Plymouth CASS + Report
September 2017
Service Users
CASS+ worked with 88 clients during September.
51males comprised20defendants (on the day),2 victims,18 currently in touch with the criminal justice system, 8 clients who were re-engaging with CASS and 3 drop ins.
37females comprised9defendants (on the day),1family,7 victims,8 currently involved with the criminal justice system, 11 clients who were re-engaging with CASS and 1 drop in.
18were first time clients of CASS.
2 referrals were from District judge,6 from Magistrates, 1 from Community Court Magistrates, 3from solicitors,5 from probation,3 from court staff,2word of mouth and 1 was from external agencies.
A minimum of 25additional clientswere helped without the need to complete a contact form.There were 69 clients this month that identified themselves with mental illness, 12 with learning difficulties and 11 with physical difficulties.
We would like to welcome Caroline and Rachel to the team, they will be undertaking their training next month alongside Will, Alice and Melissa who will be starting next month.
Clients issues and referrals made to support clients to resolve these issues.
Issues raised and where referred to: Family
Raised / Referred / ResolvedFamily / 8
Access / 7 / 7
Advice/ support / 7
Torquay & Newton Abbot County Court / 1 / 1
Pregnancy / 1
Hghbury Trust / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Criminal Justice
Raised / Referred / ResolvedCriminal Justice / 32
Advice/support / 15
Assistance with means form / 6
Great Western Railway Customer Support / 1 / 1
Support in Court / 1
Letter to Crown Court / 1
Letter to Magistrates / 1
Plymouth Crown Court / 1 / 1
Cells / 2 / 2
probation / 4 / 4
Solicitor / 2 / 2
Legal Advisor / 1 / 1
usher / 6 / 6
Issues raised and where referred to: Drugs
Raised / Referred / ResolvedDrugs / 2
Advice/support / 1
RISE Recovery- Devon. / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Alcohol
Raised / Referred / ResolvedAlcohol / 6
Advice/support / 4
A.A.(Alcoholics Anonymous) / 3 / 3
Hamoaze House / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Debt
Raised / Referred / ResolvedDebt / 28
Advice/support / 15
Money Advice Plymouth / 3 / 3
Food Bank / 1 / 1
City College Finance / 1 / 1
CHOICES / 1 / 1
Bailiff / 1 / 1
Stop Loan Sharks / 1 / 1
Harbour / 1 / 1
First Stop Shop / 2 / 2
D.W.P. (Department of Working Pensions) / 1 / 1
Assist with paper work / 1
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Issues raised and where referred to: Benefits
Raised / Referred / ResolvedBenefits / 30
Advice/support / 16
Upper Tribunal (HMCTS)- Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service. / 2 / 2
E.S.A helpline- (Employment Support Allowance.) / 1 / 1
Income Support new claims / 1 / 1
Young Person’s Advisor / 1 / 1
C.A.B. Totnes (Improving Lives) / 1 / 1
D.W.P / 2 / 2
City Bus / 1 / 1
Plymouth House / 1 / 1
Job Centre / 1 / 1
Food Bank / 1 / 1
Plymouth Community Homes / 2 / 2
Assist with Limited Capability Form / 2
Assist with tribunal / 1
DIAC- Disability Information and Advice Centre / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Fines
Raised / Referred / ResolvedFines / 6
Advice/support / 2
Fines office / 4 / 4
West Midlands Fines Department / 1 / 1
Birmingham Magistrates Court / 1 / 1
Listings / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Accommodation
Raised / Referred / ResolvedAccommodation / 14
Homelessness / 9
Advice/support / 3
The Zone / 1 / 1
Torbay Council / 2 / 2
Plymouth City Council / 1 / 1
G.P. / 1 / 1
Cells / 1 / 1
solicitor / 1 / 1
usher / 1 / 1
Adult Social Care / 1 / 1
Cornwall Council / 1 / 1
Cornwall Onward Care Team / 1 / 1
Leonard Stocks Hostel / 1 / 1
Safe Space / 1 / 1
Tenancy / 5
Advice/support / 5
Caring for Carers / 1 / 1
We are increasingly being approached about Housing issues, since the closure of Torquay Court there has been an influx of enquiries for the Torbay area, therefore we are having to expand our sign posting knowledge and build new networks.
We are anticipating that homelessness may grow with the rolling out of Universal Credit across the city, as we are hearing from other parts of the country more people are accruing rent arrears leading to their subsequent eviction. Monthly payments will be made to claimants that will incorporate all of their benefits (to include rent), if careful budgeting is not undertaken this could lead to arrears. CASS+ will be on hand to support client to manage their finances, but we already find people struggling when they receive fortnightly payments.
