Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health

Employment after prison

The barriers to employment for people with mental health problems are well documented but for those with mental health problems in the criminal justice system the barriers are even higher.

Discrimination, disempowerment, lack of up-to-date skills, lack of self confidence, no recent track record of employment and a lack of skilled support to help overcome these barriers are the common experience of all too many people who have experienced mental ill health.

Some 90% of people entering prisons are estimated to have a mental health problem or a substance misuse problem and two-thirds of the people who go to prison are unemployed - this is thirteen times more than the national unemployment rate. Furthermore, around two-thirds of those who do have a job lose it whilst in custody.

Employment is a key factor in reducing re-offending: being in work reduces the risk of re-offending by between a third and a half.

Developing ways into work

Our two main themes of Employment and Criminal Justice work together closely on the development of ways into employment for people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system.

We are building on our evaluation of the work rehabilitation in Broadmoor Hospital and the supported employment and peer mentoring scheme in Liverpool prison.

We work in partnership with key agencies, including the Prison Reform Trust, the National Offender Management Service, who have employment for offenders as one of their resettlement work areas, the Offender Health Unit in the Department of Health and the Prison Service.

Our work will focus on the identification of effective vocational pathways, for people in secure settings as well as on community sentences, making recommendations for further research and influencing policymakers to ensure policy supports this key priority area.