Abstract
Introduced under the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 created a period of post-sentence supervision (PSS) after licence for individuals serving short custodial sentences. This empirical study features on the ground views and perspectives of practitioners and service users of PSS in one case-study area. Findings from this research suggest a number of issues and ambiguities with the enactment of the sentence. These include ambiguities regarding the correct use of enforcement procedures; the antagonistic relationship between third sector and Community Rehabilitation Company staff, primarily centred around transferring cases and concerns over the use of ‘light touch’ supervision and uncertainties over what the rehabilitative aims of this sentence mean in practice. These issues led to practitioners questioning the legitimacy of the third sector organisation involved in the management of PSS, while service users experienced PSS as a frustrating ‘pass-the-parcel’ experience, where resettlement support was constantly stalled and restarted at each juncture of the sentence. Before briefly discussing the potential future of PSS under the next iteration of probation policy, this article concludes by arguing that there is emerging evidence of a commonality of failures occurring at every juncture of the short sentence, undermining resettlement prospects for the long-neglected short sentence population.
Highlights
A central part of the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms has involved the introduction of statutory post-release supervision for all prisoners serving a short prison sentence of under 12 months
Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have a variety of operating models for post-release supervision, these include a risk-led model that determines resources for service users according to risk; community hubs which provide a ‘one stop shop’ where service users can access multiple resources; specialist roles, where practitioners’ caseloads have a specific resettlement focus, and a sub-contracted model, where a third sector organisation (TSO) are responsible for supervising post-sentence supervision’ (PSS) cases (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP), 2019: 20)
CRCs nationally had different post-release models of supervision and the CRC where fieldwork was undertaken for this article implemented a subcontracted model
Summary
A central part of the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms has involved the introduction of statutory post-release supervision for all prisoners serving a short prison sentence of under 12 months. Despite the complex needs and high reoffending rates of the short sentence population (National Audit Office, 2010; Stewart, 2008), these individuals did not receive any supervision or support from probation services following their release from prison and were released unconditionally at the halfway point of their sentence. Following their return to the community, individuals subject to a short sentence serve a period on licence and receive a ‘top-up’ supervision period, known as ‘post-sentence supervision’ (PSS). This article highlights that these unique features of the sentence have caused a considerable amount of ambiguity and concern towards how PSS operates
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