Service Signposter

What’s your idea?

Finding accommodation for ex-offenders is particularly challenging. Service Signposter is a tool to help young ex-offenders find a place to live by better matching up housing providers with those supporting a young person through a web-based platform. It could be a place for housing providers to post details of availability and suitability of accommodation and for the people supporting an ex-offender to look up a suitable place for them to stay. There could even be a way for young people to rate the accommodation and provide feedback.

What is the problem your idea could address?

The effective resettlement of young people leaving custody is essential to reducing youth re-offending. The Local Authority already have a wide range of duties and responsibilities towards this group and we need a way of ensuring that young people are aware of their entitlements. What would be really useful is an easy to use one stop shop way of letting them know what they are entitled to.

This could be something that is provided via mobile phone or email and could set out entitlements and contact details/ local advocacy. This could include info on benefits and critically information on accessing suitable accommodation.

What inspired you to come up with your idea in the first place?

I lead the Central Government Team responsible for the police for resettling young people leaving custody. Our resettlement strategy is built around the need to make better use of existing levers within the system.

Critically this means ensuring that Local Authorities are fulfilling their obligations to this group of young people so that resettlement provision is seen as a mainstream responsibility. This is the only way we can ensure sustainable post custody support for young people.

We in Central Government have already provided a number of LAs with additional resettlement funding. This is on condition that LAs provide a more strategic response, including the need to engage mainstream services, rather than seeing resettlement as a criminal justice problem.

What do you think the biggest challenge will be to making this work in practice?

We have also strengthened and will continue to strengthen statutory guidance to LA leaders and commissioners setting out and reinforcing their responsibilities towards young people who have offended or who are at risk of offending. However, it would be helpful if, alongside the Centre supporting this work and providing downward pressure, service users could be put in a better position to follow up their entitlements. And the provision of clear and readily accessible information is key to achieving this.

From 1-5, what stage of development would you say your idea was in?

In terms of stages of development. The actual idea itself is the product of experience of this area of work. What young people leaving custody require is wrap around support and access to those services that are critical to addressing offending behaviour. Mentoring and other pastoral activities are useful but it is the provision of practical support which is the most important element of resettlement and in this context information is power.  I have not investigated how it could be delivered.

We’re looking for project ideas that have the potential to be tested in a live environment. Please also give brief details of the kind of support you might need to do this.

This idea could be tested in a live environment although it would need some technological support.

If you’re not able to take the idea onward after the weekend, would you be happy for someone else to take ownership of your idea and move it forward?

I am happy for someone else to take ownership of this idea if needs be.

This idea was submitted by Joe Murphy.

Joe works for Youth Crime Action Plan Implementation Team at the Ministry of Justice.