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Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen met support workers helping to lift vulnerable people out of poverty to hear about their plans to increase help for women in the criminal justice system.
The County Durham and Darlington PCC visited representatives from The Wise Group at their Durham Hub for an insight into the positive work they are doing across the North East to help people overcome barriers to employment, skills and training and financial security.
The Wise Group uses a holistic approach known as Relational Mentoring to help people overcome the challenges they face in life and to seize opportunities.
Every year, the group supports thousands of people, including those leaving prison, to get their lives back on track, working with local partners to create sustainable routes to employment and to make a lasting difference on their lives.
This includes high quality, trauma-focused support for women in custody and in the community who are subject to a probation order through one to one and group interventions.
During the meeting, representatives discussed their vision for expanding the current offering for women in Durham, sharing recent research highlighting the inequalities women in the North East face which prevent them from achieving prosperity.
The Woman of the North Report, by Health Equity North, reveals 20-22% of Northern women have no qualifications while Northern women provide more unpaid care than other parts of the country at £10bn annually. In other findings, the North East has the highest rates of domestic abuse in the country while Northern women show higher prevalence of mental illness, including severe conditions like bipolar disorder.
The Wise Group believes there are significant gaps in support across Durham which its Relational Mentoring Approach can address, recognising there is a need for more gender-specific and trauma-informed services to address the unique challenges faced by women in the justice system.
The enterprise is working with partners to develop a coordinated, trauma-informed approach that enables women affected by the justice system to access the wraparound support, services, and peer networks they need to rebuild their lives. These could include parenting support, drug/alcohol harm services, domestic abuse/sexual violence support, debt/money advice, housing and homelessness intervention and education and employment services.
Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen said: “I am grateful to The Wise Group for inviting me to their Durham Hub and giving me a detailed insight into the important work they do to help people thrive and become more resilient, reducing their reliance on public services.
“Rehabilitation is a key theme in my Police, Crime and Justice Plan, and I have been fighting very hard to ensure we provide the right recovery environment for the men and women caught within our justice system to meet their support needs and stop them re offending.
“Female prisoners face very different challenges than their male counterparts, and have often suffered past trauma including sexual abuse, domestic violence or mental health issues, prior to their incarceration. It is important we fully understand these needs so we can build services that fill plug critical gaps and connect women to positive sources of help.”
Yotta Karanicolas, UK Head of Justice Services for the Wise Group said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen to our Durham Hub and share the impact of our work across the region. At the Wise Group, we are committed to reducing reoffending by supporting people to address the root causes of their involvement in the justice system - from poverty and trauma to housing and mental health.
“Women affected by the justice system often face complex, intersecting challenges that require a coordinated, trauma-informed response. Our relational mentoring model provides personalised,consistent support that builds trust, fosters stability, and unlocks long-term change.
“We look forward to working closely with partners in Durham to shape a more joined-up approach - one that brings together the right services, relationships and community networks to support women to rebuild their lives and thrive.”
Detering offending and reoffending is a key strand of the PCC’s new Police, Crime and Justice Plan. As part of her commitments, she has vowed to work with criminal justice partners to ensure those released from prison have adequate support to deter them from offending and to ensure their rehabilitation and resettlement needs are met.
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Picture Shows (L-R): Elaine Ravenhall, PCC Joy Allen, Panayota Karanicolas (Yotta), Victoria Leiper, Tonya Pattison (DA Champion, OPCC) and Caroline Tolchar.
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