Criminal Justice Programmes

West Mercia PPO Project ACCLAIM

As part of it’s strategy for working with PPOs (Prolific and other Priority Offenders) West Mercia Probation Area (WMPA) has commissioned YSS, in line with the Rehabilitate and Resettle strand of this national initiative, to provide intensive supervision of those offenders who are identified as PPOs and who are supervised by WMPA on community orders or post-custody licences.

The ACCLAIM project fits strategically with the NOMS Offender Management model. After assessing referrals from Probation offender managers, ACCLAIM staff act as offender supervisors, working closely with the nominated offender manager who is responsible for drawing up the sentence plan.

The ACCLAIM project provides 12 weeks of community based intensive supervision for each PPO referred and accepted. On successful completion, a further referral and assessment may lead to a further 12 week period. ACCLAIM delivers a minimum of two hours of direct face-to-face supervision for each PPO each week (normally as two one-hour sessions) plus one hour of face-to-face support with a YSS trained volunteer mentor where this is appropriate. All appointments with ACCLAIM staff and mentors are enforceable. This is in addition to any other court or licence requirements. Any failures are reported immediately to the offender manager (OM), and where necessary, the police.

ACCLAIM staff work with PPOs on a solution-focussed, outreach basis using motivational skills to ensure engagement with any of their court/licence conditions, address offending behaviour and integrate them positively back into the community. An out-of-ours on-call help-line to ACCLAIM is also available to PPOs.

ACCLAIM aims to :

Assist the PPO and their families to understand the nature of the programme they are undertaking.

Co-ordinate the interventions for each PPO as agreed and time-tabled by the OM.

Coach the PPO in terms of problem solving skills to navigate their way through the sentence plan and the obstacles,real or imagined that lie in their way.

Liaise with OMs and other external agencies and teams to ensure successful delivery.

Advocate on the offenders behalf to gain access to relevant services.

Integrate the different elements of a sentence plan into a seamless service delivery.

Monitor compliance with the programme and ensure immediate and regular exchange of information with the OM, police and other key agencies. Support the PPO with the use of community based volunteer Mentors and ultimately Motivate offenders to engage with all elements of their plans for successful completion and reduction in re-offending.