KeyRing has been involved in various criminal justice related programmes over the years. Some are on-going, such as the Working for Justice group. Previous projects have mainly been centred around the design and delivery of awareness training for the criminal justice system.
KeyRing is also commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement (Health & Justice) to advise on learning disabilities, autism and related issues and has also advised various criminal justice/Ministerial groups on the topic of offenders with learning disabilities and autism in the past.
The Equal and Fair Project was funded by Comic Relief and ran from February 2015 to March 2018. During this time, the Project Manager and members of the Working for Justice Group delivered a one-day training course on working with people with learning disabilities and autism in the criminal justice system 113 times, to a total of 1,641 front-line workers. These included: Prison, Police and Probation staff; Appropriate Adults; Custody Visitors; Liaison and Diversion workers; Magistrates and members of the Parole Board.
The involvement of people the co-trainers who had lived experience was reported to be a very important aspect of the course. According to the feedback reviewed, the training courses were delivered to a very high standard, very educational, in depth, well presented and extremely informative. The courses were seen as thought provoking and reflective. The Independent Evaluation of the project can be found here.
Before undertaking the above mentioned Equal & Fair project, KeyRing was already well established as a provider of awareness training for different areas of the criminal justice system.
In 2007, KeyRing and the Skillnet Group (now Bemix) were commissioned by the Department of Health to co-design a learning disability awareness training package. This was then delivered to over 600 staff from all prisons in England and Wales. The people trained worked in a range of roles. The Disability Liaison Officer from each prison was trained as well as someone from Healthcare and someone from Induction or Reception.
The feedback on the training was very positive. Many said how much having a co-trainer with learning disabilities improved the training. Staff said they liked the simple but effective adjustments that were suggested, such as changing communal clocks to digital to help people know the time, and they recognised that these could make a significant difference for someone with a learning disability in prison.
A DVD was also created by the Skillnet Group and the Working for Justice group for use in awareness training. It includes interviews with people with learning disabilities who talk about their experience and views of being in the Criminal Justice System as an offender with learning disabilities.
Co-trainers in the project have continued to help deliver criminal justice awareness training to this day. They have worked with both KeyRing and the Prison Reform Trust, to deliver training to prisons and probation services, court and magistrate staff and others. They also regularly speak about their experiences at relevant events and have even had several engagements at the House of Lords and House of Commons.
KeyRing has supported members of the Working for Justice group to get involved in other pieces of work, such as the No One Knows project and the Care not Custody project, both created by the Prison Reform Trust.
KeyRing has worked with the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) on the Transforming Lives Project. We undertook qualitative research into women who came into contact with the Criminal Justice System. We discovered these women often find their additional needs are unmet, meaning they are unable to make full use of available services. Consequently, they are likely to remain in contact with Criminal Justice Services for longer.
As part of the Transforming Lives project, PRT interviewed three women, including Kim from KeyRing’s Working for Justice Group. You can find the women talking about their experiences here.
If you would like help or training from KeyRing for your organisation please contact tracy.hammond@keyring.org for more information.
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