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Vicky Hall CEO
Cascade Care Ltd |
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Cascade Care CEO Vicky Hall has taken part in an expert seminar exploring issues around the Ministry of Justice green paper designed to initiate a “rehabilitation revolution”.
The seminar, titled ‘A rehabilitation revolution?’ – next steps in skills and resettlement for offenders, was organised by the Westminster Forum Project. It holds regular seminars on public policy, often involving government and Parliamentary representatives as speakers and delegates.
The seminar, which took place on 16 February at the Godfrey Mitchell Theatre, One Great George Street, Westminster, was chaired by Lord Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons and vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group.
Others taking part included Julie Taylor, director of offender management policy at the Ministry of Justice and Richard Ward, offender skills and employment team leader at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The seminar focused on topics including offender rehabilitation within prison and prisoner education. Vicky took part a session titled Outside the prison gates – rehabilitation after prison, alongside guests including Davina Tanner, general manager of Norwich’s Chapelfield Shopping Centre, which has been working with Norwich Prison to give offenders the opportunity to learn vital skills and gain work experience.
Vicky said: “Rehabilitation is at the heart of Cascade Care’s work, so I am delighted to have been able to contribute to the debate on issues including improving the employment and training prospects for ex-offenders and the idea of payment by results for providers of rehabilitation services.”
The Ministry of Justice green paper, Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders, was published in December and is out for consultation until 4 March. |
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A skill learned in prison has opened the door to a new career for Cascade Care resident James*.
He taught himself to cut hair as a way to pass the time, practising his skills and putting them to good use by giving haircuts to other prisoners.
Following his release, he became a customer at a local barber’s shop. It had only recently opened, so James – who had never before had a job – asked the owner if he needed any help.
After he’d cut the owner’s hair to show what he could do, he was taken on. Now, a year later, he has been promoted to manager of the business, which also includes a clothing boutique, and is in charge of almost 20 staff.
Keeping things running smoothly means that he no longer has time to cut hair and the owner of the shop is so pleased with how he is doing that there’s the possibility that James will also run another business that the owner is planning to start up.
James said: “This is my first ever job so it feels a bit weird to be in this position but it also feels good. I’ve had to learn a lot but I just take it as it comes and want to get more new skills.”
Quitting crime and turning his life around has also earned him the respect of family and friends. James says: “My nan is over the moon and people I know look at me in a whole new way.”
* Name has been changed to protect his identity. |
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A Cascade Care resident has taken another step in her poetry career by publishing her second collection of work.
Starlite – her writing name – produced her first book, True Poems, in January 2010. Her second, Life is A Sword, Keep Fighting, was published at the end of last year and both books are available on Amazon. |
She began writing poetry at school, taking it up again at challenging times in her life to help express her thoughts and feelings. Starlite says her first book contained “sad poems” but that her new book reflects a change in focus, with “funny poems” and a more light-hearted feel. It also includes contributions from other authors, which she calls “guest poems”.
The title is taken from one of her poems, Life Ain’t Clear, which includes the lines: “My life is my sword and I keep fighting”, summing up her view that although life can be challenging, she won’t give in.
She says: “There have been times when I have been very sad and very nervous but I thought I might as well make something out of this by using the experience in my poetry.”
Starlite is continuing to develop her poetry skills by working on her own and through getting involved in poetry communities on the internet.
Cascade staff helped Starlite to find self-publishing company Xlibris to produce her latest book, for which she designed the eye-catching front cover. The book is available at around £10 on Amazon.
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 Veterans are to receive a £7 million funding boost as part of
a multi-million pound government package to transform the mental health and well-being of the nation.
Over the next four years, around £400 million will be invested to make a choice of psychological therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Counselling for Depression, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy and ensuring access available to anyone who needs it.
At least one in four people experience a mental health problem at some point in their life and mental ill health is the largest single cause of illness in the UK.
The No health without mental healthstrategy, launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on 2 February, also includes an extra £7.2 million to ensure the best treatment possible for veterans with mental health problems, a move welcomed by Cascade Care CEO Vicky Hall.
