Community Justice Update and Activity Report
Renfrewshire Council · 31 October 2023
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 31 October 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Page 1 of 19 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board On: 31 October 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Head of Childcare and Criminal Justice ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Community Justice Update and Annual Return 2022/23 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report details Community Justice Renfrewshire’s progress towards national justice outcomes, in accordance with statutory requirements. 1.2 The report describes how Community Justice Renfrewshire will build on these strengths and further develop its improvement approach in alignment with latest guidance and direction. 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board is asked: (a) That the Reporting Template for the Community Justice Renfrewshire Annual Report 2022/23, attached as Appendix to the report, be approved; and (b) That it be noted that the Community Justice Renfrewshire Annual Report Template 2022/23 had been submitted to Community Justice Scotland in draft format and, subject to approval and/or amendment by this Policy Board, the finalised Report would be submitted and published.
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Page 2 of 19 ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Community Justice Renfrewshire – like other justice partnerships – is required to report on local progress towards national justice outcomes. Our achievements are relayed to Community Justice Scotland who combine with those of other justice partnerships to create a national report. 3.2 A new National Strategy for Community Justice was published in June 2022. This set the improvement priorities for Scotland’s community justice partnerships and outlined their contribution to the wider Vision for Justice in Scotland, published in February 2022. 3.3 Community Justice Scotland supply community justice partnerships with a reporting template. Partnerships must use this template to describe the local community justice activity delivered over the preceding financial year which has contributed to national justice outcomes. Community Justice Renfrewshire received this template in May 2023 and covers the 2022/23 financial year. 3.4 The 2022/23 template acknowledges that strategic developments that have taken place at a national level and that this has affected reporting requirements. The publication of the revised National Strategy for Community Justice part way through a reporting means that justice partnerships are unable to fully align their local progress to national justice outcomes. In response, Community Justice Scotland revised the scope of the 2022/23 template to allow for more reflection on how learning can be carried forward in pursuit of the revised national justice outcomes. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Community Justice Renfrewshire Annual Outcome Activity Return 2022/23 4.1 Community Justice Renfrewshire’s Annual Outcome Activity Return is attached to this report (Appendix 1). The return identifies the opportunities identified over the period 1st April 2022 and 31st March 2023, and how these inform our current approach. Highlights include: • Recruitment of Community Justice Lead Officer in March 2023. • Publication of revised National Strategy for Community Justice and national improvement activity, and work to align and contextualise these in respect of Renfrewshire’s local improvement outcomes.
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Page 3 of 19 • Enhancing the breadth and depth of relationships with community justice partners. • Early work to refine the scope of the partnership’s strategic oversight and governance and improving links with complementary projects and programmes of work. • Progress to enhance the capacity of justice social work teams to provide early intervention for people accused of offences and reintegration support for people who have been convicted. • Early development of a long-term communication and engagement approach that informs our communities about community justice and creates opportunities for those with living experience of the justice system to influence local service delivery 4.2 In accordance with guidance, the return emphasises collaborative activity rather than detail that progressed by individual teams, services, or organisations. This reduces duplication of reporting and focuses on the partnership’s added value. 4.3 A draft of Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Annual Outcome Activity Return was sent to Community Justice Scotland in advance of the submission deadline (30 September 2023). A final report will be sent to Community Justice Scotland following this board’s review. 4.4 We will continue to work closely with Community Justice Scotland and review any learning from national report when it is published early next year. We will apply relevant learning to improve our local approach to reducing reoffending and improving outcomes for those with living experience of the justice system. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial - None 2. HR & Organisational Development - None 3. Community Planning - The report details a range of activities which reflect local council and community planning themes. CJR is embedded within community planning arrangements. 4. Legal - None, this report meets the council’s statutory community justice requirements. 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology - None 7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating
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Page 4 of 19 actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety - Children’s Services continues to follow current public health guidance in relation to the safe operation of working environments. 9. Procurement - None. 10. Risk - Risks related to the delivery and management of services are regularly monitored and included in Renfrewshire Council’s Corporate and Strategic Risk Registers. 11. Privacy Impact - None 12. COSLA Policy Position - None 13. Climate Change - None ___________________________________________________________________ 14. List of Background Papers none _________________________________________________________________ Author: Jamie Gardyne, Community Justice Lead Officer
