Discharge and After-care in Prisons

All prisons in England and Wales make pre-release preparations. Pris­oners serving four years or more are considered for outside employment before release. For those selected, work is found outside the prison for about the last six months of sentence: during the period prisoners may live in a separate part of the prison or in a hostel outside. Normal wages are paid so that they resume support for their families. (In Scotland pre­release arrangements differ from these in some respects.) Periods of home leave may be granted to those serving medium- or longer-term sentences to help them maintain family ties and to assist them with their resettle­ment. In Northern Ireland arrangements exist for prisoners serving fixed sentences to have short periods of leave near the end of their sentences and at Christmas; life sentence prisoners are given a nine-month pre-re­lease programme which includes employment outside the prison.

The aim of after-care, run by the probation service (in Scotland, the local authority social work departments), is to assist offenders on return to society. Compulsory supervision is given to most offenders under 21 when released, adult offenders released on parole, and those released on licence from a life sentence. A voluntary system is offered to others. Assistance is also provided by voluntary societies, some of which are af­filiated to the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Of­fenders. There is also a Scottish Association for the Care and Resettle­ment of Offenders. Hostels and accommodation may be provided, often with government financial help. The Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, also a voluntary group, is mainly concerned with assisting petty criminals and alcoholics towards rehabilitation and social awareness.