Cascade has already been working with the Ministry of Defence and its Surrey rehabilitation Headley Court to explore the potential for working together to expand provision for ex-service personnel affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions.
Vicky Hall, Cascade CEO, said: “This is a very welcome development. Cascade will be continuing to look for opportunities to bring our expertise and experience to services for veterans.”
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The Health and Social Care Bill giving GP consortia responsibility for commissioning the majority of health services is set to come under fierce scrutiny over the coming weeks.
The Bill, which passed its second reading in the Commons on 31 January, will be |
examined in detail by a committee of MPs up until 31 March, during which time the committee will also receive written evidence on its contents.
Alongside the GP consortia, the Bill would create an independent NHS Commissioning Board, abolish Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) and transfer local health improvement functions from PCTs to local authorities
The Bill has already prompted concern over its implications for mental health services. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has stressed the need for commissioners to “retain a focus on…patients with complex mental health problems who would not be subject to national commissioning but require often expensive care and may be overlooked in favour of high-volume, low-cost care”.
It has also warned that such patients may “fall between” GP consortia and the NHS Commissioning Board and that if local GP consortia do not fully understand or consider the needs of such patients when commissioning services in their area, patients could receive uncoordinated or fragmented care.
Vicky Hall, Cascade CEO, said: “The shape of commissioning in the future will inevitably change as the government’s reforms come into effect. What is essential is that everyone involved in the process remain focused on the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
“We also hope that commissioners will recognise the potential of specialist mental health care providers, like Cascade, to deliver successful outcomes even in the most complex cases.”
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Cascade Care is highlighting its expertise in working with people whose mental health diagnosis is made more complex by learning disabilities.
The company works with a range of service users, including those with drug and alcohol-related problems, but many have an offending background.
According to figures from the Prison Reform Trust, 72 per cent of men and 70 per cent of women in prison suffer from two or more mental health disorders while 20-30 per cent have of offenders have learning disabilities or difficulties affecting their ability to cope within the criminal justice system and 32 per cent have an IQ of less than 80.
Cascade CEO Vicky Hall said: “We are continuing to experience demand for our specialist services for clients with mental health issues and learning disabilities, thanks to our innovative approach to therapeutic rehabilitation, supported by ongoing investment in staff training.
“With the Breaking the Cycle green paper proposes diverting more offenders with mental illness away from the criminal justice system so that they get the treatment they need, demand for services of this kind is likely to increase in the future.”
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Justice minister Crispin Blunt says the government is “excited” by the potential for payment by results in rehabilitating offenders and reducing crime. Mr Blunt was speaking at a conference of the independent think tank the Social Market Foundation, held at the end of January, on the “rehabilitation revolution” outlined in the Ministry of Justice green paper published in December. |
He told the conference that the government would unlock the expertise of organisations that “know how to work with offenders to get them back on the straight and narrow, whether through rigorous interventions to get them off drugs, mentoring, or preparing them for the world of work and responsibility”.
He said that in the past, providers had not been held adequately to account for their outcomes, adding: “Payment by results, by contrast, does exactly the opposite.
“Because we will allow providers discretion in how they manage individual offenders – that’s up to them – they are free to innovate. But they know they will be held to account for their performance against the outcomes that they achieve. So they have strong incentives to do what works.
“We are excited about payment by results because we believe that it represents an excellent way of helping to drive up standards, reduce reoffending and improve value for money for the taxpayer.
Vicky Hall, Cascade Care CEO, said: “As a provider with a proven track record in achieving successful outcomes – we achieve a 70 per cent non-reoffending rate among our service users who move on from our care – we are also excited by the prospect of the payment by results initiative.
“The government is planning to pilot a number of new rehabilitation programmes delivered on a payment by results basis starting this summer and we hope that the outcome will lead to a wider roll-out and new opportunities for providers like Cascade Care to offer their expertise.”
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Cascade Care has the following vacancies
Adult Male
1 male vacancy in North London
1 male vacancy in Romford, Essex
1 male vacancy in West London
2 male vacancies in North London
Adult Female
1 female vacancy in North London
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