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Accommodation & Reintegration from Prison

Katherine Price Hughes House

We believe everyone deserves at least a fair chance in life. And even a second chance, right? We believe nobody should be without a chance.

The chance to talk; the chance to turn their life around; the chance to contribute to society.

We offer men leaving prison the chance to change their life for the better. To be who they’re meant to be. To improve their prospects. To become valued members of their communities. To make amends. To realise their goals and ambitions.

Because often, a fair chance is all it takes.

At Katherine Price Hughes House (KPH), we give men who’ve been through the criminal justice system the space to journey from custody to community. Our expert team works with them to offer them the opportunity to talk and to support them with what matters to them.

By accessing housing, health and employment support, training and education, we help them focus on their future and not the past, preventing them from homelessness and reducing the likelihood of them re-offending.

Men leaving prison

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of the men who come to our supported accommodation after leaving prison, have experienced trauma in their lives, often in their childhood. Many have been the victim of sexual, emotional or physical abuse, and/or have gone straight from the care system, mental health hospitals or homelessness to prison.

Many of the men we work with have undiagnosed learning disabilities or have been the victims of people trafficking.

Our team of dedicated, experienced key workers, most of whom have worked in the criminal justice and probation sector, walk alongside men during their 3 month stay in our accommodation, giving them practical support and signposting them to organisations and services who will be part of their rehabilitation and transition back to community after prison.
We advocate for men who haven’t been given a fair start, to give them a fair chance.

Snapshot of KPH residents in 2022

22%

have Serious Group Offending (gang affliation issues)

17%

are Foreign Nationals with no recourse to public funds

18%

are care experienced and have suffered physical and emotional abuse

22%

have a developmental disability such as autism, Asperger’s and neurodevelopmental disorder such as ADHD

44%

have drug addiction

44%

have mental health – includes post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, anxiety, depression

Where men have experienced long-term street homelessness, or have spent a long time in prison, they’re often not used to having boundaries in place and struggle with managing their money and medication, sometimes still in the grasps of addiction and self-medication. During weekly key work sessions, our teams work with the men to help them set up bank accounts and claim benefits, connect them with mental health workers in the community, and support them to take medication.

Many of the men we work with also have a low reading and writing level, so we work with them and their probation officer to help them complete housing applications, and give advice and guidance on securing and maintaining longer-term accommodation when they move on. We run workshops and interactive sessions to help the men with other practical life skills, as well as budgeting and money management, including cooking classes that also help with how to shop for food, ordering food online, how to use public transport and topping up their oyster card.

We have a culture of following up with the men after they leave KPH, to check on their well-being as well as their progress. We often welcome the men back to KPH, particularly those who are most vulnerable and feeling at risk of suicide or self-harm. Some of them get in touch when they’re feeling anxious, and our skilled staff communicate effectively with them as well as signposting them to other services that best address their current needs.

Our vision for the future of support to men leaving prison

Research shows that 70% of the prison population have two or more diagnoses of learning disability, acquired brain injury, autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, personality disorder, psychosis, depression or anxiety, drug dependency or alcohol dependency. Our current funding ensures that we can provide the basic practical advice and support to help with the first steps of reintegrating back into society.

With your help, we can do more.