Maximizing the benefits of OLASS for female offenders: An evaluation of the issues
| Author | Becky Shepherd |
| Published date | 01 June 2007 |
| Date | 01 June 2007 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0264550507077239 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Maximizing the benefits of OLASS for female offenders:
An evaluation of the issues
This report provides an analysis of the Offender Learning and Skills Service, now
within the remit of the Learning and Skills Development Agency. Previous provision
was through the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA). OLASS’s aim is
to provide integrated, holistic learning and skills opportunities for offenders, with
a view to increasing career and education opportunities, through identifying factors
which most encourage offenders to take up learning and skills opportunities.
This report assesses the quality of the service for women offenders since its
inception in 2005/06, set within the wider context of NOMS. This is through exam-
ination of reviews, previous reports, focus groups, and interviews with practitioners
and women offenders in prison and in the community.
A key challenge to provision was that, owing to the smaller number of women’s
prisons, women are more likely to be placed far from home, with the attendant
disruption this entails. Although in theory women’s prisons have a regional struc-
ture, in practice provision is national, which makes providing consistent oppor-
tunities in custody difficult.
Prison-based practitioners reported difficulties in encouraging women to engage
with services in the early stages of custody: women’s focus when they entered
prison was family ties and outside responsibilities, especially those with children.
Staff noted that, unlike male prisoners, who tended to immediately focus on life
inside the prison, during the first six months women remained very concerned
about home responsibilities, often trying to manage things from within the prison,
and unable to take up learning opportunities. Staff and prisoners both mentioned
the need for access to learning provision to be ongoing and flexible, and not
something only available at the start of a sentence.
In the community, the importance of women-only learning settings was empha-
sized. Consistent with the wider profile of women offenders, learners were likely
to have experienced male violence or abuse, which made mixed-gender provision
inappropriate. It was acknowledged that currently the majority of community
provision is mixed gender.
The complexity of the profile of women offenders was noted, and the need for
services to reflect this. In comparison with learners in general, women offenders
are more likely to have experienced violence, to suffer from a mental health
problem, to have substance misuse issues, to self-harm, have low-self-esteem and
to have higher debt.
179
Probation Journal
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Copyright © 2007 NAPO Vol 54(2): 179–185
DOI: 10.1177/0264550507077239
www.napo.org.uk
http://prb.sagepub.com
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