BAC-IN, The Reach Report

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT: HOME OFFICE DRUG INTERVENTIONS PROGRAMME

REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY LED RESEARCH PROJECT FOCUSSING ON A GAP ANALYSIS OF TREATMENT SERVICES FOR BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC SUBSTANCE MISUSERS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

‘REACH REPORT’ BY THE BAC-IN BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC PROJECT

COMMUNITY IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

SUMMARY REPORT

The full Reach Report is available in PDF format here
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Manjit Singh Johal, Sohan Sahota

March 2007

Funded by the Home Office, managed and supported by
The Centre for Ethnicity and Health, University of Central Lancashire

This document is a summary of the ‘Reach Report’ by the BAC-IN Black and minority ethnic project; a Community Engagement Project report within the Home Office Drug Interventions Programme (DIP).

The main report was produced in March 2006 as a result of a community led research project focusing on a needs analysis of treatment services for Black and minority ethnic substance misusers in the criminal justice system.

This summary report encapsulates the aims of the main report, the methodology used for the research and the findings arising from the research project. It also summarises the recommendations made in the main report.

Attached to this summary report is a brief outline of BAC-IN and developments that have happened since the Reach Report was produced and can be seen as resulting from the report itself.

The target group for the research project was male Black and minority ethnic substance misusers over the age of 18 within the prison service, engaged with the Probation Service or the local CJIT or in the community. The target community for the report was Nottinghamshire.

The BAC-IN Black and minority ethnic project was appointed to carry out the research due to their knowledge of drug related issues in the Black and minority ethnic community; the fact that the team are all ex substance misusers; have strong links to the local Black and minority ethnic community and are aware of the increasing problem of drug use within that community.

The Reach Report sets out to examine how far the aim of the Drug Interventions Programme to provide a beginning to end support programme for offenders with drug problems passing through the criminal justice system is a reality for BME substance misusers in Nottinghamshire. It also aims to build on the work of the recent ASK report to examine the experience of Black and minority ethnic substance misusers in prison and after their release.

“A Beginning-To-End Support System

Offenders are unlikely to come into contact with the programme just once, and their support needs will not end when they finish their sentence or treatment. Therefore, DIP interventions form part of a beginning to end support programme that follows and manages offenders as they pass through the criminal justice system, covering the following areas:

• Police custody
• Treatment
• The courts and probation
• Through care and aftercare
• Prison

Drug Interventions Programme, Nottinghamshire County Strategy Document
April 2004

“During the course of this research it became apparent that there are real opportunities to undertake specific work with BME offenders, prisoners and ex-prisoners. A review would look into the treatment being received whilst in prison and the links and relationships between prison based and community based services. The review would also take into account the current provision of through care and aftercare services for [Black and minority ethnic] substance using offenders across the county [of Nottinghamshire].

The research could concentrate on service providers both in prison and the community; and track substance using offenders in prison and after their release.”

Ask Report: Asking Nottinghamshire’s Black and Minority Ethnic people and communities about substance misuse – their needs and experiences.
Sheik-Latif, N. and Smith, Z. November 2005

Overall the Reach Report seeks to:
• understand and analyse the experience of Black and minority ethnic substance misusers in the criminal   justice system;
• analyse how effectively Black and minority ethnic offenders with substance misuse problems are able   to access treatment services at different stages in their journey through the criminal justice system;
• identify gaps in the treatment pathway for the target group;
• examine the obstacles and barriers to effective access to treatment services and make     recommendations to ensure that any gaps can be filled and barriers removed;
• make recommendations to ensure that those with substance misuse problems from the Black and   minority ethnic community in the Criminal Justice system can access the kinds of treatment and   support they need at all stages - from arrest to prison to community treatment and aftercare.

It is not the comprehensive review called for by the ASK report; rather it is an attempt to begin a process of research and reach some initial conclusions concerning the needs of Black and minority ethnic substance misusers in the criminal justice system in Nottinghamshire.

Mixed methodologies were employed to gather and analyse the data for the research project. A combination of focus groups, questionnaires and secondary data from existing reports and reviews of local policies and documents were employed to provide both the qualitative and statistical information within the Reach Report.

The questionnaires were compiled using the researchers own knowledge of substance misuse within the Black and minority ethnic community, along with questions that the researchers felt needed to be answered.

There was a particular focus on the employment and training of peer interviewers to gain access to Black and minority ethnic offenders with substance misuse problems within the prison system as well as within the community.