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Page 5 of 19 Appendix 1 April 2023 Community Justice Scotland Ceartas Coimhearsnachd Alba Community Justice Outcome Activity Across Scotland Local Area Annual Return Template 2022-23
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Page 6 of 19 1. Background This reporting template has been developed in discussion with community justice representatives from local areas, and is designed to support local areas in reporting to CJS on the achievement of outcomes in order that CJS is able to write its annual report to satisfy s27 of the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (‘the Act’). The process of requesting information from local areas through the completion of this reporting template fulfils the requirement for CJS to consult with community justice partners and stakeholders when preparing the annual report, as set out under section 27(3). Completing the template can also support local areas to make an assessment of progress towards national outcomes and prepare their own local- facing annual report, which is a statutory obligation under section 23.. Significant strategic developments took place in and around the reporting year 2022- 23, namely; 1. Publication of the Scottish Government’s Vision for Justice in February 2022. 2. The publication of a revised National Strategy in June 2022. 3. The review of the OPIF culminating in the publication in April 2023 of the Community Justice Performance Framework and the accompanying Community Justice Improvement Tool. These significant strategic developments had substantial implications for local areas in their delivery of their statutory obligations within community justice. Further, they had the effect of creating a de-facto transition year, where the National Strategy for Community Justice and reporting framework were not aligned. In recognition of this, we have reconsidered the scope of this template and the report it informs for the reporting period 2022-23. CJS approached community justice coordinators and managers in March 2023 seeking volunteers to participate in the creation of the 2022-23 annual report template. CJS would like to extend thanks to those community justice partners that took the time to participate in the development group and others that provided sense-checking comments on the draft. 2. Statement of Assurance and Data Usage The information submitted to CJS using this template will be specifically used for the purpose of fulfilling the requirement under s27 of the Act for CJS to produce a report on performance in relation to community justice outcomes across Scotland. It will also be used by CJS in its role to monitor, promote and support improvement in, and keep the Scottish Ministers informed about, performance in the provision of community justice. In line with provisions in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), CJS will use appropriate data to ensure that there is continuous reporting, development and progress towards the national outcomes. By providing data to CJS you are consenting to its use by CJS as indicated. Community
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Page 7 of 19 Justice Partnerships should be aware that any information held by CJS is subject to statutory Freedom of Information obligations. The template can be used by local partnerships to fulfil their requirements under s23 (1b) of the Act, when published as an appendix to a publicly facing summary statement of annual progress. 3. General principles of the template The template and guidance have been developed using the following principles: • Retention of the outcomes and indicators from the 2016 OPIF and previous templates, supplemented with additional guidance and direction around answering the questions. • The template should enable a shorter return. • Better support local partners to comply with their local reporting requirements set out in section 23 of the Act. E.g. the inclusion of local outcomes, which also support CJS to understand local issues. • Continue to seek evidence about new collaborative activities. • Support CJS to comply with their requirements in section 27 of the Act.
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Page 8 of 19 4. How to fill in the template The return should be completed and consulted on with partners involved in community justice in your local area. In line with the Act this includes statutory partners, third sector bodies involved in community justice in relation to the area, such community bodies in relation to the area as partners consider appropriate, and such other persons as partners consider appropriate. CJS expects that completion of this template will be a collaborative effort. This template incorporates guidance support completion, with the text (in blue) providing reflective prompts to consider to develop your answer, which can be deleted and replaced with your response. These should be considered together through the development of your answer, rather than addressed individually. In response to feedback on accessibility and in order to support our analysis, we have removed the text boxes around questions and answers. There is no expectation that areas will return substantial numerical data. We would encourage partners to develop the response to this template in conversation with each other, and view it as an opportunity to reflect on your strengths and needs in partnership. Where the template asks for evidence, a written response will suffice and there is no expectation that you send additional supporting documentation – if there are any aspects CJS is unclear on it will be our responsibility to request clarification where necessary. If any response or evidence requires details about people with lived experience (e.g. evidence in respect of someone’s life story) please DO NOT include any identifiable personal or sensitive information (as outlined in Schedules 2 & 3 of the Data Protection Act 1998) as CJS does not require such information. If this is unavoidable then please ensure that the data is fully anonymised. This is the sixth iteration of the template and guidance. If you have any queries about completing the template then please email CJSImprovement@communityjustice.scot.
