Aaron Jaw
Senior Operations Manager
Wolverhampton Violence Reduction
Delivering preventative and targeted interventions for gang-affected people in prison in Wolverhampton.
On this page
- On this page
- Our approach
- Frequently asked questions
- Latest news
- Our partners
- Contact
Our approach
Catch22 aims to reduce the risk posed by gang affiliated individuals, both in their involvement in violent incidents within the custodial estate and in the community post-release.
Delivered by gang practitioners with expertise and knowledge of gangs and their context in the community and inside prison, the Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Service seeks to investigate and identify the specific nature and impact of gang involvement within the establishment and design targeted interventions informed by local context.
We also seek to support the establishment to understand complex behaviour and upskill staff knowledge of community gang issues and how these translate into custodial settings to increase confidence in managing challenging prisoners.
The targeted cohort is disproportionately more likely to be perpetrator and/or victim in violence, therefore we encourage desistence and support gang exit to reduce the risk of future involvement. We know there is more to the people we work with rather than just their gang affiliations, so we take a multi-disciplinary approach to working with them that looks at broader aspects of their lives and experiences.
Frequently asked questions
What types of support are available to participants in the Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Service?
The Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Service has four distinct elements, each vitally important when maintaining safety within the prison, and supporting people to change their behaviour:
- Interventions: The R.O.A.D (Rehabilitation Offering Another Direction) programme is delivered as part of all our services. We use a restorative approach to provide space for individuals to reflect on their experiences and to set prosocial goals for their lives.
- Complex case management: We deliver one-to-one case management with individuals who meet the criteria of an open act, CSIP, complex case or have had a recent incident. This work is measured through a pre- and post- distance travelled form and includes a series of workbooks that are completed with individuals to address individual needs such as decision making, and effective relationships.
- Resettlement: Working closely with resettlement teams, we can ensure that gang-related issues are considered before release and that prisoners have all the support, they need to sustain the progress achieved.
- Establishment connectivity: Our teams work with the prison establishment by collaborating with key departments and agencies. We work with senior management teams, violence reduction teams and all individuals involved in maintaining a safe and secure period in custody.
What is the R.O.A.D. programme?
The R.O.A.D. (Rehabilitation Offering Another Direction) programme encourages participants to think about and evaluate their past choices and address the consequences of their behaviour.
The programme seeks to encourage participants to consider alternative pro-social life options and opportunities moving forward. Exercises are designed to challenge pro-criminal attitudes, allowing other prisoners to challenge their peers’ behaviour towards victims, staff, and each other. Improving communication skills in conflict situations and developing prisoners’ use of active listening and peer listening skills, is also a focus.
Run in groups over five days, and complemented with in-cell work, the programme has been designed in an interactive manner which is pertinent to the targeted cohort.
How does Wolverhampton Violence Reduction work together with the establishments it works in?
Catch22 works in collaboration with the establishment to ensure local needs and priorities are met and addressed appropriately.
Our teams then provide a point of contact within the prison: ensuring ongoing intelligence gathering and sharing arrangements are in place with prison teams and with services in the community. Working within, but not being of, the establishment gives Catch22 a unique and advantageous position allowing us to build trusted relationships with the prisoners.
Referral routes into the service could come from multiple avenues, including referrals via Offender Supervisors and/or Offender Managers as part of Sentence Planning Objectives, or as part of Adjudication or Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan objectives. Prisoners can also self-refer or be identified through peer mentors.
Is Catch22's approach to violence reduction backed up by research?
Our approach is based on the research completed by the Catch22 Dawes Unit in 2014 (Gangs in Prison: The nature and impact of gang involvement among prisoners) and focuses on offering alternatives to the status and safety provided by gangs, which has been shown to be more effective than the suppression-only approaches used in many prisons.
Our evidence-based approach and models continue to be informed by our service users to ensure we are able to respond to their needs effectively.
How long can participants access support through the Wolverhampton Violence Reduction service?
The support offered by the Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Service is recommended as a priority to sentenced prisoners serving less than six months of their sentence. This is so participants can access community organisations and schemes supporting gang exit during their resettlement period and on release. Participants who engage with the programme will also have access to Catch22 beneficiaries.
Which prisons is the Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Service based in?
Catch22 currently delivers the Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Service in HMP Brinsford, HMP Oakwood, and HMP Featherstone.
News and resources
Resources are listed chronologically.
Please use these arrows to see more.
12 Aug 2024
Redthread set to merge with Catch22
24 Apr 2024
Ten years on: violence reduction in prisons
Gangs
9 Apr 2024
Gangs in prison: violence reduction and rehabilitation
13 Mar 2024
The urgent need for training to safeguard vulnerable youth from exploitation
Gangs
20 Feb 2024
Justice: Building resilience and aspiration in people and communities
11 Oct 2023
The importance of investment in youth work: Party Conferences 2023
18 Jan 2023
Catch22 responds to call for evidence on “Prison Operational Workforce”
Gangs
7 Sep 2022
Knife crime: why a localised approach is key
Gangs
18 Jul 2022
Wolverhampton Violence Reduction Community Service: Final evaluation
Gangs
20 Apr 2022
Reducing gang-related harm
Gangs
15 Dec 2021
Working in Catch22’s Wolverhampton Violence Reduction resettlement team
Gangs
15 Oct 2021
Royal visit to Wolverhampton’s Violence Reduction Service
Gangs
13 Jul 2020
Reflecting on the Youth Violence Commission’s Final Report
Gangs
31 Jul 2019
Catch22 responds to the Serious Youth Violence report
Gangs
2 Oct 2018
What does a ‘Public Health’ approach to violence really mean?
Gangs
9 Apr 2018
Catch22 responds to the new Serious Violence Strategy
27 Mar 2017
Catch22 responds to the MOPAC Police and Crime Plan
Gangs
12 Jan 2017
Social media as a catalyst and trigger for youth violence
Gangs
5 May 2016
Safer schools: keeping gang culture outside the gates
Gangs
23 Jul 2015
Running the risks: the links between gang involvement and missing
Gangs
19 Nov 2014
Gangs in prison: the nature and impact of gang involvement among prisoners
Gangs
28 Aug 2014
Family matters: support for gang-involved young people
Gangs
4 Nov 2013
Violence prevention, health promotion: a public health approach to tackling youth violence
Gangs
8 Aug 2013
Mobilising communities to address gang violence
Gangs
31 Jul 2013
The role of the family in facilitating gang membership, criminality and exit
Gangs
1 Mar 2013
Whole school approaches to tackling gang violence
Gangs
30 Oct 2012
Gang exit and the role of enterprise
Our partners
Contact Wolverhampton Violence Reduction
We accept referrals for sentenced prisoners, especially where they are serving less than six months of their sentence.
Referral routes into the service could come from multiple avenues, including referrals via Offender Supervisors and/or Offender Managers as part of Sentence Planning Objectives, or as part of Adjudication or Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan objectives. Prisoners can also self-refer or be identified through peer mentors.
Please register your interest using our contact form, and a member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.
Address
18-19 Queen Square, City Centre, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 1TQ
Telephone Number
07734 022 426Email Address
WVRS@catch-22.org.ukPrivacy notice
How we manage your data
Catch22 Charity Ltd. manages the data you provide in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- The Data Controller (the organisation that determines how your data is managed) is Catch22. Contact us if you have a query about how your data is managed.
- The Data Processor (the organisation that does data processing on behalf of Catch22) is Totally.Tech.
- We are committed to giving you (the Data Subject in legal terms) an easy way to exercise your eight rights under the GDPR.
- We retain your data for as long as you allow us to do so. You can exercise your right to erasure at any time however, there may be some instances where we need to retain your information for a longer duration for legal reasons, such as when applying for a job with Catch22.
What information do we collect?
Catch22 may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data:
- information about your computer and your visits to and use of this website, including your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views (cookies),
- information that you provide to us for the purpose of applying for a job or receiving job alerts (job applications / job alerts),
- subscribing to email newsletters including your name and email address (email newsletter), or
- information that you submit that relates to a complaint, service feedback or enquiry (complaints / feedback and enquiries).
Specific detail of each processing activity is provided below.
Cookies
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Catch22 only uses cookies on its website where they will support the functioning of its website and to improve the experience of its website visitors. These cookies may be created by Catch22’s website, or by third-party services that Catch22 uses, to enable its website to be run effectively.
Some, ‘necessary’ cookies are essential to the running of our website and are exempt from the requirement of consent as per the GDPR and PECR. Functional, analytical and advertising cookies are all optional, and we will only store these cookies on your browser where we have received your freely-given, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent.
Any information that is collected by Catch22 via cookies is processed in a way which does not, and cannot, identify an individual person. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting the Catch22 website.
You can find out more about Catch22’s use of cookies, and how to opt-out of or delete cookies from your browser via our Cookies Statement.
Job applications
If you apply for a job with Catch22 using our hosted online job application system, this service will be provided by a data processor on our behalf (SmartRecruiters).
To process your application, we ask for your personal details including name and contact details. We will ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. The hiring managers for the role, along with our Recruitment and HR teams will have access to all of this information.
Catch22 processes your job application data for the purpose of its legitimate interest to process your HR information.
- If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus six years following the end of your employment.
- If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for six months from the closure of the campaign.
- Equal opportunities information is retained for six months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.
For more information, please see the SmartRecruiters privacy notice.
Job alerts
Through the SmartRecruiters job application system, it is also possible to sign up for job alerts, which will let you know when new jobs that meet your criteria have been posted.
These alerts are managed by the data processor (SmartRecruiters) on our behalf, and will only be processed using your freely-given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent.
If at any point you wish to unsubscribe from SmartRecruiters job alerts, this can be done by clicking the unsubscribe link on the latest email. You can also log into your SmartRecruiters candidate profile to modify or withdraw your details.