It is recognised that the research sample is small; with only 25 questionnaires of the initial target of eighty-six having been completed and returned. Statistically this is not a particularly significant sample. However, particularly within the qualitative data gathered, the research has a great deal of validity. It raises some interesting and challenging questions for treatment services. The views expressed by those who completed questionnaires in terms of the effectiveness of wrap-around treatment appear to point to considerable gaps and failures in treatment services for Black and minority ethnic substance misusers.

The questionnaire findings are backed up by the views expressed by the five participants in the focus group. The focus group findings provide important qualitative data on the experiences of Black and minority ethnic substance misusers who have passed through the criminal justice system.

The findings confirm that the target group was reached. All participants in the research were male and from Black and minority ethnic communities. The majority were in the age range 30-39. The largest ethnic groups represented were Black British Caribbean, Asian British Pakistani and Asian British Indian.

The predominant religion was Islam (38%) for those who completed questionnaires.

Many of the target group struggle to deal with painful feelings such as guilt, isolation, shame, despair and fear as well as dealing with mental health problems. These are difficult psychological and mental health issues underlying their drug addictions which services need to be able to respond to sensitively and effectively.

All 25 of the questionnaire respondents had experienced arrest. 14 were serving a prison sentence with sentences ranging from 30 days to 19.5 years.

Crucially, 16 of the 25 respondents stated that their arrest did not lead to a drugs test.

Only 7 respondents stated they had been put into contact with a support agency and only 5 could identify which agency.

It appears that a significant number of those who took part in the research did not feel that the staff they encountered even cared about their problem. Responses to the question ‘Did staff care about you and your problems’ included:

• Didn’t feel any connection or empathy’
• ‘Becomes boring to them see so many’
• ‘No, [staff did not care] on release will have to live in bail hostel with drug users’

If Black and minority ethnic substance misusers in the criminal justice system feel that staff do not even care about them there would appear to be little prospect of actively and successfully engaging them in treatment programmes and aftercare services.

Amongst respondents there appears to be some confusion concerning which agency they might be in contact with. For example, there appears to be confusion about whether a worker is an arrest referral worker or not? The different roles of workers and the agencies they represent need to be made clear to service users.

The report identifies a need for services to make available culturally appropriate support to those clients from Black and minority ethnic communities with substance misuse problems. The best way to understand what shape these services might need to take will be to consult with Black and minority ethnic clients and organisations.

17 of the twenty-five respondents who completed questionnaires were in prison. Of these, 6 stated that drug use was the reason they were there.

Responses to questions asking whether those in prison had seen a treatment service or probation worker whilst in prison present a very mixed view. Again there is a lack of clarity about workers, services and their titles or names.

The findings concerning respondents’ experiences of drug treatment whilst in prison paint a similarly unsatisfactory picture. Only 7 respondents stated that they were offered any treatment for their drug problem.

Only 7 of 14 respondents who answered the question stated that they had been offered any kind of support service for their drug use and only 7 of 14 said they had received any ‘drug education’.

An analysis of responses to the questionnaire in particular, focusing on respondents experiences of prison, highlights gaps and failings in services to Black and minority ethnic substance misusers.

[NB it should be acknowledged that in some instances respondent’s experiences in prison pre-date thelaunch of the DIP initiative.]

Findings concerning drug use show that respondents to the questionnaire used a wide variety of drugs, with crack and heroin being the drugs of choice for the majority. Respondents to the questionnaire and those who took part in the focus group stated that they were spending between less than £50 to over £1000 per week on drugs, with the majority spending between £150 and £550 per week. It is reasonable to assume that this would have been funded through crime.

When questioned about their alcohol use, 6 of 17 respondents stated that they had a problem with alcohol. 7 of 14 respondents stated that their alcohol use had contributed to their drug taking and 11 of 13 stated they had frequently mixed drugs and alcohol. 7 respondents stated that they had substituted drugs with alcohol.

Overall these findings paint a picture of the target group mixing drugs and alcohol and moving between the two when necessary or when it helped. This highlights the well-established link between drug and alcohol misuse and points to the need to develop strategies and provide services that will enable drug users to tackle their drug and alcohol problems together.

• Significant gaps in services
• A regular failure by services to respond to the particular cultural, spiritual, psychological and emotional needs of the research group
• Often unhelpful attitudes and approaches on behalf of staff and institutions

The research findings point to the need to significantly improve services at all stages – from arrest to custody to aftercare.

However, the picture is not all bleak. Responses to a question about treatment staff were overall very positive. 8 of 10 respondents rated their satisfaction with staff as 6 and above on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 as not very satisfied’ and 10 as ‘very satisfied’.)

Both the questionnaire respondents and those who took part in the focus group make many useful recommendations as to how services to Black and minority ethnic substance misusers in the Criminal Justice system can be changed and improved.