Prison life choice?

[Hceey]

I don't understand my DN. He is in prison and has been in and out for years on short sentences.

He comes out, lives in a homeless group for a bit, robs food and drink. No drugs to what I know to. He then goes back in prison at some point.

The whole thing is fucking ridiculous and I want to help him. But, I don't understand him and his way of thinking. The support from the system is not there. Yes, I don't know the full facts, I admit.

He comes out and does the same thing over and over. He has no support, they send him out and what? I don't understand how the system is meant to work?

He will be out soon with nothing, no home and no job. I think they give him some cash, but that's it.

I can offer him a sofa, but not long term. I cannot afford to support him though and so he will go back to robbing.

I feel useless.

AIBU to feel the system is shite?

I'm posting because I'm hoping to hear from someone who knows or been through this. Realistically, how hopeful is it he will ever get a job with his past?

Is his future really gonna be prison then retirement?

Emmaus offer a community based live-work situation. It is 'dry', I think. There is one near me and it's a great resource lively for recycled furniture etc., they do good work which must help with positivity.

emmaus.org.uk/get-help/

😂 It was super effective and efficient until Starmer got in. 😏

OP he will have a home detention curfew date and you can offer him your home. If he puts your address forward community probation will check it out and he can stay. If that hasn’t happened he is not putting your address forward or there is something else he is not telling you. There are places referred to as Cas2 and Cas3 housing for prisoners coming out without a place to go. They are overstretched but some prisons still have very good resettlement teams. It is area dependent though.

In terms of housing and money he can present himself as homeless to the council and get emergency accommodation and receive money. Of these things are not happening there may be other things going on you are unaware of. Not everybody is ready to change.

No it was shit as I’ve said twice now in subsequent posts. His hand was forced. The point is the early release scheme, brought in around the same time as the probation reset came directly before the SDS40 scheme and probation staff, already working massively over capacity and understaffed are seriously struggling to get release planning in place.

I would bet my house that he does have past trauma from his childhood, and this is probably connected to why OP isn't telling us about his parents and why she feels she has to step into their shoes and help him. He needs therapy and to confront and process whatever has happened to him. He probably has ADHD and if so would benefit from learning coping strategies and something like going to the gym or a sport.

It's lovely that you want to help him OP.

Have you been to one of these job centre appointments?

I accompanied someone once.

It shocked me.

Utterly appalling it was. Unrealistic and appalling. No humanity whatsoever.

This was a non-english speaker. They were referred to English lessons without any thought or consideration to the level of English being taught.

It was frankly, brain-dead in terms of logic or helpfulness.

Yup, all Starmer’s fault. I blame him for most of the ills in todays society frankly.

RTFT.

He likes prison and sees his mates there who all do the same things as him. It is like a home from home which some men like.

He has to want to change or he won't change will he? Nothing you can do about it I'm afraid

If you are willing to give him a roof over his head, and are happy you personally will be safe, then do it.

He will find it easier to get universal credit with an address, I think. Plus they expect claimants to do a lot on-line, so if you can help him set up his UC account on your phone or laptop then that would be useful too. You might have to help him set him up an email address too.

So much of life today requires on-line interaction, and if someone is mainly homeless, I can understand how this creates a vicious circle.

If he struggles to get employment, maybe he could register as self employed. He doesn't need to have a specific trade, just be willing to do whatever presents itself. A couple of days labouring here and there, clearing gardens etc.

Once he is in receipt of UC, he could get a cheap laptop or phone and check Indeed and other local job sites regularly.

All is not lost. If his has someone like yourself willing to give him the basics AND has a desire to sort himself out, then it could all work out eventually - although he could be with you for a bit longer than you anticipate.

Why would you invite trouble into your home? I hope you don't have kids

If he’s stealing food and drink he’s almost certainly an addict. He’ll have his housing paid and be claiming uc. Most hostels also provide at least some meals. So if he doesn’t have money for food it’s very likely going on either drink or drugs. Or he’s stealing higher value items (steak, booze etc) to resell for drug money. Sorry OP, there should be better support both in and outside of prison but ultimately you can’t change him, he needs to want to change.

I know someone who teaches ESOL. When people first start they receive an assessment and are then assigned to the right level of course. At our local adult Ed centre they offer clases from every level (including people who can’t read or write in any language and can’t speak a single word of English). I’d hope/expect that would be the same everywhere.

Sadly, I think this is all too often the case. In prison they are warm, given clean clothes, able to wash themselves, and given 3 square meals a day. The day is structured and routine.
Those without support on the outside often don't have those things, and live very chaotic lives. Prison is seen as a reasonable alternative, and often a better quality of life than they'd have outside.

You did refer to "Starmer's 40%" in your post. The OP's nephew has been in and out of prison - his situation is not a new thing, his contacts with prison and probation services previously have been under the previous government.

I absolutely agree that stretched prison and probation services are not going to be able to provide useful and meaningful rehabilitation for minor repeat offenders.

If you didn't intend to make a political point, then there was no need to refer to a new initiative and name the new PM. The underfunding and ineffective services and failures under many previous administrations would have delivered your point perfectly well.

Op I don't know why you are suddenly so desperate to help him? You say that you are not that close to the family as well. Your intentions are a bit dubious to be honest.
If you have known him since a baby why haven't you stepped up a long time ago?
Do you have kids - because that would be an awfully irresponsible thing to do?
If you don't, then it's you just wanting to get involved? Why?

Often the revolving door re offending can be rooted in other issues. A shocking amount of adults in prison have undiagnosed ADHD for example. Just because he seems cheerful doesn't mean there are not underlying issues going on. It may well be worth looking into any potential undiagnosed issues in adulthood because if he does have a psychological issue he is masking then it could give you the understanding you need of why he does the things he does and is the way he is. There could also be things that went on in his early childhood you aren't aware of that moulded the person he grew into. If there is something going on at a deeper level that isn't being diagnosed then it might explain a lot about his thinking and logic. It's just something to consider.

I think I mentioned it because it’s very sudden and on our doorstep with several hundred prisoners being released September 10th. It IS Starmers 40% no two ways about it. If I had known that would be jumped on as ‘blame’ then I would have worded it differently. It is causing a great deal of worry in probation at the moment.
I will caveat my post to say it’s come on the back of the ERS and serious cuts by SUNAK. Starmer had no choice although I do wish it was a bit more staggered because there is not the infrastructure in the community at the moment to cope.

On a brighter note the new people heading up HMPPS have actual knowledge and experience and were not appointed because they are mates as with the Tories so there is a hope for the future.

You say he has never been offered a place to stay on release then that means he has never gone int a CAS3 - that is surprising (assuming he has no arson related convictions or behaviour) as it is a national thing now. It may be that he has not consented to it as it is voluntary. If you do end up speaking to his PO/PSO then that could be something to ask about. If he is SDS40 surge 1 then that might be tricky but it is still work the conversation.

It’s all very well bringing out the old “Turning their lives around’ chestnut. However. Let’s be real here, there are people with degrees who’ve never been in trouble a day in their lives who can’t get jobs. I can definitely understand why Prison can become a revolving door.

I can see working on the Railways has been mentioned. This can be a good option but there are a few things to consider. His type of offences will not prevent a career in rail - shouldn't be a problem at all and it is a great option for people who have served time. However, he needs to be physically fit and willing to really graft. Once on the rail nobody will hold his hand or make allowances. He certainly won't be able to react aggressively if someone speaks to him in a way he doesn't like.

In order to get started his best option is to speak to his Job Coach. They should be able to signpost him to a local provider that has funding to provide Rail training for unemployed people. It's available mainly in the big urban centres. The course will anything from 3 to 8 weeks. He'll have to pass Safety Critical rail courses as well as learn how to work on the rail. It's a big commitment and he has to be willing to do it.

The biggest barrier is usually the Medical and Drug and Alcohol test that are mandatory to do the Safety Critical training. Failing the D&A results in a 5 year ban from working on the rail.

He needs a Rail sponsor to work on the rail. Lots of trianing companies promise the world and tell people they will get full time work and then leave them at the end with an ineffective sponsor who doesn't give them shifts.

So, although it's an option for him, it's not as easy as some people think.

I laugh.

This is not happening everywhere.

We had to put in a complaint precisely because it was not happening.

There are lots of things that are supposed to happen but don’t.

There’s also the temptation to judge how people with chaotic lives should act, according to how you would do so yourself, as opposed to what people are able to manage

That’s insane. How would they expect anyone to learn like that? Was that a local authority class or a private provider?

Quite.

It was totally bonkers. But I just think it shows the contempt there is for providing actual support rather than ticking a box saying they've fulfilled their responsibility to provide certain services (regards of whether they are fit for purpose or not).

It was a local authority sanctioned course. Possibly by a third party but I don't know.

The demand for access was exceeding demand and we were told she was lucky to get any place at all, which made it even worse as it effectively meant it also stopped someone else being on the appropriate course.

I think this is my gripe - so many services that are there just aren't fit for purpose but those outside looking in who don't understand or have knowledge of how it works in practice have no comprehension of just how shit and inadequate these services for very vulnerable people are.

If you are vulnerable and in this position your ability to complain about just how bad these services are, isn't there. Instead you are treated with utter contempt and dehumanised as 'making poor choices'.

These are people who need advocates to fight DESPITE the system rather than the system offering adequate support. It is incredibly draining and at times we felt utterly khafkesque in terms of actively working AGAINST the interests of the person concerned. Imagine being that person in that situation - everything stacked against you - it doesn't surprise me people give up.