We recently spoke to Probation Practitioner Ellie Carr who took part in the West Midlands Always Hope pilot. This programme helps professionals to offer more effective support to young adults with care experience while in custody and after release.

“I’m a probation officer at the Nuneaton office, which is part of the Warwickshire Probation Delivery Unit (PDU). Last year, I worked with a young man with care experience called Tom*.

Prior to meeting Tom, Ellie was contacted by Leah*, a Lifelong Links Co-Ordinator. This was her first introduction to the Always Hope approach.

“That was really helpful because I knew nothing about Tom. He was put on my books just before he was released.”

Leah organised a video call to discuss the Always Hope pilot with all the different agencies working with Tom. They held a joint meeting with Tom too, so he could better understand how the different professionals would support him.

“She bridged a gap that would have taken me three to four months to build. It stopped duplication of work. It stopped confusion because we all knew what we were doing to support Tom.”

It can be very daunting for a young adult who’s just been released to make these connections themselves.

“When young adults first come out of the criminal justice system, they might struggle to connect with different agencies. They’ve got so much going on.

“Leah did all that work, but she also pulled in other agencies. She found positive adults that Tom had met in the past who could come into his life and be his role models. Working with Tom’s personal advisor (PA), we were able to vet these individuals and arrange meetings in safe environments.”

Leah’s plan was to create a sustainable network of support that would facilitate his rehabilitation in the long term – once statutory support falls away.

“All the work we’d done across probation, leaving care and lifelong links, would be carried on by a network of appropriate adults.”

The Always Hope approach made it easier to connect Tom with his PA, which can be quite a lengthy process.

“That was hugely helpful because we often have to send off lots of emails to find someone’s PA. If the young adult hasn’t made themselves known to leaving care services, they then have to be referred, which can take months.

“Whereas in this case, Leah already knew exactly who the PA was, and she had made that referral for Tom while he was in custody. He met his PA within a week of being released, so he just needed to focus on managing his appointments.”

At the outset of working together, Tom agreed that Leah could share his case history with Ellie. This meant that Ellie didn’t have to ask Tom to recount any aspects of his life that he didn’t wish to discuss.

“I told him, ‘I’ve already got your information. Is there anything you want to talk about today or should we unpack x or y?’ Without that information, I might have been asking questions about his mum, dad, or childhood, which could have damaged our rapport.”

Taking part in the Always Hope pilot has helped Ellie better understand the distinct needs of young adults and why tailored support is so crucial.

“Probation teams only learn about new agencies when we build our networks. Having Always Hope, which was a completely different network than any we’ve used before, opened our eyes to what should be happening for 18-25-year-olds.

“We have support available, but it’s probably better suited to 30-40-year-olds. We have different services for women, so we should have different services for 18–25-year-olds.”

Over her time working with Tom, Ellie was delighted to see him make such positive progress.

“He had stable housing. There had been no drug use. His relationship with his girlfriend seemed very healthy. He became less reliant on professionals, which is a key part of a successful resettlement.

“While working together, Tom came to realise that he wasn’t ready to work. He went to the GP, got himself signed off, and then he did some training instead.

“I thought that was very impressive that he recognised that he wasn’t ready to hold down a job. He did seem to mature quite quickly, and he was able to do a lot of reflective work.”

Ellie believes that the efficiency of the Always Hope approach in building support around Tom played a key role in his progression.

“I spent a lot more time working with him on his sentence plan objectives rather than trying to secure accommodation or benefits for him.

“There was no messing around chasing referrals because we were such a well-oiled machine. That allowed us all to focus on his actual needs and risks. Towards the end, Tom’s trajectory was really good. I felt he was ready to come off probation.”

Tom’s progress was halted when his accommodation was ‘cuckooed’, and he began to engage in drug-related criminal activities. However, when approached by the police, he told them what had happened.

“A dangerous individual manipulated him and took advantage. But when the police spoke to him, he admitted everything.

“That might be because he had all these support networks in place, and he’d had such a positive experience with all these agencies. He knew he’d put himself at risk by telling the police what happened, but he trusted that they would protect him. I think that shows huge growth.”

Unfortunately, Tom was subsequently given a two-year sentence for engaging in drug-related activities. Ellie acknowledged that successful rehabilitation isn’t always linear and was pleased that he’d shown great maturity by speaking to the police and explaining what had happened, despite knowing the possible outcome.

“It wasn’t the best outcome in the end, but I believe that Tom will benefit from all the fantastic work he did down the line.

“When he’s released, I hope that will be the start of a positive future for him in the long term.”

*We have used pseudonyms in this interview to protect everyone’s identity

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