Partnership working with CJ Agencies

NOMS recognises that successful outcomes for offenders are heavily reliant upon effective partnership working. For instance Drugs Intervention Programmes (introduced in 2003) which involve criminal justice and treatment agencies working have made a substantial impact on reducing drug related crime and there is evidence that for every £1 spent on treatment at least £9.50 is saved in criminal justice and health costs

Crime and Disorder Reduction partnerships exist in each local authority, finding solutions to local issues, many of these solutions result in multi agency approaches to improve community safety and serve to meet Public Service Agreement Targets e.g. PSA 23 : Making Communities Safer.

Frequently local CDRP arrangements address key resettlement pathways for ex offenders indentified in The Reducing Reoffending Action Plan namely: Offending Behaviour, Drugs, Mental Health and Alcohol, Finance and Debt, Education, Training and Employment, Housing and Children and Families.

MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) Guidance recognises the valuable contribution agencies outside of the CJ sector play in public protection it states:
‘The principal responsibility for protecting the public from sexual and violent offenders generally rests with the criminal justice agencies. However, the effectiveness of public protection often depends on more than just a criminal justice response. Other agencies play an important role in helping offenders to resettle and avoid re-offending. For example, research has shown that offenders with jobs have one-third to one-half lower rates of re-offending than offenders without employment. Re-offending by offenders who have stable accommodation on release from custody is lower than for those who do not'

The Offender Management Act 2007 increases the potential for ‘third sector' (non -Criminal Justice Agencies) and other public bodies to deliver services within the CJ sector. The restructuring of NOMS and the Probation Service means that regional Directors of Offender Management (DOMs) will have the capacity to respond to local and specific needs to reduce re offending. The DOMs will seek to do so both through their influence within existing local joint commissioning and partnership arrangements and through commissioning the delivery of services and interventions.

MOJ Report: Working with the third sector to reduce re offending: Securing effective partnerships 2008-2011 outlines the government's key commitments in relation to funding and procurement, consultation, and partnership working. It includes transforming services through the greater inclusion of the third sector and other partnership agencies in determining priorities and outcomes, as well as designing and delivering the required services:
In summary there are already many jobs within the third sector and statutory agencies such as housing, health, and education which require the post holder to work in partnership with criminal justice agencies and it is expected that there will be increasing job opportunities of this nature from 2010 when the transition from Probation Areas to Probation Trusts has been completed

Please click below to see examples of some of the types of jobs available