RR3 Special Interest Group on Community Provision 2024-25: Report 1
Mental health treatment in the community for people in contact with the criminal justice system
We are pleased to publish the first report from the Special Interest Group on Community Provision. Convened as part of the work of the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group.
Produced in collaboration with 28 voluntary organisations, the report highlights the challenges in accessing mental health support in the community, for people in contact with the criminal justice system. The Group was supported by Dr Niquita Pilgrim, who inputted extensively on the issues associated with inequitable access to services for racially minoritised people.
These challenges include:
- Funding and navigating the funding process
- Diminished treatment capacity
- Postcode lottery
- Inequitable access to services for racially minoritised people
- Dual diagnosis
- Undiagnosed mental health conditions
- Voluntary organisations 'filling gaps' in statutory provision
- Ineffective partnership working
- Low uptake of Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs)
- Rigid service specification and siloed commissioning
- Registering with GPs
The report concludes with recommendations designed to mitigate these challenges. It will be followed by a second report that focuses exclusively on the challenges related to drug and alcohol services.