High hopes: supporting ex-prisoners in their lives after prison

[Taken from Summary] The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) commissioned the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) to undertake this exploratory study to gain an indepth understanding of the attitudes and expectations of prisoners immediately prior to and following their release from prison. It also aimed to gain an understanding of their views on the impact of support services on the decisions they made and experiences following release. More specifically, the research explored: • ex-prisoners’ attitudes to, and expectations of, work, their interactions with the labour market, the barriers they experience in relation to work and how these change over time; • ex-prisoners’ interactions with, and views of, service providers, such as Jobcentre Plus, and the extent to which service provision is integrated across agencies; and • the relationship between crime, employment and unemployment. The Government, through Jobcentre Plus, delivers a number of initiatives targeted at prisoners and ex-prisoners to assist them with benefit claims and employment and thereby contributes to their rehabilitation and reduces re-offending. These include: Freshstart1 appointments; Employment and Benefit Surgeries (EBSs); progress2work-LinkUP (p2w-LinkUP)2; and early entry onto New Deal programmes. The findings of this research may help to explain Jobcentre Plus and other agencies’ thinking about how the way in which they provide their services to ex-prisoners 1 The Freshstart appointment guarantees a prisoner a new claims interview appointment at their local Jobcentre Plus office as soon as possible following release. This process aims to connect ex-prisoners more quickly with financial and employment support. 2 Specialist employment support for people experiencing disadvantage in the labour market as a result of an offending background, alcohol misuse or homelessness.