Speakers
Parallel Workshops
Short sentence prisoners often face severe mental health challenges, addiction, homelessness and fragmented service contact—needs that cannot be met by corrections alone. This evaluation explored Extern’s Prisoner Support Project, a through the gate intervention supporting men in HMP Maghaberry and the community through collaborative, multi agency practice. Data from 119 service users and qualitative interviews showed high levels of complexity, yet strong evidence of reduced offending (70.6%), improved stability and enhanced well being for participants. The project’s impact was closely linked to its ability to bridge system gaps: coordinating housing access, healthcare, benefits, mental health support and addiction treatment, while sharing timely information with criminal justice partners. Stakeholders reported that this collaboration reduced missed appointments, increased treatment readiness and enabled agencies to focus on core interventions. Overall, the findings highlight how cross sector partnership—rather than standalone correctional interventions—is central to improving reintegration outcomes and reducing the revolving door cycle for high need, short sentence populations.
Denise is a qualified Social Worker with 11 years of professional experience and a commitment to supporting individuals facing complex social challenges. For the past six years, she has worked with Extern, a leading social justice charity delivering services across Ireland and the UK.
Denise began her work within Extern’s Approved Premises hostels, supporting individuals transitioning from the justice system back into the community.
She now works within Extern’s Prisoner Support Project; working to reduce reoffending within short sentence population by addressing key barriers such as homelessness, addiction, mental health difficulties, and social isolation.