Abstract

The journey through the criminal justice system is often characterised by family breakdown and poor health outcomes. Bradley (2009) presented an extensive plan to reduce reoffending and improve public health by ending the ‘revolving door’ to custody for mentally ill and learning disabled offenders. Part of the plan was to improve screening and the provision of support for prisoners entering custody to ensure the right services are available. The Supporting People After Remand or Conviction (SPARC) intervention was set up to meet these recommendations. Operating as a service fully integrated into the court and prison delivery settings, SPARC aims to support the needs of men and women during their transition and early days in custody. Results from research using mixed methods indicated that people entering prison custody from Court have a high and diverse level of need across learning, language, physical health, mental health, and substance misuse. Men who had received the SPARC intervention displayed significantly higher levels of wellbeing than those who had not received the intervention. SPARC had immediate and long term positive impact. SPARC is an effective, sustainable way in which the specific needs of prisoners entering prison custody are assessed and addressed. This lends itself to better engagement in sentence plans, improved functioning in prison, improved opportunity to address offending behaviour, and hopefully improved reintegration into the community.