1. Voluntary and Statutory Sector Provision: What Role Does the Type of Provider Play in Improving Outcomes?
Dr Michelle Butler, Dr Aisling McLaughlin, Dr David Hayes, Dr Andrew Percy
14 June 2018
Strengthening

2. Northern Ireland Desistance Reintegration Skills development
Voluntary and community sector (VCS) involvement viewed as key to helping with:
Desistance
Reintegration
Skills development
Repairing harm
Reducing stigma
Minimising negative impact of imprisonment on families
Some examples include:

3. Northern Ireland
Working in partnership with the VCS is actively encouraged by the NI government, public bodies, prison service and other criminal justice institutions.
‘Cocktail’ of VCS funders.
Diverse VCS catering to different groups in different areas.
Primarily challenge practices by pushing for change on the inside, holding events to debate practice, research and providing staff training.

4. Northern Ireland
Tendency to believe that VCS involvement is beneficial because:
It can prompt better engagement from those who are hard to reach, disengaged or distrustful of services.
Can provide greater flexibility in tailoring services to meet the specific needs of users.
Engagement with services can be less stigmatising.
It may be more cost effective and provide better value for money.
It can contribute to the legitimation of statutory services.
It may improve outcomes by promoting the adoption of policy and practice that better meets the needs of users.

5. Voluntary Versus Statutory Service Provision
While some of the strengths of the VCS is its ability to engage people and its flexibility, no consistent differences in outcomes or experience of accessing services was found between different types of service providers.
Instead, the culture and working practices of each individual service provider was more important in shaping outcomes than type of service provider.

6. Improving Outcomes Outcomes were improved by:
Effective interagency collaboration
Reviewing the commissioning process used
Employing case coordinators when multiple different providers involved in providing services.
(see Butler, Aisling, Hayes & Percy (2016)

7. Email: michelle.butler@qub.ac.uk
Tel: