Since the start of the contract in 2022, Dependency and Recovery has been delivered across eight London hubs. These hubs are based in Brixton, Canning Town, Croydon, Ealing, King’s Cross, Lewisham, Tottenham and Romford, with one staff member based at each site.
We have learned from our other Commissioned Rehabilitative Services that it is crucial to have a blended approach: working between our core base sites, as well as within Probation Delivery Units (PDUs), so that we are able to build and maintain engagement and complete sessions for those where there is a need. Our Dependency and Recovery service therefore continues to deliver interventions both face-to-face and in virtual settings on a one-to-one basis.
For service users, ‘distance travelled’ has been assessed against a set of statements which are completed both before and after their allocated intervention sessions. From these assessments, we can see that the Dependency and Recovery sessions have had the following impact:
In addition to the impact data metrics, we have continued to receive several ‘Service User Exit Questionnaires’ which have been imperative to our service delivery. These questionnaires showed that:
Case study: Mr K.
Identified needs
Mr K was referred to Dependency and Recovery for eight sessions, after having spent time in prison.
He suffered with anxiety and PTSD, and required support with his use of cannabis. Prior to prison, Mr K was using up to 7g of cannabis per day. At the time of his referral, he was using 0.5g.
Interventions
Following an initial assessment with his caseworker, Mr K took part in several interventions on topics including:
- cannabis awareness,
- substituting harmful behaviours,
- motivation for change and recovery
- sleep 101,
- anxiety 101,
- decision making and consequential thinking,
- goal setting, and
- effective relationships.
Over the next three months, Mr K attended a weekly one-hour session with his case worker, and used a drug diary to monitor his cannabis use. He also implemented techniques to help with his anxiety and sleep, such as grounding, talking, and focusing on his physical and mental wellbeing.
Progress
Following his engagement with the Dependency and Recovery service, Mr K:
- reduced his cannabis use from 0.5g per day to less than 0.2g per day,
- showed a decrease on the ‘Severity of Dependency Scale’ from “highly dependent (8)” to “showing low levels of dependence (1)”,
- stopped smoking daily, often only using cannabis four to five times a week,
- improved his physical health from a five to a 15, and
- applied for College courses, which will start in September.
Feedback
Mr K rated the support that he received from Dependency and Recovery as ‘Excellent’ in all areas of the feedback form. He said that the service was “good and being done well.”
“I have enjoyed my time in the service and have found it a valuable experience. I enjoyed working with my case worker and learning new things each week.”
Engagement
Across Year 2, we received 248 referrals, and 1,456 appointments were booked. Of these appointments 1,023 were attended (70% engagement), 270 were not attended (19%), and 163 (11%) were cancelled.
This overarching 70% engagement rate was an increase from 58% in Year 1. We attribute this increase to:
- Placing a focus on engagement: We introduced an engagement workshop with Public Service Design.
- Providing specialist trauma-informed training to our teams: This focused on working with people resilient to intervention and managing challenging conversations.
- Holding a caseload at reduced volumes: This allowed staff the time to focus on individuals and to engage them in a way which considers their individual needs in the context of attending appointments.
| Appointment type |
Attended |
Booked |
| Initial assessment |
62% |
17% |
| One-to-one intervention |
72% |
83% |
Empowering our teams
To support teams with this good work, we participated in three engagement workshops, which supported staff to better engage people on probation and sell our services to probation staff. These sessions covered:
- How to inspire probation and how to onboard people on probation
- How to adapt your approach to enhance engagement
- How to repair the relationship when disassociation occurs
In the month prior to the first of these three sessions, we saw 47% of service users attend an initial assessment. In the month following these sessions, we saw the number of people attending initial assessments increase to 75%.
Quality assurance
This year, we introduced some improvements to our quality assurance and case recording processes, to ensure that we were meeting, monitoring, and driving quality practice at the earliest opportunity across our service delivery.
We also introduced peer case management quality assurance observations this year, to support staff to understand quality expectations, and to support teams to provide constructive feedback regarding quality in a safe, colleague-focused space.
The resulting data showed that:
- 100% of observations relating to one-to-one interventions were scored as ‘Exceptional’ (83%) or ‘Exceeds’ (17%), showing that the team continue to deliver sessions to a high standard, follow procedures, and go the extra mile with their service users.
- Other than one ‘Improvement needed’ score, recorded in March 2024, all case management quality assurance observations were scored at ‘Meets expectations’ or above.
Areas of focus
From this data, we have been able to provide specific theme-led quality practice sessions for the Dependency and Recovery team, on topics including but not limited to:
- quality feedback (driving a 19% increase in identified best practice from Year 1),
- risk mitigation in action plans (driving an 11% increase in identified best practice from Year 1),
- case note recording (driving a 9% increase in identified best practice from Year 1), and
- end of service reports (driving a 2% increase in identified best practice from Year 1).
Areas for improvement
Due to an increased number of questions relating to the quality recording of specific needs and protected characteristics, there has been an 11% decrease in identified best practice relating to inclusion.
The team have now received training and supporting guidance for each stage of a referral, and relating to specific groups of individuals (such as transgender individuals, veterans and Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities). As such, we expect to see an improvement reflected in our Year 3 results.
“This time in my life was ‘make it or break it’ for me and I made it. I thought I was too far gone, but I don’t feel like that anymore.
“These sessions have been a big help… I didn’t think they would be as helpful as they have been. I can now talk about my past and problems without breaking down and feeling overwhelmed.
“I wish that I showed up to sessions more, but most of the time it’s really hard for me to just get out of bed.”
– Person on probation
Our team
Recruitment
In line with the Justice Directorate’s recruitment strategy, the number of Criminal Justice Project Workers within Catch22 has been expanded from two to four. These roles help to provide resource on a short-term basis when there are staff vacancies.
Use of this service has not been needed within Dependency and Recovery this year, due to steady staffing levels and lower referral numbers. To support this, where there have been vacancies, we have continued to utilise group interviews throughout the year, followed by virtual or face-to-face interviews, to bridge the gap between staff.
Resourcing
Our Stakeholder Engagement and Referrals team has expanded this year, with one of our Dependency and Recovery Practitioners assuming the additional responsibilities of Engagement and Stakeholder Lead. This colleague supports the team, and drives our referral and engagement strategy.
We have also continued to use our Senior Recovery Practitioner to provide additional support around inductions, allocations, quality assurance, and training.
This year, our Interventions team saw the introduction of three new specialist fixed-term roles. This team drives quality and best practice to ensure that the interventions being offered across Catch22’s Commissioned Rehabilitative Services are fit for purpose, evidence-based, and being delivered in the most effective way possible.
The Interventions team continues to work closely with the Dependency and Recovery team to improve its service delivery and maintain the holistic and strength-based approach that supports its 18- 25 cohort.
“At first I did not think it would be helpful, but by the end of it I really enjoyed the interventions we had and will miss them.
“It was nice to talk to someone and it was also nice for someone to be in my corner and actually care.”
– Person on probation
Training
Alongside our mandatory training (which is offered to all staff), this year we introduced several additional sessions to support the team when working with complex service users. These have covered topics including:
- gangs awareness,
- leadership training for managers,
- modern slavery and human trafficking,
- neurodiversity
- suicide and self-harm
- working with perpetrators of domestic abuse,
- working with those resistant to intervention, and
- working with those who have sexually harmed (Circles, Level 1).
Supported by our Interventions team, the Dependency and Recovery team has also been introduced to a new onboarding process whereby all new frontline practitioners receive a series of intervention-specific tasks to complete throughout their probationary period.
Partners and stakeholders
Existing relationships
We have consistently maintained a positive relationship with our prime contractor, Forward Trust, and this year have worked alongside each other to enhance all aspects of service delivery. In particular, together we have worked to develop co-branded marketing documents, and to improve our quality assurance processes through monthly reporting.
Noel Moran also continues to support our service users through his in-person and one-to-one Noela Yoga sessions. These have covered areas including introductory sessions, an introduction to the body, flow, letting go, exploring difficulties and coming back to body and breath.
“Throughout the sessions with Mr A, Amy has demonstrated genuine care and dedication in her practice. She has communicated in a timely and efficient manner with me, providing a high quality of service that deserves recognition. Despite facing challenges at times, Amy has proven her ability to adapt her working style to tailor her approach to Mr A’s needs. Addressed the action plan and promoted a supportive atmosphere which has been beneficial for his progress.”
– Probation Service Officer
Developing relationships
Across its Commissioned Rehabilitative Services, Catch22 has a team leader (based within its Finance, Benefit and Debt service) who is dedicated to establishing new partnerships and referral pathways for People on Probation. This has led to new information sharing agreements and conversations with organisations including Nacro, No Going Back, Op Nova, This Way Up, and Clothing Collective.
Due to these information sharing agreements, individuals can now be referred directly into the Dependency and Recovery teams, supported by our new ‘Referral Route Process Map’. 74% of service users stated that this process has helped them to make connections with other services or agencies going forward.
Catch22 has also drawn up a ‘Lived Experience’ statement to encourage those with lived experience to apply to roles within the organisation and to support those going through the process. This is supported by the organisation’s partnership with Offploy. We are keen to continue working with Offploy for training and consultation purposes, and to strengthen our ability to embed lived experience across the business.
Looking forward
Group engagement
This year, challenges around group engagement with service users meant that it could sometimes take time to assign an individual to a cohort.
To mitigate against this in Year 3, we have confirmed dates for the first pilot group delivery, and will be delivering bespoke training to all frontline practitioners on the content and delivery approach. We will allow time to gather feedback and make amendments to this before the sessions are rolled out further.
Our Interventions team has also created a modular group programme, which aims to create a supportive space for peer learning and engagement. This programme will help service users to explore positive techniques which promote motivation and informed decision making, in line with service user goals. This course will cover topics including:
- motivations: good and bad,
- coping with cravings,
- impact on us, others, and the community, and
- action planning.
Referrals and marketing
As mentioned, this year, we worked with Forward Trust to tailor our engagement and stakeholder strategy, which was supported by new promotional materials. These materials have all now been updated and finalised, and we are keen to assess which aspects of these new materials impact on our referral volumes in Year 3.
Enhancing our presence in London prisons
Each member of our team currently is assigned to one core prison. We hope to increase this two or three prisoner per person, to reduce the amount of time that it takes to embed new staff members, reduce the time it can take to embed new staff members, and ensure adequate cover for absence and periods of staff turnover.
Staffing
Finally, new roles have been created within our team for Year 3, to support the fine-tuning of all aspects of our delivery across our Commissioned Rehabilitative Services.
These roles include:
- an overarching Admin and Data Manager,
- an Admin and Data Analyst for the Dependency and Recovery team, and
- a Referrals and Engagement Lead, who will focus on implementing our engagement strategy with those Probation Delivery Units and prisons where we have seen limited referrals.
“Thank you so much for the four sessions. Through this journey, I deepened myknowledge about cannabis and the consequences of smoking. Now, with the Relapse Prevention Plan, I know how to look after myself and save the money I used to spend on cannabis to contribute to my dreams.”
– Person on Probation
