Alongside accommodation, family and community support, employment plays a critical role in rehabilitation. Seetec’s credentials in providing careers advice, developing skills and creating employment opportunities, combined with our rehabilitation expertise, enable us to achieve better outcomes for everyone.

We provide programmes that challenge domestic abuse and that also supports survivors. We run programmes for service users who commit domestic abuse as well as for people who have not been sentenced, but who wish to change their behaviour. All of our domestic abuse programmes include support for current and ex-partners of the perpetrator, through our specialist domestic abuse safety advisors.

Many of our service users have substance misuse issues, irrespective of their offence. Our one-to-one work with service users as well as our group-based programme, which includes regular testing for drug use, addresses these problems through structured intervention.

Understanding the needs of all our service users – including women, people from black and minority ethnic communities (BAME), travellers and people from LBGTI communities – is paramount to our work in designing and providing programmes that engage them and succeed in reducing their reoffending. For example, to ensure women feel safe and able to fully engage in their rehabilitation, we provide women-only Community Payback projects, women-only reporting times at our offices, the opportunity to have a female Responsible Officer (Probation Supervisor) and women-only accredited programmes.

Our service users who have committed crimes such as motoring offences, public order offences, theft and other dishonesty are likely to be sentenced by the courts to Community Payback. It’s intended to punish, as well as make amends to the community for harm done. Service users assigned to our supervision typically work on projects in:

• Landscaping and forestry
• Building and maintenance
• Painting and decorating
• Litter picking and graffiti removal

Community Payback has a strong rehabilitative value, as the service user learns new skills increasing their chances of getting a job. Research has shown that service users who gain employment are 30% less likely to reoffend. The safety of the public is paramount and we carefully assess all service users before they are allocated to projects. Our trained probation staff always supervise groups working in public settings, such as parks.

Our volunteers play a vital role in supporting service users to reintegrate into the community, an important part of their journey to a crime-free life. From helping to complete an application form, to support with attending an appointment, our volunteers undertake a variety of tasks. As well as volunteers from the general public, we have peer mentor volunteers who are former service users. Their life experience is particularly valuable, as they understand from a personal perspective the problems and issues service users may face. All our volunteers receive training and ongoing support.

We work closely with the police, the National Probation Service, the voluntary sector and other organisations to deliver Integrated Offender Management (IOM) services. IOM targets service users who have a history of regularly committing crimes over a period of time. The causes of their offending can be complex, varied and deeply rooted. By working in partnership, together we help reduce the likelihood of these service users reoffending.

Community Rehabilitation Companies are a member of their local Community Safety Partnerships which include representatives from the:

• Police
• Local authorities
• Fire and rescue authorities
• Probation service
• Health sector

We work together to protect local communities from crime and to help people feel safer. Community Safety Partnerships work out how to deal with local issues like antisocial behaviour, drug or alcohol misuse and reoffending. They annually assess local crime priorities and consult partners and the local community about how to deal with them.

Along with other agencies in the Criminal Justice System, as well as other bodies such as local authorities, Seetec Justice has statutory safeguarding responsibilities towards service users and staff. This includes our statutory duty under the Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015 to prevent people being drawn into terrorism.