Scottish Prisons Assessment and Review of Outcomes for Women (SPAROW): full report

4. Vision and aspirations for the CCUs: a policy Theory of Change (ToC)

Background

As set out earlier in the report, a Theory of Change (ToC) is a description of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context. It outlines the stated goals of a desired change, the interventions or activities that are intended to effect change, and the conditions or circumstances that need to be in place (and how these relate to each other) to allow change to happen. This allows for the link between the intervention and the successful achievement of goals to be more fully understood and can help to highlight where the original programme theory is flawed in its conception or in its implementation.

This chapter presents our summary of the implicit CCU ToC. To develop this, we used the key policy documents pertinent to the CCUs (detailed earlier). This was discussed with our project Advisory Board in June 2024 and, it shaped our study design and data collection tools.

In addition, this chapter provides a policy perspective on some of the main strands (or ‘activities’) of the ToC in light of interviews conducted with four senior officials occupying strategic and/or operational roles within SPS. All were involved in development of the CCUs and provided detailed information on the conception of the CCUs, and their early stages of operation. Three of those interviewed contributed to the SPS Women's Strategy 2021-2025 which encapsulates the vision for gender-sensitive and trauma-informed working. Their insights provide important context for understanding the vision and ToC for the CCUs. Because the interviews were undertaken one year into the process of implementation, some of the data refer to perceptions of implementation as well as to aspirations of how the CCUs had been anticipated to operate. Figure 1 (overleaf) shows the SPAROW initial ToC.

Figure 1. SPAROW Initial Theory of Change

Assumptions:

• Gender- and trauma-informed approaches, combined with a commitment to empowerment, can shape relationships between women, staff, and delivery partners, and improve the care provided.

Context:

• SPS New Model of Custody for Women, 2019.

Activities:

• Establishment of Community Custody Units (CCUs) with appropriate and informed staff recruitment.
• Training for staff in gender- and trauma-informed care.
• Identification of target women and implementation of informed choice to move to CCUs.
• Delivery of care for women based on gender- and trauma-informed principles (including SPS Strategy 6 core values).
• Collaboration with delivery partners to support wellbeing, empowerment, life skills, and successful reintegration.

Short/medium-term outputs/outcomes:

• Facilities operational and full complement of informed staff recruited and in place.
• All staff trained and aware of the practice implications of gender- and trauma-informed care.
• Clear and transparent processes for identifying women to move to CCUs and women fully informed in decision-making to move.
• Women aware of and perceive the reality of gender- and trauma-informed care and SPS Strategy 6 core values; women feel supported in establishing/maintaining family links and preparing for successful integration in the community.
• Range and scale of delivery meets aspirations for supporting women’s health and wellbeing, empowerment, life skills, and reintegration. Delivery partners aware of the practice implications of gender- and trauma-informed care and feel supported by CCUs to deliver care in this way.

Longer-term outcomes:

• Women feel empowered, better informed, better supported by staff and better able to connect to the communities and social networks within which they will integrate.

Establishment of CCUs

It was generally agreed that the genesis of the CCUs lies in the Report of the Commission for Women Offenders (2012) and ideas about ‘one stop’ justice centres. These have their origins in the Corston Report (2007) published in England and Wales, and which were originally imagined as replacements for HMP & YOI Cornton Vale which was due to be closed when the ideas for CCUs were first discussed. The since-closed 218 Service was based in Glasgow and offered a comprehensive programme of support for women, as an alternative to a custodial sentence. It aimed to address the root causes of women’s offending, by offering a therapeutic, trauma-informed programme for women to actively engage in their own personal recovery journey and was mentioned by interviewees as a source of inspiration for the CCUs.

As stated, five CCUs were originally envisaged, but the interviews with senior managers indicate a broad consensus that it was right to reduce this to two such Units. This was based on apparent need, to be pragmatic in terms of resources, and to reflect a wish to see how they worked out before making further commitment: ‘Start with two and test them out and then see where that takes us. We’ll review later’ (SSM 2). There were also concerns about ‘community fit’ – needing to be confident that each CCU would not provoke undue resistance from local residents and the wider community wherein they were located. They also needed to be close to amenities and services with knowledge and experience of working with women. Inverclyde had been considered as a possible site for a new large-scale women’s prison, for instance, but the location was considered to be without a good community fit. The importance of community fit was highlighted in the two chosen CCU sites of Glasgow and Dundee – as one interviewee stated:

“Things were easier in Glasgow – partly because of 218, partly because of the Scottish Working Group on Women. There wasn’t a model in Dundee and people there were less familiar with the debates and concerns for women.” (SSM 1).

Broader reservations largely revolved around community ‘pushback’, particularly in Dundee, but, through the local authorities in Dundee and Glasgow much effort was put into communications and reassuring the local communities that people would be safe in the community. Other complexities (availability/ownership of land and the Covid-19 pandemic) crept in, and delayed the building of the two CCUs. However, the aesthetic vision remained clear: “We wanted vision: light, garden, colour, connections between buildings.” (SSM2).

