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Annex One
Assessments of women referred to 218
All females in court for fresh charges are interviewed automatically by members of the Assessment Team at 218. The court assessment collects basic information including:
- Basic demographics;
- Information about any children and their carers;
- Contacts with other services;
- Current use of drugs and alcohol, and how she is funding this;
- Why she is in court, any current criminal justice orders and disposals; and
- Current accommodation and whether she feels this is safe.
Very briefly, the court assessment also looks at physical, mental, and emotional health and benefits. The assessor then summarises the level of need and asks the woman whether she is interested in making contact with 218.
Women who are referred to 218 or who are interviewed at the courts must go through three further assessments before they are accepted into a programme there. These assessments are not only to collect information on a woman's needs and appropriateness for the service, but also to test her motivation to attend the service; if she is able to appear for the requisite three assessments, she is more likely to turn up for the programme as well.
At the time of this research, the first assessment covered the following:
- Basic demographic details and contact information;
- Substance use
- Severity Index (Scotland) (Asi-Lite) (Wilson et al.)
- Fast Alcohol Screening Test ( FAST) (Hodgson et al. 2002);
- Motivation for participating in 218; and
- Offending history and previous contacts with the CJS and Children's Panel.
The second assessment was conducted entirely by the District Nurse. This included:
- Detailed medical history;
- Physical examination;
- Physical and mental health (Avon Mental Health Measure); and
- Psychological functioning.
Finally, the third assessment consisted of:
- Goals for their time on the programme;
- Any personal circumstances, including care arrangements for children;
- Current accommodation;
- Employment and benefits;
- Life skills;
- Clinical assessment of life skills and access issues (Avon Mental Health Measure);
- Checklist of any prescribing; and
- Checklist of information given to the client about the programme.
Once the client has completed the assessments and has decided to take part in a programme, each programme has a final and very brief check-in assessment to ensure clients understand the policies and procedures that apply to them and whether they agree to these.
Once a client takes part in a programme, she is subject to regular reviews of her progress. Part of these reviews is a Service Outcome Check, which consists of stages or targets women are expected to reach before they may progress to the next level of service. Each programme - Safe, Connections, and Loss - sets specific outcomes for the women. The issues with stated outcomes include the following:
- Criminal justice issues;
- Substance misuse;
- Offending;
- Benefits;
- Accommodation;
- Relationships;
- Physical health;
- Emotional health; and
- Mental health.
The decision to move a client forward to the next stage or to keep her in a more basic programme is based on her progress towards these outcome measures.
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