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Page 9 of 19 1) Community Justice Partnership / Group Details Name of local authority area/s Renfrewshire Council Name and contact details of the partnership Chair Name: John Trainer Email: john.trainer@renfrewshire.gov.uk Telephone: n/a Contact for queries about this report Name: Jamie Gardyne Email: Jamie.gardyne@renfrewshire.gov.uk Telephone: 2) Template Sign-off from Community Justice Partnership / Group Chair Enter the name of the chair to confirm that the local community justice partnership representatives have agreed this return as an accurate record. It should be returned to CJS by 30 September 2023. For the purpose of submitting this return to CJS (to meet CJS section 27 duty) ensure you have agreement from community justice partners. For the purpose of publishing this template as part of your s23 duty (publish a public- facing annual report on progress towards national and local outcomes) you should follow local governance arrangements. Date 18 September 2023 Name:…John Trainer
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Page 10 of 19 3) Governance Arrangements Last year, we asked partnerships to describe their governance structure for community justice arrangements and include links to wider community planning. Please describe any substantive changes since your previous answer. No change. 4) The year overall 2022-23 saw substantial developments and change within the service delivery and strategic policy landscape. This section should be used to reflect some of the a) challenges/negative implications and b) opportunities/positive implications from the reporting year on the community justice partnership. This can include impact on the improvement activity, partner collaboration, and delivery of services. Challenges / Negatives There were challenges in maintaining the strategic focus Community Justice Renfrewshire (CJR) over the 2022-23 period owing to the Community Justice Lead Officer post being vacant until March 2023 (having previously been vacant for two years). This meant we were less proactive and more reactive to policy, service planning and delivery. Although relationships across the CJR were maintained, changes to staff, teams, and structures across individual CJR partners sometimes disrupted communication flows. Although partners are invested the local community justice vision, there was limited opportunity over this period to add value through the strategic review of insight relating to local needs and impact. Although justice work was progressed, at times this was done at a team, service, or organisational level, or through related projects or programmes of work. This meant there were reduced opportunities for all justice partners to contribute to the design, implementation, and monitoring/review stages. Positives / Opportunities Renfrewshire Council’s Chief Executive Service supported CJR with the interpretation of the new National Strategy for Community Justice, published in June 2022. The service reviewed the strategic focus of the new strategy and progressed work to consider the alignment with Renfrewshire’s revised Community Plan published in 2022. This created an opportunity to underline the importance of community justice activity in working towards both local and national improvement outcomes and define the discrete and complementary activity being progressed through CJR and other projects and programmes of work.
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Page 11 of 19 The strategic focus of the new National Strategy for Community Justice creates opportunities to leverage our partner resources to best effect, improving outcomes for people with living experience of the justice system and supporting their reintegration. The strategy reinforces the role of community justice partnerships to lead the design, implementation and review of services that support relevant populations. This is achieved though effective partnership working and governance arrangements. Throughout 2022/23, we have benefitted from learning from other local partnership arrangements, reviewing the impact of structural changes, refinement to membership, delivery methods and reporting. This helped inform an approach to enable the Community Justice Lead Officer to re-establish CJR and define an effective vision and purpose. The recruitment of the Community Justice Lead Officer in March 2023 enabled CJR to begin coordinating our response to the revised National Strategy for Community Justice and the revised Performance Framework. Short term activity focused on re-establishing relationships with CJR partners and highlighting the opportunities associated with taking a service-design approach to targeting resources and capacity to achieve greatest impact. This approach will be applied to consider the implications and opportunities associated with the Joint Review of Diversion from Prosecution, published in February 2023. Work will be progressed to improve understanding of the strategic impact of diversion, taking learning from the Joint Review to identify shared partnership measures. This will inform our local provision to inform, policy, practice, and support local improvement, and build confidence in diversion as a means of reducing reoffending for people for benefit from it. This section is designed to capture the evidence and data that has been used by your partnership over the reporting period to assess progress against the national outcomes. 1. NATIONAL OUTCOME ONE 2. Communities improve their understanding and participation in community justice* Where applicable have regard to the following indicators: ➢ Activities carried out to engage with ‘communities’ as well as other relevant constituencies ➢ Consultation with communities as part of community justice planning and service provision ➢ Participation in community justice, such as co-production and joint delivery ➢ Level of community awareness of / satisfaction with work undertaken as part of a CPO ➢ Evidence from questions to be used in local surveys / citizens’ panels and so on ➢ Perceptions of the local crime data
