Drug Interventions Programme
Continuity of care
Guidance to manage the continuity-of-care journey of drug misusing offenders between prison and the community.
The guidance addresses gaps in the management and coordination of care for drug misusing offenders and is the product of an extensive consultation with front-line CJIT and Substance Misuse managers and workers conducted by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice during January – March 2009.
Successful implementation of the guidance will increase numbers of offenders into treatment, reduce the risk of the continuity-of-care baton being dropped, and support the delivery of PSA target 25: Reduce the harms caused by drugs and PSA target 23: Make communities safe.
The document has been designed as a guidance tool for CJIT and Substance Misuse workers and will be made available in two formats:
- as a stand-alone guidance for CJITs and effective from the 1 July 2009
- an integral section within the revised CARAT Practice Manual, to be launched at the end of July 2009 and become effective, from the 1st October 2009
Although it will be launched as part of the revised CARAT Practice Manual at the end of July, with effect from 1st July:
- the Substance Misuse workers are responsible for contacting the CJIT SPOC if the prisoner has entered the prison from the community (process point 4)
- the Substance Misuse workers will contact the prisoner’s local CJIT to arrange the pre-release meeting (process point 7)
The key benefits of the guidance are as follows:
- it defines a 'journey map' along which drug misusing offenders travel when transferring between the community and prison
- it clarifies at each point along the journey the respective continuity-of-care roles and responsibilities of CJITs and Substance Misuse Teams
The document also introduces the 'Alert Form' – a new one-page form that enables both CJITs and Substance Misuse Teams to communicate easily to one another the key changes-in-circumstance that an offender may experience during his/her continuity-of-care. The guidance sets out how the Alert Form may be used and adapted for local use.
Substance Misuse Teams located within London prison establishments and all CJITs throughout England are expected to use the Alert Form. Following an evaluation of its use at the end of September 2009, a decision will be taken on whether to extend its use to all Substance Misuse Teams throughout England.
The guidance is a 'living' document and, following monitoring of its implementation by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, may be updated to reflect learning. We also intend to incorporate examples of best-practice into later versions.
