Always Hope Evaluation Final Report

Claire Durrant, Tamsin Hinton-Smith and Lisa Holmes  

Between June 2021 and June 2023, the Innovation Unit (IU) delivered the Always Hope project to 61 care experienced young men in Brinsford and Swinfen Hall Youth Offender Institutions (YOI). The majority of the young men were under the responsibility of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton local authorities, however, nine were under the responsibility of Sandwell, Shropshire, Torbay and Worcester local authorities. Always Hope aims to reduce reoffending and improve outcomes for young people (aged 18-25) who have been in both the care system and prison, and comprises two key components. Firstly, Integrated Planning and Assessment (IPAA) which aims to improve how professionals in local authority leaving care services and the prison and probation service work together to provide support for care experienced young people in prison and on release. The second component of Always Hope is to offer opportunities for care experienced young people in prison to connect with a positive and sustainable network of friends, family and community members through either Lifelong Links in Coventry and Birmingham or Group Conferencing in Wolverhampton; notably, Group Conferencing does not include the tools and approaches that are a central part of Lifelong Links.

London: Innovation Unit, 2024. 101p.