We started this blog series previewing State of the Sector 2025 by focusing on the political and policy context within which the sector is operating. Now, we want to go into more detail on the wider challenges and barriers highlighted by voluntary organisations working in criminal justice. 

Rising demand and growing complexity

Many organisations told us that they are facing an increased demand for their services, and that the needs of those they work with are becoming more complex. Over the 2024-25 financial year, 59% of the organisations who responded to our survey reported engaging more new service users than in the previous year, while over three‑quarters said that levels of need had increased during 2024/25.

Focus group participants linked increased demand in part to early release schemes, which have led to more people coming into the community at short notice. 

Organisations highlighted growing pressures around housing, mental health, neurodivergent conditions and, for some, substance use, with women’s organisations particularly emphasising the needs faced by many of the people they support, including the intersecting impacts of poverty, domestic abuse, trauma and child removal.

In addition, movement across geographical areas, whether through prison transfers or because of limited community accommodation, created additional need for individuals and extra work for organisations. 

Families’ organisations, for example, told us that when someone is moved to a prison far from home, the cost and time involved can significantly reduce the frequency of visits, weakening vital family ties.

A small number of organisations also reported that some of the people that they worked with struggled to access mental health or substance use services when they move between areas with different referral routes and criteria. 

Some organisations found themselves undertaking additional work to map and identify onward support options in places they did not already know well. This meant researching and locating local services in unfamiliar geographic areas so that people leaving prison could be linked into appropriate support near where they were going to live and to help families stay in contact with the imprisoned family member and navigate new arrangements after a transfer.

Gaps in the wider support landscape

Alongside this increased demand, organisations described significant gaps in wider statutory and community provision. For example, many organisations noted a lack of appropriate accommodation for people they support, or no such accommodation at all, making it extremely difficult for organisations to support them to move forward in other areas of their lives. 

Others pointed to insufficient support at the point of release, citing limited engagement from probation, a lack of employment support and inadequate planning and communication around family contact. Several organisations also spoke about the effects of prison regimes that keep people locked in their cells for long periods in environments they described as violent and under‑resourced, with inadequate support. Some organisations also noted that they saw too little culturally appropriate provision for the diverse communities they serve. 

Voluntary organisations stepping in to fill the gaps

Against this backdrop, voluntary organisations described spending more time with individual service users and stepping beyond their usual remit to respond to what they see and hear from the people they support. Several focus group participants explained that they were spending more time working with individual service users and supporting them with issues beyond the organisation’s usual remit, specifically to respond to need where other support was unavailable, which in a more joined‑up system would sit with other agencies.

Several women’s organisations told us that they often continue supporting women after the official support period in their statutory contracts has ended because they know that many women’s needs cannot realistically be addressed within the timeframe set out in those contracts. This clear pattern of going the extra mile to provide longer‑term, relational support reflects a commitment to values‑led practice but also contributes to increased pressure on staff and services.

Staffing

The cumulative effect of increased demand, greater complexity of need, and operational pressures is being felt by staff. Findings from our survey showed that as many as 40% of respondents are addressing the level, complexity or urgency of user need by increasing staff caseloads.

Organisations described the emotional and practical toll of working more intensively and supporting people through trauma. They shared the difficulties of often being unable to increase levels of staffing, coupled with an inability to match the salaries, offer job security and other conditions available in the statutory sector, and uncertainty around future contracts, making it harder to offer stability.

One organisation told us: “We have been unable to renew staff contracts due to funding and had to lose people as a result. This has had a significant impact on our capacity and ability to deliver services.”

Vetting concerns

Staff vetting remained one of the most frequently reported barriers to delivering effective services, particularly in prisons. Many organisations told us that lengthy and inconsistent vetting processes were delaying delivery, increasing workloads for existing staff, and, in some cases, leading to the loss of strong candidates who could not wait for clearance.

Looking ahead:

Despite the challenges set out in the blog, and in more detail in the final report, the sector continues playing its role of providing essential support to people in contact with the criminal justice system. Yet there is so much more that could, and should, be done to help the sector to thrive. That’s why, in partnership with all the organisations that have contributed to this work, we have recommended:

• Improving coordination of voluntary organisations working in individual prisons, embedding learnings from previous voluntary sector coordinator roles
• Publishing national guidance on the new vetting framework and ensuring consistent implication of the framework to reduce the barriers faced by voluntary sector staff in accessing prisons and people in prison   
• Establishing a consistent process via which voluntary organisations can communicate with the probation service, incorporating greater access to information sharing  
• Creating minimum standards of resettlement support, regardless of locality, to ensure that there are no gaps in provision for people coming out of prison

Amongst many other recommendations, which you will be able to read in our full report