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12 *Community Justice comprises the activities, services and partners that work with and around people from the point of arrest, through the justice system and supporting their exit from justice contact and integration into their community 5) How have you engaged with partners, communities, and individuals to improve their understanding and participation in relation to community justice? CJR understands the value of engaging with partners, communities and individual to improve understanding and participation in relation to community justice. Over the course of 2022/23 there have been limited opportunities to do this in a coordinated manner owing to the lead officer post being vacant for most of this period. Many of the partners represented in CJR have a proactive approach to engaging with communities to inform, educate, collaborate, and learn from. Through the refresh of Renfrewshire’s Community Plan, extensive engagement was undertaken to understand local needs and priorities. Our communities told us they want to see the needs of vulnerable groups addressed, particularly those whose behaviour is negatively affected by alcohol and drugs misuse. They want risk managed in an appropriate way, providing appropriate and timely means of addressing offending behaviour whilst maintaining public protection. The revised National Strategy for Community Justice underlines the importance of engaging with our communities alongside the people with living experience of the justice system and the people that support them. We will build on the insight held across the partnership and learn from the engagement activity undertaken over the course of 2022/23 to build a strategic, long-term approach that enables co-design of services and a greater understanding of impact of community justice activity. Work has progressed to strengthen links between CJR and Renfrewshire’s Third Sector Interface organisation Engage Renfrewshire. Engage Renfrewshire will be a critical partner in identifying and facilitating conversations with organisations who work with people with living experience of the justice system. This approach will mean that people’s experiences can be relayed and captured by teams and organisations with whom that person has an existing and trusted relationship, and who are best placed to adopt a person-centred and trauma informed approach. Our partnership has a critical role to play in improving local understanding and participation in community justice. Early development work has taken place to develop a strategic communications approach that will deliver a programme of communication of activity over the life of Renfrewshire’s Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan, drawing mainly on insight from those with living experience of community justice.
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13 NATIONAL OUTCOME TWO Partners plan and deliver services in a more strategic and collaborative way Where applicable have regard to the following indicators: ➢ Services are planned for and delivered in a strategic and collaborative way ➢ Partners have leveraged resources for community justice ➢ Development of community justice workforce to work effectively across organisational/professional /geographical boundaries ➢ Partners illustrate effective engagement and collaborative partnership working with the authorities responsible for the delivery of MAPPA 6) How has your partnership worked to enable strategic and collaborative service planning and delivery? Renfrewshire’s Community Planning Partnership has a demonstrated ability to plan and deliver services in a strategic and collaborative way. Our partnership applies learning and experience from this and other local partnership approaches, with our stakeholders aware of the benefits of leveraging collective resources to maximise impact and improve outcomes for people with living experience of the justice system. Progress was made to review the vision, purpose and collaborative opportunities with other projects and programmes of work taking place across the Community Planning Partnership. This will enable our partnership to scope our work accordingly and identify the most appropriate forums to review, develop, implement and test specific improvement activity. This approach will minimise duplication of effort and ensure appropriate strategic oversight. The new National Strategy for Community Justice created an opportunity for CJR to review our work and align to national areas of focus. Early work has progressed to develop a deeper understanding of the needs of targeted local populations, drawing on insight gathered from larger community planning activity. This activity will draw on the Scottish Approach to Service Design, European Foundation for Quality Management approaches and the Care Inspectorate’s approach to self-evaluation. This will build on recent service and organisation-level reflective activity and take a person-centred approach to ensure services are appropriate, accessible, and effective at the point they’re required. Learning from other partnerships will guide thinking to ensure CJR is informed in regard to the potential impact of future developments that might alter the demand and delivery of future provision. Renfrewshire’s Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) have continued online throughout 2022/23. Renfrewshire’s MAPPA co-ordination arrangements are undertaken by the MAPPA unit based in neighbouring Inverclyde Council. Covering the previous North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority boundary of six local authorities, two health boards, Scottish Prison Service and three divisions of Police Scotland. This approach has continued to facilitate effective planning, with opportunity for joint learning and improvement achieved through six-monthly quality assurance
