During 2004-2005 Lifeline delivered drug services in 11 prisons across the North West prison area. These prisons include adult male prisons (both open and closed); adult female prisons and young offender institutions and the services Lifeline provides are predominantly CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare).

Early in 2004 Lifeline successfully bid to provide the CARAT service at HMP Liverpool, the biggest local prison in Europe holding 1,500 prisoners. Since we were already providing the CARAT service in another local, HMP Preston, we were able to train the new team to ‘hit the floor running’ when they started.

A new government initiative, the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP), was launched in the community. Local Drug Action Teams developed these services, which aim to link prisoners, due for release, to appropriate community services in their area of residence. DIP workers meet the prisoner and the prisoner’s CARAT Worker and jointly develop a Release Plan for the critical period of release from prison back into the local community.

Lifeline Prison Teams working in Young Offender Institutions developed a series of workbooks for the North West Area, which have proved to be very popular with Young Offenders. They can complete a series of modules either as ‘free time work’ or with their Drug Worker.
Prisoners at HMP Garth continue with the publication of ‘The Link’ magazine. The idea for the magazine, written and published ‘by prisoners for prisoners’, was the brain child of a Lifeline Drug Worker in HMP Garth. The magazine is distributed to every prison in England and Wales. The Editorial Team consists of a group of prisoners from HMP Garth. The Team receive contributions from prisoners and the editorial team plan content, edit, plan layout and arrange for publication. The magazine even has a devoted fan currently in prison in the USA.

2004-2005 was the final year for Lifeline’s existing CARATs contract with HM Prison Service. Early in 2004 the Prison Service had announced that a national procurement exercise would take place whereby existing contracts in England and Wales would be placed out to tender. The process took place over most of 2004-2005 and involved several stages including pre-tender; tender; presentation and interview; award of new contracts and a number of less formal stages. Lifeline tendered to provide CARAT services in a number of prisons. We had a clear strategy to build on our existing successes and made an attempt to extend our services to prisons where we were not already providing services. We were delighted when, in March 2005, Lifeline was awarded contracts to deliver CARAT services in 13 prisons in the North West Prison Area, 3 prisons in the North East Prison Area and 9 prisons in Yorkshire & Humberside Prison Area.

Keith Owen