‘I Made the Mistakes, so you Don’t Have to’: Practical Considerations for Integrating Lived Experience Into Criminal Justice Service Delivery (PID137)

11am – 11.30am EDT, 5 September 2024 ‐ 30 mins

Workshop Session

Services delivered in criminal justice settings by Justice Involved people have improved levels of engagement and retention. Lived Experience models of delivery often use mentoring, with proven reciprocal benefits to both mentors and mentees in improving desistance. The Ingeus UK justice business has been developing different approaches to Lived Experience for over 10 years. An average of 17% of our Justice workforce have Lived Experience, with most having been Ingeus service users before becoming members of staff. This presentation shares learning of delivering Lived Experience models for those working in criminal justice settings covering: 
• Our Academy Model, which creates a structured pathway from service user, through volunteer support and peer mentoring, to paid employment as a route out of offending.
• Practical tools and tips the management of an impactful Lived Experience programme.
• The impact of services and how our experience compares with academic studies of mentoring and Lived Experience. 
• Examples of how our Academy provides opportunities to achieve tertiary desistance.
We will conclude the presentation using stories (videos) of people with Lived Experience in their own words, setting out how they have benefited from and helped others through the approach. 
In 2023, Ingeus commissioned an independent review of our Lived Experience model. This highlighted improved outcomes both for service users and for Lived Experience participants, as well as benefits for Ingeus as an employer with improved retention, shorter recruitment times, and fewer sick days, from those who had participated in the programme.