Centre for Mental Health

Employment after prison

The barriers to employment for people with mental health problems are well documented but for those with mental health problems in the criminal justice system the barriers are even higher.

Discrimination, disempowerment, lack of up-to-date skills, lack of self confidence, no recent track record of employment and a lack of skilled support to help overcome these barriers are the common experience of all too many people who have experienced mental ill health.

Some 70% of people entering prisons are estimated to have a mental health problem or a substance misuse problem and two-thirds of the people who go to prison are unemployed - this is thirteen times more than the national unemployment rate. Furthermore, around two-thirds of those who do have a job lose it whilst in custody.

Employment is a key factor in reducing re-offending: being in work reduces the risk of re-offending by between a third and a half.

Developing ways into work

We have brought together our two main work areas of employment and criminal justice to develop pathways into employment for people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system. We work in partnership with key agencies, including the National Offender Management Services and Ministry of Justice.

Our work is focusing on identifying effective practice for offenders with mental health problems who are seeking employment in prison and in the community. We are building on the work of our current employment programme and exploring how the principles of Individual Placement and Support can be applied in the criminal justice system.

Our next step in this work is to bring interested parties together to share good practice, which in the first instance will be done via an already established network called NEHIN.

In the autumn we will publish a policy paper on how to improve the employment prospects of offenders with mental health problems.

For more information about the employment of offenders project, please contact helen.lockett@centreformentalhealth.org.uk or graham.durcan@centreformentalhealth.org.uk.