To make sure that young people who have been in custody can settle back into their communities, different agencies must work together to focus on all the aspects of a young person’s life and make sure they can get to the mainstream and specialist services they are entitled to. The process should start before a young person goes into custody, and continue after the end of their sentence.
Various resettlement programmes are available to help young people get settled after they leave custody, including the following.
Resettlement and Aftercare Provision (RAP) is a programme attached to youth offending teams (YOTs), which works with young people with substance misuse problems, in custody and the community.
Nacro operates a service called Resettlement Plus [opens in new window]. The service is available to all offenders, both in custody, leaving custody, and in the community, as well as their families and practitioners. The service offers information and advice on a range of resettlement issues, including housing, benefits, training and employment.
In addition, RESET [opens in new window] is a project with over 50 partners, including the YJB, that aims to improve the resettlement process for young offenders.