlement
Unable to Sustain Residence
2003 16 46% 0 12 2004 12 59% 3 7 2005 26 60% 3 17 2006 21 76% 2 10 2007 22 + 1 repeat service user 72% 6 8 2008 18 + 2 repeat service user 84% 6 4 2009 17 + 1 repeat service user 90% 4 4 2010 14 + 1 repeat service user 95 % 4 1 2011 20 + 1 repeat service user 85 % 7 7 2012 22 + 1 repeat service user 86 % 9 7 2013 24 73% 9 11 Total 212 75% (average)
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Priority Support Needs Presented
These figures represent the number of women experiencing these needs some women may present with more than one of these needs.
Year
Alcohol Use
Drug Use (suspected)
Mental Health Issues
Challenging Behaviour
2003 6 12 3 8 2004 10 14 5 8 2005 11 17 11 10 2006 5 13 4 2 2007 3 12 5 4 2008 8 11 15 11 2009 5 12 12 10 2010 5 12 14 12 2011 5 17 18 6 2012 7 18 12 10 2013 5 19 7 18 Total
65
Tenancy Duration
Under 9 days Between 9- 31 days 31- 90 days (1-3 months) 90 – 150 days (3-5 months) 5 months plus
138
2013
2012
2011
6 0 4 4 10
2 4 2 6 9
0 2 6 4 8
99
81
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 0 2 4 1 7
0 1 7 6 4
0 3 4 5 7
2 2 9 5 5
4 3 2 2 5
4 8 10 1 3
0 2 4 4 4
3 9 5 3 0
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Tus Nua Annual Review 2013
Occupancy
The lower rate of occupancy in 2013 compared to 2012 of 73% reflects a trend that started towards the end of Quarter 2, when we found it more difficult than previously to find occupants for all of our apartments. There are myriad of factors that come into play but one, also reflected in evidence from the Dochas Centre, is that those needing our service have more complex needs than before and so they may not be immediately attracted to the supported environment we provide. This has prompted us and our collaborators to review our referral procedures and to increase our presence in the Dochas Centre to at least once a week.
Presenting Needs
At first glance, most areas of need do not show any significant statistical change from 2012, however this fact does not tell the full story as the level of need in each area is high for many of our service users in 2013. Substance misuse continues to be a challenge and one of our immediate priorities is to support women to access treatment services. The one statistic that does stand out is the significant increase of those who have ‘challenging behaviour’ in their profile. In each case, staff have adapted accordingly and in some cases the results have been very significant. For many women Tus Nua has been the first time in their adult lives that they have found stability outside the prison environment.
Resettlement
It is very striking that despite the unfavourable external housing market we have maintained an impressive ratio of positive move-ons (37.5%). Of the 9 women who have successfully been resettled, 7 have returned to their families or moved in with their partner. One woman moved to supported accommodation and one woman accessed accommodation in the private rented sector.
The Future The move to new premises in the second half of 2014 will provide an opportunity for the service to increase its capacity from 6 to 15 accommodation places. These are exciting times for Tus Nua because of the opportunities it gives us to develop and strengthen our ties with probation, the IPS and also the courts services. With these developments we will be able to bring our quality service to an even greater number of women and in a setting that will enhance our capacity to support women with complex needs. It provides us the chance to put our values into practice and play a pivotal role in responding to the needs of women in the criminal justice system.
‘I came from a very bad place in my life; I’ve been through homelessness and addiction. I thought there was no hope. After leaving prison, I had a bumpy road in Tus Nua. But I suppose you have to go through the ups and downs to get where you want to get. Tus Nua was a great place. I had huge support from the staff and volunteers there and without them, I wouldn’t be here today. I’m clean now and hold on to hope that things will improve.’ - Female, Aged 37 Lived in Tus Nua for 11 months
Depaul Ireland’s Tus Nua Apartments is a specialised accommodation service for women with complex needs who are leaving prison. It provides a structured environment which supports women to reintegrate into society, rebuild relationships, develop independent living skills, and minimise the risk of re-offending. Since 2003, Tus Nua has supported:
212
women
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Tus Nua Annual Review 2013
TUS NUA APARTMENTS CELEBRATING 10 YEARS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
3 CONCLUDING REMARKS Tus Nua means New Beginnings and throughout this report we have shown how we are7 responding to the needs of women in new and creative ways. Tus Nua is now celebrating 10 years in operation. During this time, we have worked with 212 women and I would like to thank all of the staff and volunteers who have contributed so much to ensuring that Tus Nua continues to offer a 4 service. quality
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At Depaul Ireland, we remain committed to supporting women in the criminal justice system and we know that 2014 will provide us with opportunities to expand and grow our services to them.
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David Carroll Director of Services Depaul Ireland
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