What is Throughcare?
Throughcare is the provision of a range of social work and associated services to prisoners and their families from the point of sentence or remand, during the period of imprisonment, and following release into the community.
Local Authorities have a statutory responsibility for prisoners sentenced to over 4 years in prison on release and for those sentenced to Supervised Release Orders and Extended Sentences. (Supervised Release Orders and Extended Sentences allow courts to impose, at the point of sentence, additional post-release supervision on licence where necessary.)
Local Authorities also have statutory responsibility to offer voluntary aftercare which consists of advice, guidance and assistance to people who request such a service within 12 months of their release from custody. This service might be in the form of general advice or referral to services e.g. access to benefits, accommodation, education and training or alcohol/drugs treatment.
Throughcare consists of two elements - work done within the prison setting through interventions aimed at helping individuals change their behaviour and work in the community to reintegrate prisoners back into society.
Local Authority Social Work Departments work to the National Objectives and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System (NOS) which set out their responsibilities in respect of the imprisonment and preparation for release of offenders.