Many people who've been to prison have a drug addiction that's hard to kick

 

 

 

The Prison Service estimates that more than half of the 140,000 prisoners received into custody each year have a history of class A drug use.

Many former prisoners with a history of drug addiction find it hard to be helped with housing away from their local area which is usually where they underwent drug rehabilitation programmes. This in turn makes it difficult for them to give up the drugs and give up the crimes they do to support their habit.

They can receive help with housing from the area they lived in before their arrest. However, this usually isn’t an ideal situation as their drug taking friends and drug dealers are there.

Some former prisoners are lucky, such as former heroin addict, Steven Wallace, aged 43. He said:

“I realised that I wanted to live I didn’t want to die on the streets sticking a needle in my arm.”

“I was recommended rehab away from London, and away from my drug addict friends and drug dealers, so I came to Bournemouth which really helped me give myself a fighting chance.”

“The carats team in prison helped me get into a rehab centre, and that rehab centre helped me find accommodation.”

Unfortunately in most cases former prisoners who wish to relocate to another area away from the temptation surrounding them are unable to do so unless they have the funds to pay for private accommodation.

 

 

Housing organisations’ help is limited

Many organisations which help with housing such as Supporting People, a central government funded initiative which funds various hostels nationwide, are adamant to help former prisoners that stay in their local area after prison. 

However, currently Supporting People are adamant to help former prisoners that stay in their local area after prison. Chris Lewis, the Project Manager from the Bournemouth Supporting People branch, said:

“We do actually provide a few services but because this is a Bournemouth provided service and comes out of our budget we would expect the priority to be for people from Bournemouth, particularly because of the current economic climate.”

“However, the concept of cross authority working is an issue that is continually discussed. The position at the moment is we are in discussions with people like probation and the other administrating authorities in Dorset to see if it’s possible to set up some cross authority arrangements within Dorset.”