Throughcare
Anyone sentenced to custody is entitled to post-release support and/or supervision from East Lothian's Justice Social Work Service. The service is designed to support the individual from the point of sentence until their supervision period is completed to aid their rehabilitation and reintegration back into the local community on release.
Statutory Throughcare
This service is for people sentenced to four years or more in custody, and is also for people who were convicted of sexual offences or sentenced to a Supervised Release Order, Extended Sentence, or Order for Lifelong Restriction. It starts when the person enters custody and they are allocated a Community-Based Social Worker (CBSW) and ends when the statutory supervision period is complete. It can be overseen by either the Court or the Parole Board, and if the person does not comply they risk being returned to custody. It can be viewed as serving the remainder of a prison sentence in the community rather than custody.
Voluntary Throughcare
This is the service offered to people who are imprisoned on short-term sentences of less than four years. Voluntary Throughcare starts when the person is sentenced to custody, and runs throughout their sentence and for a year after their release.
Community Based Social Work
The Community-Based Social Worker (CBSW) is in contact with the prisoner and their family throughout the custodial term. The aim is to develop positive relationships with community services and resources to provide support prior to release. Once released the individual is required to meet regularly with their social worker and continue to undertake group or individual sessions to support reintegration and address the issues that resulted in the offending behaviour.
Prison Based Social Work
People with statutory supervision as part of their sentence will have a Prison-Based Social Worker (PBSW) as well as a Community-Based Social Worker. The PBSW will meet with the prisoner to complete their risk assessments and is also involved in the Integrated Case Management (ICM) process. They will also prepare reports for the Parole Board and work with the CBSW to decide whether the person is ready to be released.
Family Support
Maintaining contact between the prisoner and their family is extremely important and key to promoting a non-offending lifestyle on release. There are several organisations that offer support to families: