Swanswell has a strong track record of working with the Criminal Justice System, taking referrals from a number of different agencies. For example, in Birmingham we take referrals for our drug programme from a variety of sources across and beyond the city, for example community drug teams (CDTs), offender managers, the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) teams, prisons and GPs. We work in partnership with other professionals involved with those referred to our services.

Drug treatment
In Birmingham, Swanswell’s drug treatment service works in close partnership with over 100 GPs and 10 probation offices across the city. We also provide information about vaccination and testing for blood borne viruses and healthy eating advice. Where appropriate, we signpost to other services such as structured day care programmes, service user involvement groups, housing support, benefit advice, counselling, needle exchange advice, peer-group support and advocacy. If people are receiving different services, we work together with other agencies to provide comprehensive treatment, tailored to the individual.

On a visit to Birmingham in 2008 to see how the Drug Intervention Programme was operating, the Home Office team fed back to the DIP Manager that Swanswell offered one of the most developed shared care services in the country. We are very proud of this and our workers work very hard to maintain and improve our services.

Accredited programmes
Swanswell provides a variety of accredited programmes, including the Drink Impaired Driver (DID) and Lower Intensity Alcohol Programmes (LIAP) and our workers and trainers are increasingly multi-skilled. We are proud that in Coventry, for example, we recently delivered the 100th DIDs’ programme, and during all these programmes, we have never cancelled or postponed a single session. Swanswell takes its commitments to the offender management service very seriously.

Innovative approaches
Innovation and solution finding is a strong motivation for Swanswell. An excellent example is the new domestic violence (DV) and alcohol project in the Midlands, which provides a brief structured intervention with perpetrators and supports victims, where alcohol is a factor in the incidence of domestic violence and abuse. During the programme, perpetrators recorded a 100% zero-reoffending rate and, a number of months after the programme, Warwickshire police confirmed there was still a no-reoffending rate of over 70%, far exceeding the expectations of all stakeholders.

To learn more about how Swanswell works with the Criminal Justice System, telephone 01788 559400 or email admin@swanswell.org. You can also fill in our contact form to request more information.