High Risk of Reoffending

The initial focus of the IOM Cymru partnership involved the development of multi-agency local delivery schemes across Wales, which have allowed partners to work together to manage some of the most challenging and persistent offenders causing harm to local communities.

These schemes typically involve dedicated local Police, NPS and Wales CRC staff working closely with other agencies including substance misuse teams, Housing, Health and the Department of Work and Pensions, to ensure the right support is provided at the right time to reduce the risk of reoffending.

The local schemes will typically perform the following key functions:

  • Share intelligence and information dynamically to support strong risk management
  • Link in with Community Safety Partnerships and carry out offender profiling in order to identify local crime and reoffending priorities and direct resource allocation to reflect local need
  • Identify those offenders likely to benefit from a more intensive approach to supervision due to their specific risk and needs
  • Provide supervision and oversight of offenders who are not subject to any statutory requirements. These offenders may be non-statutory from when they are included on an IOM cohort (including those referred in by other agencies) or they may require continued management post statutory intervention
  • Respond to imminent risk and offender crisis, engaging with offenders and partners to address any concerns at the earliest possible opportunity
  • Provide specific support to address factors which may contribute to offending, including assistance with accommodation, substance misuse, education, training and employability and health needs
  • Respond to emerging/short-term crime and reoffending issues

More information on how these schemes have been set up locally can be found here.

The wider IOM Cymru partnership supports this operational delivery by producing guidance (which has included the IOM Cymru Toolkit and the IOM Cymru Strategic Framework and Delivery Manual), as well as informing the development of national IOM policy and practice guidance. The partnership has worked together to produce a multi-agency induction and training package for all practitioners working in IOM teams, and also carries out periodic benchmarking activity to ensure the quality and consistency of IOM delivery across Wales.