Offender education and citizenship
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The Post-16 Citizenship Support Programme has been carrying out some development work during the last year, working with organisations that provide education for young offenders, or those at risk of offending.
Our curriculum pack Straight talking: citizenship and offender learning contains useful information and materials to use with young offenders.
Many young people in custody, in trouble with the law, or recently released from custody, feel excluded and often do not fully understand their rights and responsibilities. Some feel that they are unwelcome as citizens and do not know how to participate in their communities in a positive and constructive fashion. Citizenship learning can have a number of positive effects:
- it can encourage socially-responsible behaviour and can, for some, be a first step back into society
- it can help reduce the risk of re-offending by encouraging learners to draw on their own experiences and consider the impact that an individual’s actions can have on society and the wider world
- it can provide opportunities for young offenders to have a genuine voice, to feel listened to, and it can contribute much to improving their low esteem and confidence.
Five organisations have been trying out different approaches to citizenship education. The projects have involved 62 young people, some in custody, either or remand or convicted, and some on non-custodial programmes as a result of court orders such as the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP).
The work suggests that citizenship can enthuse and motivate young offenders, especially when they have a say in the topics they investigate, they are involved in exciting activities and when adults listen to their views. The projects are described via the links below:
Key documents and responsibilities for offender education
Note: The Offenders’ Learning and Skills policy now falls under the remit of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
The Government says:
’Re-Offending is costly to society, both in economic and social terms. A re-offending former prisoner costsonaverage £65,000 to re-imprison, and £40,000 a year whilst they are in prison. While punishment will always be a primary aim of the criminal justice system, the Government is determined to do more to turn offenders away from crime and into work, improving their skills, and encouraging them to lead productive lives.’
Education for offenders is provided separately for two cohorts: 15-17 year-olds and over 18s (i.e. adults). In Young Offender Institutions, the two cohorts are usually referred to as Education A and Education B. Young people on remand are not, of course, offenders. They are subject to the same educational strategies as offenders, however.
The Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) has operated across all nine English regions since July 2006. It is managed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), and its vision is ‘that offenders, in prisons and supervised in the community, according to need, should have access to learning and skills, which enables them to gain the skills and qualifications they need to hold down a job and have a positive role in society’.
OLASS commissions educational services for offenders on a regional basis. Provision must involve early assessment of an offender’s learning needs and the development of an individual learning plan. The aim is to ‘join up’ delivery arrangements so that learning started in one setting can continue in another, as the offender moves through the criminal justice system and out into the community.
Key documents on offender education are:
- The Offender’s Learning Journey, Learning and skills provision for juvenile offenders in England, 2004, LSC, Youth Justice Board, DfES, HM Prison Service – lays down requirements for education in prisons for juveniles (15-17 year olds). The juvenile offender learning journey is also available as a poster aimed at young people.
- The Offender’s Learning Journey, Learning and skills provision for adult offenders in England, 2004, LSC, Youth Justice Board, DfES, HM Prison Service, National Probation Service – lays down requirements for education in prisons for adults (over 18 year olds). See also regional LSC contacts for OLASS.
Offender education consultation
The Department for Education and Skills launched a public consultation to consider the issues affecting education, training and employment for young people supervised by the youth justice system, following a commitment made in the cross- government document, Reducing Re-offending through Skills and Employment: Next Steps (December 2006). The consultation launched on 4 April 2007 and concluded 4 July 2007 and covered young people supervised by the youth justice system in custody and the community across England (aged 10-17). This agenda is now being taken forward by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, in collaboration with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and the Ministry of Justice and partner agencies. Further details about the offender education consultation.
The Prison Learning Network
The Prison Learning Network aims to develop new and existing national, regional and local networks in and outside the criminal justice system to share ideas and good practice in relation to the provision of learning, skills and employment. This new project, launched by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce), will focus on networks in the UK and internationally and will also disseminate information about what works in relation to learning and skills. The project hopes to demonstrate a positive example of wider community engagement, influence decisions at policy level and generate public support.
Links to relevant articles from Citizenship News
A bridge between custody and the community
Contact details
Jose Aguiar
jose.aguiar@hmps.gsi.gov.uk
jaguiar20@hotmail.com
0208 844 5318
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