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14 processes. Governance for these arrangements consists of the MAPPA Strategic Oversight Group which within Renfrewshire report to the Renfrewshire Chief Officers Group. NATIONAL OUTCOME THREE People have better access to the services that they require, including welfare, health and wellbeing, housing and employability Where applicable have regard to the following indicators: ➢ Partners have identified and are overcoming structural barriers for people accessing services ➢ Existence of joint-working arrangements such as processes / protocols to ensure access to services to address underlying needs ➢ Initiatives to facilitate access to services ➢ Speed of access to mental health services ➢ % of people released from a custodial sentence: a) registered with a GP b) have suitable accommodation c) have had a benefits eligibility check ➢ Targeted interventions have been tailored for and with an individual and had a successful impact on their risk of further offending 7) What steps have you taken to improve access to services, and what impact has there been as a result? In support of the new National Strategy for Community Justice, CJR has engaged with stakeholders to identify areas where more detailed strategic needs and strength analysis will be undertaken in support of service design and improvement. There are opportunities to collectively review and understand the pathways to housing and homeless support for people with living experience of the justice system. We recognise the demands on the resources of this service, and by facilitating a deeper dive into the client journey CJP will offer the space where relevant agencies can reflect on the planning, delivery and the impact of current approaches with a view to improving access, understanding and information sharing between this and other services/supports where possible. CJP works collaboratively with other partnerships and works strategically to progress community justice improvement work through the most appropriate means. We have strong links with Renfrewshire’s Local Employability Partnership, with the Community Justice Lead Officer historically co-chairing the Local Employability Partnership Justice Subgroup to coordinate improvement activity for this population group. The LEP Justice Subgroup has identified that some clients who work with employability partners can become overwhelmed with the support on offer. Clients are sometimes not ready to
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15 receive support, and instead seek what they deem to be a higher priority at that given time. For some, the biggest need centres around confidence building and developing thinking around personal development, both examples of early help that are sometimes not formally catered for through existing referral pathways. Partners also recognise the challenges of securing employability opportunities for this with sexual offence convictions, and although there is local provision to specifically address this need, there is potential to enhance this further and incorporate learning from this into a wider programme of communication and awareness raising activity. These areas have fed into more focused self-evaluation and service design activities to be progressed in 2023/24. The work to position CJR relative to other strategic partnerships has identified the most effective means and forums to review the delivery and impact of health and social care services for people with living experience of the justice system. Evidence from partners suggests there is potential to review the client experience of engaging with health and social care supports as they progress through the justice system. This will be considered in more detail in a similar approach to that outlined for employability supports, drawing on evidence that demonstrates the impact on client outcomes to identify improvement opportunities. NATIONAL OUTCOME FOUR Effective interventions are delivered to prevent and reduce the risk of further offending Where applicable have regard to the following indicators: ➢ Use of ‘other activities requirements’ in CPOs ➢ Effective risk management for public protection ➢ Quality of CPOs and DTTOs ➢ Reduced use of custodial sentences and remand: a) Balance between community sentences relative to short custodial sentences under one year b) Proportion of people appearing from custody who are remanded ➢ The delivery of interventions targeted at problem drug and alcohol use [NHS Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard] ➢ Number of Police Recorded Warnings, police diversion, fiscal measures, fiscal diversion, supervised bail, community sentences (including CPOs , DTTOs and RLOs ) ➢ Number of short-term sentences under one year 8) What changes have been made to community justice arrangements to enable desistence, reduce reoffending, and promote integration, and what impact has there been as a result? CJR is committed to enabling desistence, reducing offending, and supporting the integration and rehabilitation of people accused or convicted of offences. Over the course of 2022/23, partners have delivered services to disrupt the cycle of offending
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16 behaviour by providing people with housing and employability support, health and social care provision, and a range of diversionary and community-based interventions to address the key drivers of offending behaviour. As part of our revised Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan, these supports will be reviewed through the lens of the client journey to ensure they are timeous, accessible and informed through appropriate data and insight. One of the most significant changes to community justice arrangements progressed in 2022/23 relates to the development of enhanced social work supports. As part of developing service design proposals, a commitment was made to increase staff resource to meet the justice vision of earlier intervention, to commence delivery of supervised bail and electronic monitoring of people with convictions. This increase in resource will also provide further capacity to undertake diversionary activity and offer throughcare support. These measures will enable a broader range and depth of interventions, helping people for whom it’s appropriate seek the help they need to avoid the disruption of custodial sentences or ease their integration on release. These arrangements will be fully embedded over the course of 2023/24 with impact measured against self-evaluation criteria. This will enable the service and CJR to identify areas for further improvement or enhancement, such as supplementing with thirds sector provision. NATIONAL OUTCOME FIVE Life chances are improved through needs, including health, financial inclusion, housing and safety, being addressed. NATIONAL OUTCOME SIX People develop positive relationships and more opportunities to participate and contribute through education, employment and leisure activities. NATIONAL OUTCOME SEVEN Individuals’ resilience and capacity for change and self-management are enhanced. Have regard to the following indicator: ➢ Individuals have made progress against the outcome 9) What mechanisms and arrangements enable your area to understand progress for people against these outcomes? CJR partners use various approaches to measure the impact of community justice interventions on person-centred outcomes.
