Stage one is reception and stabilisation. Over a period of five days, prisoners
are further assessed by the clinical recovery team on the induction unit, leading
to an initial recovery plan. Once prisoners have been stabilised and settled they
are transferred to the motivational wing where they undergo psychosocial
assessment and a detailed personal recovery care plan is created.
The motivational wing offers a wide range of interventions, with the aim of
encouraging participants to commence their own personal recovery pathway.
Prisoners receive both intensive clinical and non-clinical support from staff and a
range of specialist healthcare agencies. In addition to the full suite of in-house
clinical interventions, the prison provides a range of bespoke non-clinical support
including the specially commissioned reduction and motivational programme
(RAMP) delivered by partners Acorn Treatment and Housing.
After a few weeks on the wing, most prisoners believe they are ready to move
towards personal recovery and take the next step of applying for a transfer to
stage two, the Eden recovery unit. The unit panel carefully assesses each
application for suitability, as stage two is an intensive intervention and participants
have to agree to a proactive reduction in any prescribed medication regime.
Prisoners commit to a programme where they are required to reduce their
substitute medication each week, and the unit sees many become abstinent in
around 12 weeks. The typical average reduction is 5ml per week, and those who
become drug-free have to commit to maintaining their abstinence.
A key element at this stage is random drug testing, with a zero tolerance
approach towards any breaches. However, no individual is ever dismissed from
recovery and those who breach their recovery plan are referred back to earlier
elements of the pathway. Stage two also operates a recovery asset-based model,
identifying the key bespoke personal elements for each individual that will
enable them to succeed, such as social skills and ability, repairing family
relationships or developing other life skills.
The unit panel meets weekly to discuss prisoners’ progress and any breaches
or other issues, and ultimately decides if someone is to be referred back to stage
one. Over the last three months, the unit has had more than 110 prisoners
engaging in a positive reduction programme of substitute prescribing. Even more
impressive is that the unit has delivered 48 prisoners from serious substance
misuse to complete and sustained abstinence, and a recent graduation ceremony
for those completing the early stages of the Eden recovery pathway saw a
number of prisoners receive awards in recognition of their success.
Stage three is the drug-free wing (DFW). This facilitates vital ongoing support
for those who have completed stages one and two. Support is provided by
previous Eden unit graduates who act as peer mentors, helping to ensure that
S
odexo Justice Services (SJS) operates at 120 sites across the world,
including four in the UK – HMP Forest Bank, HMP Peterborough, HMP
Bronzefield and HMP Addiewell. An arm of the multinational Sodexo
corporation, SJS provides justice services to more than 30,000 offenders
worldwide and one of its core aims is to help reduce reoffending, aligned with its
mission to change lives for the better – not just the prisoners’ but those of their
families and communities.
Forest Bank is one of the largest prisons in the UK, with a capacity to hold more
than 1,350 male offenders, and the prison demonstrates custodial excellence in
many areas including its strategy for directly engaging key local organisations to
produce real jobs and employment opportunities for offenders on release.
It recently won a prestigious Guardian Public Service Award, in partnership
with The Co-Operative Bank, for a scheme that made it possible for prisoners to
open a fully functioning bank account while in prison, to make them better
prepared for release and life in the community.
The prison is proud of its many proactive innovations to help reduce re-
offending, including its approach to helping prisoners with substance misuse
problems. At the heart of its substance misuse strategy is the ambition to
provide realistic and achievable recovery options. A comprehensive range of
services includes substitute prescribing, psychosocial interventions,
complementary therapies, employment, education, housing and healthy
lifestyle elements.
Last year the management team began discussions with the NTA about
improving current practice and within a few months the Forest Bank recovery
steering group – together with colleagues from across the healthcare sector –
established the new Eden recovery pathway for substance misuse, which is
supported by the local PCT and DAT commissioners.
While previously there were two main stages to addiction treatment – the
reception and stabilisation stage followed by the primary treatment stage – a
third stage now takes place in the drug-free wing (DFW). This aims to continue
vital support to those who have achieved sustained recovery from substance
misuse in stages one and two and no longer require medical interventions.
*****
On arrival at the prison, each prisoner undergoes routine screening for substance
misuse. Those identified as having a problem, either via self- declaration or
testing, are immediately referred to the Eden recovery pathway where they
receive a first-night intervention, which could include substitute prescribing
where appropriate. Each individual is then allocated a clinical and non-clinical
recovery worker based on need.
Ian Houghton describes how
private prison Forest Bank is
demonstrating success with its
focus on achievable recovery
options and reintegration
16 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| August 2012
Treatment|
Prison
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
BREAKING FRE