For more information, please see the SmartRecruiters privacy notice.
Email newsletter
If you subscribe to Catch22’s newsletter and/or event mailing lists, you will receive regular communications relating to our work. These mailings will be facilitated by a third-party provider, such as Mailchimp or Salesforce (marketing platforms), and your data will be processed by a third-party client relationship management platform, Salesforce.
Catch22 will only process your contact details and send you newsletters following your freely-given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent.
You have the right to unsubscribe from any of our email mailing lists at any time. If you wish to unsubscribe from a Catch22 mailing list please click the unsubscribe link on the latest email or contact dpo@catch-22.org.uk to ensure that you do not continue to receive email newsletters from us. We will need to continue to hold your details after you have unsubscribed to ensure that we do not send you further communications.
For more information, please see the Mailchimp or Salesforce privacy notices as appropriate.
Feedback and enquiries
Catch22 processes the data submitted through any of our website contact forms for the purpose of receiving your message and responding to it under the lawful basis of consent, which you give when submitting the form.
We will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues, and to check on the level of service we provide.
These contact forms are processed using the WordPress plugin, Gravity Forms. When these forms are submitted to us, notification emails are automatically generated to send your enquiry to the appropriate team within Catch22 who will store your email for as long as is required to deal with your enquiry and any subsequent issues.
Form submissions are also stored within the Catch22 WordPress database for a period of 90 days. This allows us to identify if there are any issues with forms being received by our teams. After this time, forms and all accompanying personal data are automatically deleted from the system. Gravity Forms does not receive copies of any of forms, or any accompanying personal data, that are submitted via the Catch22 website.
You have the right to withdraw consent for us to contact you at any time by contacting dpo@catch-22.org.uk. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, which in the United Kingdom is the Information Commissioner’s Office.
For more information, please see the Gravity Forms privacy notice.
Complaints
Complaints can be submitted using our online feedback form, by emailing feedback@catch-22.org.uk, or by post. Catch22 undertakes the processing of your complaints data as part of its legitimate interests.
When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.
We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide.
We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.
We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for six years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘data minimisation’ principle.
For more information, please see the Complaints, Compliments and Feedback policy.
Use of data processors
The Data Processor (the organisation that does data processing on behalf of Catch22) is Totally.Tech.
Catch22 also works with third-party data processors to provide our:
- content management system (WordPress),
- website analytics (Google Analytics),
- marketing platform (Mailchimp),
- client relationship management platform (Salesforce),
- social media advertising campaigns (Meta Pixel, Twitter Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, TikTok Pixel), and
- recruitment service (SmartRecruiters).
We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it and retain it for the period we instruct.
Individual Catch22 services may work with additional third-party data processors in line with their contractual requirements. For more information, please see the relevant Service Privacy Notice, which can be downloaded from their service page on this website, or found by searching for the service by name in our Policy Library.
Disclosures
Catch22 may disclose information about you to any of our employees, officers, agents, suppliers or data processors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes as set out in this privacy notice.
In addition, we may disclose information about you:
- to the extent that we are required to do so by law,
- in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings, or
- in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).
Except as provided in this privacy notice, Catch22 will not provide your information to third parties without your consent.
Security of your personal data
Catch22 will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure, encrypted password and firewall protected servers. As data transmission over the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.
Where information is held on our behalf by data processors, we will ensure, to the best of our ability, that they hold your information securely and in line with data protection legislation. We hold contracts with all data processors to make sure that they cannot do anything with your data unless we have instructed them to do so.
Notice amendments
We may update this privacy notice from time-to-time. Check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes.
Your rights
Please contact the Data Protection Officer if you have any queries regarding this Privacy Notice or if you would like to exercise or query any of the following rights afforded to you under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
- right to access
- right to erasure
- right to object
- right to rectification
- right to be informed
- right to restrict processing
- right to data portability
- rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
- right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) – via the Complaints page on the ICO website or by calling 0303 123 1113
For further information on your rights, please visit the Individual Rights page on the ICO website.
Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or of our treatment of your personal data, please email dpo@catch-22.org.uk or write to:
Data Protection Officer
Catch22
27 Pear Tree Street
London
EC1V 3AG
Data controller
Catch22’s data protection registration number is Z1473239
Crime diversion
Crime diversion
Our services aim to prevent first-time entrance into the criminal justice system, intervene when young people have committed an offence, and support young people subject to youth justice.
Gangs
Gangs
Our services work in prisons and the community to reduce the risk posed by gang-involved individuals and, ultimately, reduce the number of violent incidents.
Offender management and rehabilitation
Offender management and rehabilitation
Our services provide long-term support from the point of entry into prison to an individual’s transition back into the community, with the aim of reducing re-offending.
Victim services
Victim services
Our needs-focused services empower victims and witnesses to cope and recover from the impact of crime and anti-social behaviour, by providing a range of support including emotional and practical guidance, advocacy and advice.