PCC praises work of Cheshire’s women’s centres in reducing reoffending

Cheshire police and crime commissioner (PCC) David Keane has praised the work of women’s centres for supporting females in the criminal justice system and reducing reoffending.

Thanks to funding from the PCC, Cheshire Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice, three women’s centres have opened in Cheshire to provide community based support which focuses on the additional needs of the person, not just their crime.

The centres in Crewe, Macclesfield and Halton offer a range of services under one roof that work with females to address their complex needs and protect the community by reducing their risk of reoffending.

My CWA (Cheshire Without Abuse), who runs the centres in Crewe and Macclesfield, have offered female offenders the opportunity for a new start by providing placement opportunities, volunteering and training.

They’ve also worked with women to help them seek support for domestic abuse with 85 per cent of females they work with saying they’ve found it easier to accept support for domestic abuse incidents thanks to attending the women’s centre.

Over in Halton, the women’s centre has plans to extend its opening hours and offer an enhanced programme of activity once Covid-19 guidance allows, enabling it to support more vulnerable women. Since April 2020, it has supported 341 females despite the pandemic restrictions.

Another project running from the women’s centres is a restorative justice programme delivered by Remedi. Its innovative programme works with female offenders to address the root causes of their crime, including poverty, domestic abuse or sexual abuse or drug / alcohol abuse.

It is being used as an alternative to the traditional criminal justice process and sees case workers work closely with the offenders to develop appropriate practical solutions to address their offending.

Chloe* is a prolific shoplifter who was referred to the scheme during lockdown. She has received one-to-one support with health and financial issues which led to her offending. She’s also received support to cope with loneliness and boredom and looking into volunteering opportunities. Since she started working with Remedi, she hasn’t offended and has been able to stop her regular drug use.

Speaking about the work, David said: “The reasons why women commit crime can be extremely complex and are often significantly different to why men commit crime.

“Furthermore, the implications for women interacting with the criminal justice system can be devastating, in particular the impact on the family.

“It is not about letting offenders ‘off lightly’. It’s about addressing the complex needs of their offending.

“The work of women’s centres is essential in breaking this cycle and this funding has been critical in reducing the amount of women reoffending. In the past we’ve seen more than half of those released from custody reoffending within a year.

“Tackling and reducing the cycle of offending among women has a significant benefit to victims, families and female offenders themselves, which we’ve seen evidence of through the work of My CWA and Halton Women’s Centre.

“I hope that we can extend this work to increase on the hundreds of success stories we’ve already seen.”

*Name has been changed to protect the case studies identity.