24 January 2007
A prison charity falls on hard times
Reoffending rates reached a record high of 67% (or 78% for 18-21 year-olds) at the end of 2006, yet the future hangs in the balance for at least one charity that is helping to stem the tide.
Adfam is a small national charity that works with the families of drug users, providing information as well as emotional and practical support. Research shows that strengthening family ties is a key factor in reducing reoffending and Adfam helps the partner, parent or sibling of an imprisoned drug user to re-establish their relationship and to be there for them when they are released.
Adfam’s prison project costs around £200,000. It receives some funding from a grant-making trust and private donors, but the bulk of its costs are covered by the prisons where it works and the National Offender Management Service. Like last year, Adfam is again waiting to hear whether the statutory funding will come through.
The charity has already cut its costs to the bone and now employs just one person to work in Holloway women’s prison, for example, letting two trained counsellors go because it could not afford to pay them.
Vivien Evans, Chief Executive of Adfam is worried that the funding might not materialise this year and then she will be forced to scrap the service completely. She is also concerned that a last minute decision to stop funding the service could mean they cannot give notice to the people who rely on their service.
Bad funding habits
The charity’s precarious funding is not due to inadequate services. Instead, it is a consequence of poor funding practice. 'It looks like we may have fallen foul of the confusion about how services will be funded,' comments Evans, reflecting on how the current upheavals of the Home Office are affecting charities.
'Families of drug users are a stigmatised sector of society, yet they play such a huge role in rehabilitation. But they can’t do it if they don’t get help themselves from charities like Adfam', says Evans.
Adfam is not the only charity feeling the effects of poor funding processes and practices. An estimated 92% of public service delivery by charities is undertaken on contract terms of less than one year. This means that charities often shoulder the risk and the burden of reapplying every 12 months, and long-term planning becomes impossible. Another problem is that funding often does not cover the total cost of services.
Who loses out?
Seven out of every ten prisoners have used illegal drugs in the year prior to their arrest and the families of drug users face a unique combination of challenges. They struggle to repair a damaged relationship and help their loved one stay on the straight and narrow. They also battle with their own feelings of anger and shame and some face pressure to take drugs into prison. It is not just drug users and their families who stand to win or lose from decisions about funding. It is all of us, since crime and re-offending affect everyone.
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