One of the CJA's key strategies remains Women Offenders and the improvement of services to support them in prison and in the community and ultimately reduce their levels of re-offending.
Following the publication of Chaotic Lives in 2009 and the ongoing work of the Women Offenders Outcome Group, the CJA established a Development post (Kirsty Pate) in 2010, in partnership with its five local authorities with the key outcome being gender specific interventions for women offenders. One early outcome of the work of Kirsty Pate was the evaluation of the Willow Project which was developed as part of the Partnerships for Access to Health (PATH) project within Edinburgh Community Health and Care Partnership.
Willow Project - Evaluation Report is available to view or download - Click here
Executive Summaryis available to view or download - Click here
Ms Pate's report 'A Model and Framework for Working with Women Offenders - A multifaceted partnership approach' supports the work that is taking place across Lothian and Borders CJA. Her report provides information and practical ways for planning and developing women's services.
Working with Women OffendersClick here
In the APEX Annual Lecture in 2010, 'An Unmet Commitment:
Women and the Justice System in Scotland' Baroness Stern made reference to this report. Click here
In 2009, the Equal Opportunities Committee undertook a review of Female Offenders and their report has been key to further developing links with Health, Scottish Prison Service, Social Work and the Voluntary Sector. The Government welcomed the Report as it reflected many of the issues they'd identified to improve the management and support of women offenders in prison and the community. This led to additional funding of £100,000 allocated to each of the eight CJAs in 2010-11 and 2011-12 for further investment with women offenders and reduce their risk of reoffending.
A Summary of the Equal Opportunities report can be viewed
Click here
The Chaotic Lives report is available from the CJA Office in its published format or you can download an pre-publication version here Chaotic Lives ReportClick here
