Getting you onside

August 26, 2009 by Rebeccada · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Blog, RSA 

Overcrowding, enormous costs, and recidivism continue to dominate, finding a comfortable home in the pages of the press and a standard position on most agendas in the field.

Compounding this is the seeming irreconcilability of it all.  For example, the public are presented with the problem (i.e. overcrowding), they’re presented with the governments’ response to it (i.e. building more prisons places), and then they’re presented with practitioners, academics and policy advisors demonstrating the enormous flaws in the plans that will most likely increase the difficulties they were intended to address.

No matter who you choose to agree with, there seems no way out. So what’s the point?

Well the point is that we have a prison service is under tremendous and unsustainable strain. One that is failing to meet the needs of the majority of the individuals within it, prisoners and staff alike, as well as those beyond it, you and me.

Most agree that change has to happen at all different levels but to even begin to make that change happen we need the public on side.  They need to be actively engaged in the discussions and decisions as individuals, as communities, as employers, as educators, as mentors, as advisors, as friends and as family. 

Prisons need to be opened up so that they can be understood in the same way as we understand other public services; something that we all need to actively engage with in order to get the best, most efficient results.  As with schools and hospitals, local partnerships and greater community involvement will provide mechanisms to drive that understanding. 

This is a monumental task not least because of the sheer number of different interests and stakeholders, the political capital at stake, and the longevity of the undertaking. But I don’t think it’s unachievable.

Back in March I asked whether we need a Charter for rehabilitation.  I continue to see the merit of this approach, facilitating the development of principles by experts, academics, service users, the general public, policy makers, practitioners… everyone.  Such a Charter could be a ‘product of genuine collaboration and the administration behind it is a shared resource for all our partners’. Its been achieved in other fields, so why not this one?

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RSA + USP = FRSA

August 12, 2009 by Rebeccada · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Blog, RSA 

I love acronyms; I think it’s the challenge that they present in guessing what they could and do stand for. 

The RSA like the CJS is no stranger to acronyms and is one of the many joys of working here.  But this is taking us down a different path to the intended point of this blog.

I was filmed today for the new RSA Fellowship Council website.  It was my first flavour of fame and I hated it. Well, I enjoyed it really except the part where I watched it back and realised that yes, I do sound like a horse chipmunk when I talk.

Anyway. Getting involved in the new Council and thinking through what the new Charter might mean to the RSA and the work of its Projects Department got me thinking about the Fellow involvement in the Prison Learning Network.  As I’ve said before, we were so fortunate with the level of expertise that existed within the FRSA and the generosity of those who got involved in the project.

Fellows informing the work has been crucial to the development of the final report and the recommendations (due autumn 2009). But what happens after it?  How can Fellows in the CJS mobilise around these recommendations, meet, share information, develop new approaches, move things forward etc?

There is so much potential.  Do you want to work with other Fellows to meet it?

I am a little biased, but I think that the Fellowship Charter and Council would be a good start and if you want to be involved in the development of this then I’d suggest signing up as soon as you can.  It’s going to get exciting folks!

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