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17 CJR supports are deployed in a way that seek to provide the right help at the right time. Our partners work hard to build relationships with people who use their services. These contact points provide an opportunity to assess each person’s individual needs and aspirations, and therein the approach that is best aligned to that person’s journey. CJR staff who work across social work, employability, housing, health and social care and the third sector are required through their own practice and compliance requirements to gather insight to demonstrate why, when and how they have responded to a person’s presenting needs, and what impact this response has had on that person’s outcomes. CJR recognises the value in this insight and has committed to explore the opportunities to improve information exchange between service transitions and commonality in measurement. This approach – underpinned by the Scottish Approach to Service Design – will allow us to understand the journey of people with living experience of the justice system beyond the experiences and interactions with individual teams, services, and organisations. CJR will use our leadership to embed a shared culture and vision that puts person- centred outcomes at the heart of service design. The Care Inspectorate’s Self Evaluation resources will be used to baseline our individual and collective approach to understand the needs of our justice-experienced communities and how we monitor the effectiveness of our response. This will involve closer dialogue with people with living experience of the justice system, including those accused or convicted of an offence and their families. Gathering insight on the wider impact of the justice system beyond just those who are accused of convicted will inform the development of complementary projects and programmes beyond community justice. This will serve to influence the supports available to people and their families at other key support touchpoints beyond the justice process and enable the full leveraging of resources across the Community Planning Partnership. 10) If available, provide one or more supporting case studies, lived experience narrative or other information to demonstrate activity and impact relating to the objectives reflected by person-centred outcomes 5, 6 and 7.
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18 11) Look ahead with the new National Strategy, Community Justice Performance Framework and Community Justice Improvement Tool. Please tell us what the next steps are for your partnership in light of these significant developments. The new National Strategy for Community Justice provides community justice partners with a roadmap for future improvement work. CJR is committed to making a local contribution to support the rehabilitation of people accused or convicted of offences to reduce reoffending and revictimisation. CJR published a revised Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan in May 2023. The plan builds on previous successes and sets a general direction for Renfrewshire’s community justice activity. The plan identifies the following key drivers: • Communication and engagement: CJR partners must feel valued and see how their skills, knowledge and expertise can feed in to and add value to single- agency work. Across communities, we must promote and raise awareness to community justice in the right way, making sure perceptions are fair and informed. Those with living experience of the justice system must have opportunities to share their thoughts, feeling and opinions listened to and acted upon to make services and support more effective. • Strategic planning and governance: CJR will solidify our purpose as the forum where people’s community justice outcomes are improved through the effective design, delivery and monitoring of improvement activity that is over and above that delivered by individual teams or organisations. • Evidence-led approach: CJR will use the Community Justice Performance Framework to obtain a high-level view of the demand for our justice services and use local insight to support a deeper dive into the experience, needs and outcomes for individuals with living experience of the justice system. CJR will take time over the course of 2023/24 to re-establish and re-invigorate partnership arrangements are develop a culture and a shared vision that supports a service design and improvement approach to community justice activity. Once embedded within the strategic and operational layers of CJR, evidence-led actions will be developed in alignment with national priority areas: • We will aim to optimise the use of diversion and intervention at the earliest opportunity where it is safe to do so by improving our knowledge and understanding around the experience of those who receive this measure and identifying any barriers or challenges that prevent us from doing this more effectively • We will ensure that robust, high-quality interventions and public protection arrangements are available in Renfrewshire, building on early work to develop proposals for early intervention services with appropriate referral pathways. We will look at the experience and outcomes of individuals who participate in community sentences and identify opportunities to enhance the rehabilitative support on offer • We will take time to review the services we have on offer to individuals accused or convicted of an offence to make sure information sharing and transitions between services are as best they can be
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19 • We will work together to strengthen our leadership, engagement, and integrated approach by looking at who we are, what we do and how we do it. We want to reduce the opportunity for duplication across similar work areas and refine our structure and decision making to clearly show the value our partnership adds. The above noted focus areas present an important opportunity for our partners to deliver smart justice by taking a strategic approach to deploy our resources to best effect. We will use our governance structure to identify barriers and risks at an operational level and escalate these to senior strategic decision makers to inform our response. We will remain focussed on improving outcomes for people with living experience of the justice system and keep this at the heart of our decision making.