4-GP Alternative to Recall
Project Report (Click Image)
In the UK, a person in prison, depending on his/her crime, has gone through half of his/her sentence, they will be put in a probation period outside prison, during which, their behavior is regulated by the government and no longer by the prison in which they were kept. However, If an offender breaks the terms they are given, they will be recalled to prison by their probation practitioner (supervisor) to serve the remainder of their sentence in prison. In recent years, the UK prison system has been under pressure from the high recall rate of offenders. Figures from September 2020 show that 11.7% of the UK Prison Population (10,000 people) were in custody due to recall, but only 40% (4,000) of them had committed a further offense. This meant that at least 60% of them were recalled without a proper reason. So the government is currently pushing public service teams, including our partner Catch22, are exploring possible alternatives to recall options.
As service designers, we believe that systematic design thinking can guide us in having an impact on this public field. Our mission throughout this project was to focus on reflecting upon the humanity, resilience, and social sustainability in the probation system to create creative interventions that would reduce the recall rates based on meeting the norms of cooperation with Catch22, and develop an outcome around their new Navigator Mentor position proposal. During the project's lifetime, we identified the communication gap between the three main parties (POPs, PPs, and NM) was the main cause of the high level of recalls. Thus, we focused on developing our outcome around this issue.
Our final format for this project took the form of 4 guideline packages format under each stage for the navigator mentors to follow. These are based on the 4 stages which are: in custody, before release, day of release, and probation. These packages have been created to help the Navigator Mentor work better in their rehabilitation supporting role during the pilot program and create an overall smoother experience.
We define a guideline package as a set of resources that combine existing information and roles into a modular set of information in a uniform format, which will allow NM and PP to select the ones they believe would be useful for their situation.
These are meant to strengthen the role of the Navigator Mentor and allow them to be better equipped to tackle areas that the POP and the PP are finding challenging or complicated to approach.
Medium:
Guideline Packages (Digital and Physical)
In Collaboration with:
Catch22 is a social business studio that cooperates with the UK Ministry of Justice to build services for an alternative to the recall system for those who are taken back to prison and pose no threat to society or themselves. In this project, our team was invited to design based on their pilot program which proposed the introduction of a new position: the navigator mentor.
Team
Group member
Group member
Group member
Group member