MOTIVATING PEER POWER

Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust (LRPT) is enlisting the support of current and ex-offenders to motivate men and women on supervision - to get their lives back on track.

GETTING MOTIVATED

The Criminal Justice Drugs Team has set up a peer mentor group to work with offenders with drug and alcohol abuse problems.

Individual peer mentors act as positive role models in groups and during induction sessions to help explain and motivate the group members.

Steve, former drug user and peer mentor, explained:

“I have used heroin for 20 years. I knew I had to change my life that I couldn’t go on keep taking the drugs. When I appeared in court on a shoplifting charge, I asked for and was given a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement. I am now clean of drugs and I have trained as a peer mentor. I was successful in getting off heroin this time because the team really motivated me to change - and they kept me going. They didn’t just spend 10 minutes with me once a week, they looked at other problems in my life and suggested how I could deal with them.”

GETTING MOTIVATED

The Programme Team is staging special ‘interview sessions’ at the start of some of their programmes, which give new participants the chance to hear from, and ask questions of, former offenders. LRPT run a number of programmes that target offending behaviour.

Terry said:

“I have been on the Thinking Skills programme. I used to act first and think later. Where we used to live, one of the neighbours had a real drink problem and he was always goading me. Before going on the programme, I would have reacted. But now I just thought to myself ‘walk away’, he’s not worth going to prison for.”

GETTING MOTIVATED

Criminal Justice staff, who work with prolific offenders, have encouraged service users to set up a special group to look at ways to improve community safety.

A recent project has included members of the service user group visiting secondary schools, accompanied by Probation staff, to give talks to pupils concerning the dangers associated with drug and alcohol abuse.

This specific group of offenders is managed by the MAPPOM Team, which stands for Multi-Agency Prolific and other Priority Offender Management. MAPPOM promotes a targeted response to reducing crime in local communities.

David commented:

“I feel good about what I have achieved. I wanted to do something positive. I asked the team if I could go and talk to young people and tell them my story. I wanted to say learn from my bad experiences, and chose a different way.”

Acting Chief Executive Trevor Worsfold explained:

“Our Probation staff members are highly trained individuals, who know that the different interventions we deliver to change attitudes and criminal behaviour have been tried and tested - and proven to work. “Part of our role is to motivate men and women on supervision to successfully complete their orders. But we know that hearing the personal experiences of ex-offenders, who have been able to turn their lives around, is incredibly powerful for individuals just starting their community sentence.”

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

FURTHER INFORMATION ON MAPPOM

Prolific Offenders are individuals who are locally identified as people who are committing high levels of acquisitive crime, namely robbery, burglary or vehicle theft.

Priority Offenders are responsible for causing serious disruption in local communities either by anti social behaviour or by their criminal activities which can include drug dealing offences and prostitution.

This multi-agency partnership also involves the Police, the Youth Offending Service, the charity Leicestershire Cares, the Prison Service and the Crown Prosecution Service.

PRESS ENQUIRIES

Contact Communications Officer Fiona Buchanan on 07711 160585 or 0116 251 6008 for interviews with peer mentors and Director Carrie Peters.