Judicial Brochure: Accredited Programmes
An overview of the accredited programme requirement for members of the judiciary
Applies to England and Wales
Overview
Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes are psychological interventions that target the underlying factors that can lead to offending behaviour in order to reduce an individual’s risk of future offending. They aim to reduce participants’ risk of reoffending by teaching them skills and methods that can help improve decision-making, problem solving, and self-management and regulation of their emotions.
Accredited Programmes are designed around the same core factors evidenced to be most prevalent and predictive of reoffending: impulsive behaviour and lack of self-control, anti-social attitudes and thinking, and social networks engaged in crime and problematic relationships. The Correctional Services Advice & Accreditation Panel (CSAAP) helps HMPPS to accredit programmes by reviewing programme design, quality assurance procedures and findings, and programme evaluations. CSAAP members are independent, international ‘what works’ academics and practitioners who make recommendations about whether to accredit a programme to the HMPPS Rehabilitation Board. HMPPS is accountable for decisions to accredit programmes and remain compliant with legislation.
Building Choices (BC)
Building Choices is a cognitive-behavioural programme, consisting of group and one to one sessions for men and women age 18+, and is inclusive of people with Learning Disabilities & Challenges (LDC). It supports skill development in emotion management, healthy thinking, healthy relationships, sense of purpose, and healthy sex (where relevant).
Building Choices provides a structured opportunity to learn, strengthen, and practice skills and behaviour that targets areas of common criminogenic need without defining or limiting what participants can address by offence labels, enabling participants to develop skills for change and future focused goals that may support them in building a crime free life.
Eligibility is determined by an assessment of risk and need, with moderate and high intensity offers available. A person-centred, needs-led approach enables participants to personalise criminogenic needs by recognising and addressing the individual needs of participants rather than the offence in order to address both offence-specific and wider offending behaviour risks and needs to target the versatility of offending behaviour.
Individual Requirements
Building Choices has been designed to be accessible for all people aged 18+ convicted of offending behaviour with appropriate assessments for risk levels and criminogenic needs. There will be specific groups offered for women and for people with Learning Disabilities and Challenges (LDC).
Please note: People convicted of sexual offending will also be offered specific groups to enable physical and psychological safety for all participants.
Need Requirements:
- medium or above risk of re-offending within 2 years, according to relevant actuarial risk assessments
- criminogenic needs targeted by the programme. These are:
- healthy thinking
- emotional management
- relationships
- healthy sex
Delivery Method
Building Choices is comprised of between 26 (moderate intensity, 21 group and 5 individual) and 52 (high intensity, 46 group and 6 individual) sessions, with the ultimate volume and time needed to complete the programme based on the specific needs of the individual taking part.
Healthy Identity Intervention (HII)
The Healthy Identity Intervention (HII) is a one-to-one programme that targets the social and psychological drivers of extremist offending. HII is made up of a combination of discussion, reflection, written exercises and skills practices. The central aims of the HII are to:
- Prevent reoffending by reducing an individual’s willingness to offend on behalf of an extremist group, cause or ideology (i.e. desistance), and;
- Promote and facilitate disengagement from an extremist group, cause, or ideology
The number of modules and sessions an individual completes will depend on their particular level of risk and need. The more engaged and identified a participant is with an extremist group, cause or ideology, the more modules of the HII they are likely to complete.
It is important to note that while HII is available in all regions, it is only for TACT cases and can only be deemed suitable following completion of an Extremism Risk Guidance (ERG) report completed post-sentence on all TACT and TACT-related cases. In the extremely rare case that an individual convicted of TACT offences is under consideration for a community-based sentence, HII could not be recommended in the pre-sentence report as it is not possible to assess for eligibility / suitability until the ERG is completed post-sentence. Therefore, we would instead propose RAR days and either deliver HII if suitable, or an alternative intervention if not.
Individual Requirements
- Gender: Male and Female
- Age: 18+
Need Requirements:
Eligibility for HII requires evidence that the individual’s offence was motivated by engagement and / or identification with an extremist group, cause, and / or ideology. The individual should exhibit risks and / or needs identified in the ERG assessment that are designed to be targeted by the HII.
Individuals do not need to admit to their offence, but must to be willing to discuss their engagement in an extremist group, cause and / or ideology.
Delivery Method
HII is a one-to-one programme that is flexible to each individual’s risks and needs; it is made up of core module and a number of optional modules designed to support and facilitate participants in their desistance and disengagement. Each module contains numerous sessions that can be delivered over one or several meetings with the participant.
The HII is delivered over approximately 3-6 months, but the total length of delivery can vary greatly depending on the needs of participants and their level of engagement and identification with an extremist group, cause, or ideology.