Providing a learning disability in‐reach service for young adult offenders serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a three‐year contract to provide learning disability in‐reach to young offenders serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) at HMYOI Aylesbury.Design/methodology/approach – A whole population sample (n=75) was obtained between December 2009 and July 2011, where all had received an assessment of intellectual functioning using either the in‐reach screening protocol, consisting of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test – Version 2 (KBIT‐2) and four background questions, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).Findings – It was found that 5.5 per cent of the population had a standard score of less than 70 (significant impairment) and a further 18.6 per cent fell between 70 and 79 (borderline range). The mean standard score of the KBIT‐2 (85.8) was consistent with previous studies of prison populations. The background had a significant but weak association with the KBIT‐2 scores, b...