The Drug Treatment and Testing Order : early lessons : report / by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

  • National Audit Office
Date:
2004
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The Drug Treatment and Testing Order : early lessons : report / by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    childhood experience, poor access to housing and health care, and limited employment prospects all setting up programmes for offenders on a Drug Treatment and Testing Order, the National Probation Directorate advised probation areas to help offenders find suitable accommodation and employment to facilitate their breaking of the link between drug misuse and offending. Many of the drug misusers we spoke to were complimentary about the programmes they had attended and the support received from staff but offenders were most frequently concerned about their inability to obtain accommodation away from their drug-using peers. Whilst offenders will usually be expected to have accommodation prior to being recommended for the Order, our interviews suggested that some were still homeless but had furnished a mailing address to the probation service. Probation areas we visited considered helping offenders find suitable accommodation was part of their role (see paragraph 2.15). It is so hard to say no when you go home and the drugs are there in your face. You need to get away. For me, housing is where it falls down. offer differed significantly between areas. The National Standard requires that accredited programmes, such as Addressing Substance Related Offending, shall be used to tackle offending behaviour, where available. The National Probation Directorate expects other treatment elements to be determined according to the needs of the individual in accordance with the National Treatment Agency's Models of Care. We found some areas used accredited probation programmes; but others used programmes specifically designed for offenders on the Order provided by probation, health or voluntary sector drugs teams. There are no national policies on the preferred balance of programmes provided with the Order, for example between education and training, developing independent living skills and leisure activities. Probation staff we met were keen that the mix of programmes and support provided should reflect the needs of the individual offender. All the areas visited provided basic skills training and some employment related programmes. Some also provided art, craft, music, sport and outdoor activities to build new interest in leisure pursuits to help offenders turn away from drugs as an occupation; independent living skills, such as cooking and budgeting; and life skills, such as 3.24 In the absence of information on outcomes achieved, there is a risk that the quality of programmes on offer and their effectiveness is not properly monitored. Accredited programmes must be delivered to the required standards. Quality assessment of treatment programmes is the responsibility of the Drug Action Teams. We found that the nature and quality of the programmes on offer inevitably reflected the availability of resources and staff at local level. Typically at local level we found no formal measures of the quality of the support and programmes provided, although Leicestershire monitored attendance on the activities available and in its routine surveys of offenders sought feedback on them. Potential measures for assessing the impact of programmes and support could include changes in risk factors whilst on the Order, for example educational attainment, mental health and accommodation status. The introduction of court reviews has been widely supported and may help increase the chance of achieving a successful completion 3.25 An innovative feature of the Drug Treatment and Testing Order has been the introduction of court reviews, in which a judge or magistrates, informed by reports from the probation service, review offenders' progress on the Order. The reviews aim to impress upon offenders the importance of completing the Order and allow courts to have input into the implementation of the Order. They are usually handled in monthly hearings with the offender required to attend, but can be changed to reviews without hearings where an offender is making good progress. Our interviews with magistrates, judges and probation officers suggested that the court reviews were regarded as helpful in providing evidence to magistrates and judges on how well the Orders were working and in providing feedback to offenders. Offenders interviewed by us seemed to welcome the court's interest in their progress - a finding supported by research commissioned by South Yorkshire probation area?°. was giving me praise. Offender who had completed the Order September 2002. part three |
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