A short time ago we spoke to Lisa Short, the HMPPS Young Adults Team lead, about its recent ’Making Maturity Matter’ session with HMPPS staff, facilitated by HMPPS Insights. Lisa has worked in prisons as a senior operational leader for 15 years.

HMPPS Young Adults Team and HMPPS Insights collaborate to run practice development sessions for staff and partners across HMPPS. Third sector organisations and professional bodies with an interest in young adults are also invited to contribute to these sessions.

Lisa explains:

“Involving different parties in the young adult field allows the sharing of best practice, insight, continued collaboration and learning – all of which feeds into our awareness sessions.”

More than 500 people attended the first session, a number far exceeding attendance at any other Insights event to date. The event attracted interest from across prisons, the probation service, the Ministry of Justice, and beyond.

The session focused primarily on increasing awareness of maturational development in young adult males, and how frontline staff can best respond to these needs.

“We want to help prison staff improve their understanding of young adults’ needs, so they can work with them more effectively, foster a rehabilitative culture, and, ultimately, improve outcomes for this group,” says Lisa.

T2A Programme Manager, Laurie Hunte, says:

“It is hugely positive to see such high numbers of prison and probation staff attending these training sessions.

“This will help them to take an active role in the rehabilitation of young adults in prison and in the community – supporting them to develop skills and think positively about their future.”

Alongside the awareness session, HMPPS have also developed a screening tool to identify young adult males in custody and probation who have not yet reached full maturity.

The Choices and Changes resource pack has been developed to be used by prison and probation practitioners to engage more positively with those young adult men who have been identified as having the greatest need with supporting their maturational development.

This work is supported by the young adult Model of Operational Delivery (MOD) developed by the prison service, which enables prison leaders and their staff to better understand effective practice for young adult men. The MOD draws on the best evidence available to inform prison regimes, services, and frontline practice.

Over two hundred people attended the launch of the young adult MOD, once again highlighting the recognition amongst prison staff of the need to support young adults in the criminal justice system.

Do you work in prisons or for the Probation Service and would you like to learn more about these training sessions?

Contact us