There was certainly agreement that bespoke design for the two CCUs was important. The architectural brief included the need for a trauma-informed design. As one strategic manager indicated:

“Much effort was put into the design of the centres to reflect women’s mental health needs, to promote independent living skills, to be trauma-informed. They were designed to look and feel like homes.” (SSM2).

In addition, it was clear that the vision for the CCUs was rooted in a clear recognition of women’s needs based on general research findings regarding women caught up in the criminal justice system. The vision was also based on what was known about women in the Scottish penal system in particular with a specific recognition of the role played by trauma. SSM 4, for example, commented:

“Ninety per cent of women in custody have mental health difficulties, anxiety, depression, and have also experienced childhood trauma, a third of our women meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.”

Linked to this evidence-based approach was a recognition of the importance of consultation with women who had lived experience of imprisonment, as well as research evidence on best practice.

“There was immense effort to consult with women about their experiences of the estate, what would help. And we looked for evidence regarding best practice and what works.” (SSM3).

Selection, training and support for staff

Interviewees commented on the recognition from the outset that staff for the CCUs would have to be carefully recruited and trained so that aspirations around gender- specificity and trauma-informed care delivery could be met. As one commented:

“We had values-based interviews with those who wanted to work in the CCUs; we wanted the right attitudes. All operational staff; we wanted those who knew about risk management but who were capable of a ‘lighter touch’.” (SSM1).

The recruitment process involved:

“Open competition and encouragement to apply. It was important to attract the right staff, those who would be able to adapt and respond… work in a different culture. It’s not just the facilities, it is the way the CCUs are run, what they ‘feel like’ that matters.” (SSM3).

Interviewees noted, however, that delays in opening the CCUs resulted in some recruited staff having lost interest or moved on. Thus, there was a shared sense that it was hard to maintain the momentum around a freshly trained and strategically selected workforce.

This said, it was clear from the interviews with the strategic managers that training was seen as an important way of setting out the expectations of working in a CCU. Training was to include content on operational matters, new processes, trauma, desistance, caring for women in custody, and working in a CCU. One mentioned ‘pain-free control’ training, as opposed to the regular ‘control and restraints’ training provided by the Scottish Prison Service (SSM 4). This was supported by other strategic managers:

“There’s a new restraint process, piloted in Stirling, and elsewhere. A UNCRC [United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child] non-pain inducing approach. So training in the new control and restraint process is important. We need more emphasis on violence reduction management generally, CCUs included.” (SSM 3).

Ongoing training and supervisory support was recognised to be important in maintaining new ways of working.

“We can’t do things properly without appropriate supervisory practice. Staff need CPD [continuing professional development] and reflection space to reinforce ideas… think differently.” (SSM 3).

One particular example of required training was in regard to professional boundary setting. As one manager put it, “Staff might disclose personal things to be helpful – in this more relaxed setting – without fully realising the dangers in this. It is a question of balance in the power relationship. So work on boundary setting is important.” (SSM 3).

Identification of target women and implementation of informed choice in move to CCUs

Through the developmental phases, strong consideration was given to which women might be suitable for transfer to a CCU and, in particular, the level of risk posed and whether moving to a CCU could be seen as part of prisoner progression. However, in terms of vision, there was also a strong sense amongst the strategic managers that equality legislation shaped what was realistic:

“One of the internal challenges was about equalities – you couldn’t have criteria that would be different from those relating to men – there had to be the same level of access to support, even if in a different format.” (SSM 3).

“There was lots of discussion on the selection criteria for the CCUs, especially on the issue of whether a move to a CCU should be seen as part of a progression model. We had to look at offence specific risks – specific risks before the CCUs could be opened up to a wider group.” (SSM 3).

Choice was also viewed as paramount with a recognition that some women may not want to leave a closed environment where they felt safe, and where they had established friendships and relationships:

“It’s a big step probably to go somewhere when you are settled and even though the opportunity is there to have home leaves or a work placement, a lot of the women feel comfortable in [the prison]; they feel quite safe.” (SSM 4).

When asked about criteria for admission to the CCUs since their inception it was clear that progression criteria had been reviewed, alongside escorted leave and temporary leave. However, there were challenging issues to do with comparisons and equality in treatment. Thus, the issue is conceived as how to give women access to the community without changing the SPS Prison Rules. Some women were thought to meet the criteria for being in a CCU, ‘but not the criteria for community access’ (SSM 4). At the time of the senior strategic manager interviews (January – March 2024), less than one third of the women had access to the community or home leave.

Summary

In this chapter we have identified the early aspirations for the CCUs at a strategic level – these fit with our depiction of the SPS Strategy for Women in Custody in Chapter 2. We have also identified that in the early stages of implementation, strategic stakeholders were aware of key barriers to be negotiated. These included identifying suitable locations for CCUs with appropriate community buy-in; the logistics of recruiting, training and retaining staff fitting the ethos of the model; and, the tensions between aspirations for CCUs and what is allowable under current equality legislation.