University of Lincoln Team Secures Contract to Evaluate Commissioned Rehabilitative Services

A multidisciplinary team from the University of Lincoln, UK, has been awarded a contract from the Ministry of Justice to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS).

The Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) are a specialist provision which commenced delivery in June 2021 and have been designed to complement existing provision. These are available for those on community or suspended sentence orders (specifically with Rehabilitation Activity Requirements) and for those on licence and post-sentence supervision.   Some services are also available to those in prison pre-release.

Commissioned Rehabilitative Services allow Probation to commission a greater range of resettlement and rehabilitative services regionally from specialist organisations. This enables the delivery of services that can be tailored to respond to the diverse backgrounds and needs of individuals to effect positive outcomes as well as maximise opportunities for collaboration with local partners, including VCSE organisations, local authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners.

CRS support people to access existing statutory and voluntary services as well as delivering some support themselves. The following services are available in all regions: Accommodation, Employment, Training and Education (ETE), Personal Wellbeing (including support re family & significant others, lifestyle and associates and emotional wellbeing) and Women’s Services. Some regions have more recently commissioned Finance, Benefit and Debt (FBD) services and Dependency and Recovery (D&R) services. The Women’s Service is a holistic intervention which covers Accommodation, ETE, FBD, D& R and Personal Wellbeing.

The University of Lincoln’s team – comprising experts in Psychology, Law, Health and Social Care, and Business – will spearhead the impact, process, and economic evaluation of CRS. This evaluation aims to determine the effectiveness of CRS, identify areas for improvement, and assess its overall value for money in delivering rehabilitative services.

The evaluation process will adopt a mixed-method approach, engaging both users and providers of CRS through surveys, interviews, and workshops. By combining quantitative and qualitative data, the University of Lincoln’s team will provide a comprehensive assessment of CRS’s effectiveness, strengths, and areas for improvement, ensuring that the service aligns with the needs of those in contact with the justice system.

Dr. Lauren Smith, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Lincoln and lead for the University’s team, said:  “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract to evaluate Commissioned Rehabilitative Services on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. As a team, we are passionate about delivering high-quality evaluations which have real-world impact for people in contact with the criminal justice system and staff working to support them. This work provides us with an exceptional opportunity to be able to do this.”

Top image: The University of Lincoln team (left to right: Coral Sirdifield, Todd Hogue, Lauren Smith, Karen Harrison, Scott Kidd, Tochukwu Onwuegbusi, Rachael Mason)