Issues raised and where referred to: Mental Health
Raised / Referred / ResolvedMental Health / 22
Advice/support / 17
Operation Emotion / 2 / 2
CRUSE- Bereavement Service / 1 / 1
S.A.L.T. (Sexual Assault Listening Therapy) / 1 / 1
Probation / 2 / 2
Options / 2 / 2
G.P / 3 / 3
Paignton Mental Health Team / 1 / 1
Newton Abbot Rethink Services / 1 / 1
C.P.N. (Community Psychiatric Nurse) / 1 / 1
Open Mentoring Project / 1 / 1
MIND / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Physical Health
Raised / Referred / ResolvedPhysical Health / 2
Advice/support / 1
G.P. / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Domestic Abuse
Raised / Referred / ResolvedDomestic Abuse / 1
Advice/Support / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Education, Training and Employment.
Raised / Referred / ResolvedE.T.E. / 6
Advice/support / 7
Deep Blue Sound / 1 / 1
Issues raised and where referred to: Miscellaneous
Raised / Referred / ResolvedMiscellaneous / 3
Insurance / 1
DVLA / 1 / 1
Insurance Company / 1 / 1
Civil Case / 2
Advice/support / 1
Plymouth County Court / 1 / 1
Community Courts/CJSSS
CASS+ is operating in the Community Court every Thursday, please feel free to refer defendants for a problem solve prior to their sentencing, we will be happy to help. Many thanks to those Magistrates/DJ who have raised referrals to CASS+ post-sentence.
Plymouth Coordinator’s networking
Friday 8th September: Liz and two of the team attended Universal Credit Training at
Shekinah 24, this was delivered by D.W.P.
Thursday 14th September:
Liz attended training on presentation skills , this was a Work Shop run by POP+ at Devonport Guild Hall.
Friday 15th September
Staff meeting at Bodmin Magistrates Court.
Thursday 21st September
Liz attended the Mental Health Network Meeting hosted by Plymouth Aquarium. We had a general update from all of the services, commissioners and an interesting presentation from Active Devon.
The General Manager has attended a range of networking and partnership meetings.
In addition she has attended a Livewell Partnership event on 18th Sept and an LCJB/OPCC hosted partnership event on 21st.
Case Studies
Sadly we are sometimes faced with clients that have been sexually abused as a child, and this is often an underlying cause for offending. We have noticed that disclosures have increased since Operation Yew Tree,which is the police investigation into the alleged sexual abuse - mainly against children - by disgraced former DJ and predatory paedophile Jimmy Savile. We are keen to make sure that people get the support that they need, for many that come into the office it may be the first time that they have spoken about this difficult time in their life. The two case studies below are typical of what we might see or hear, the first is a man at the start of his journey into manhood, and the other is much further along- both have ended up in court and are saying that the abuse is where their issues stem from.
Case Study 1
20 year old male referred to CASS+ by the District Judge, he was in court for breaching his probation order, he had issues with :
- E.T.E
- Accommodation
- Mental Health (relating to childhood abuse)
Mr. K is a very angry young man, most of this is caused by childhood sexual abuse, his outbursts have meant that he cannot live at home with his family, he understands why his Mother has asked him to leave. He told CASS+ that he loved his Mother very much and wanted to sort things out. I spent a long time talking to Mr. K, he become emotional and said that he wanted to try and get some help. I felt that this young lad had significant trust issues so spent a while just getting to know him, and letting him know how we might be able to help, but this had to be on his terms. Operation Emotion can offer support but this needs to be when he is ready, he is still in the contemplation phase, but that is a start as it is a big step for him.
Mr. K currently is sofa surfing, he was in Emergency Housing but this did not work out, we talked through the different agencies but he feels safer where he is for the time being. We did however discuss training, he has a real passion for music, we talked about Deep Blue Sound, but he felt that this was not an option for him as he would have to pay. CASS+ followed this up with a phone call to DBS and we were told that he could access the course for free, we rang him and asked him if he wanted assistance to apply. He was so excited and has an appointment to come in and do this, we hope that he will soon be ready to address some of the other issues.
Mr. K said “You guys have been fantastic, you may not be qualified counsellors, but you are so easy to open up to. I have never spoken to anyone else about that, thank you, you actually listened,”
I hope that he will be able to engage more with us and move on with his life, however often self-belief can be at an all-time low when overcoming trauma and this can get in the way. We will continue to assist and encourage this young man, but it will ultimately be down to him to make those changes.
Liz Hand (Plymouth Coordinator)
Case Study 2
Mr. C (71) was referred to CASS+ by his solicitor, he was in court for a Public Order offence. When the solicitor spoke with him it transpired that he had reacted to a situation in the way that he did because of unresolved childhood sexual abuse, something that he had never disclosed before. Mr. C came into the office after his sentencing and seemed relieved to finally talk about what had happened to him, he said that he had blocked the abuse out for years but it had come to the forefront recently, sadly leading to this offence.
CASS+ made enquiries with Operation Emotion who told us that they would be able to meet up with him within a week of Mr. C contacting them, details were passed on to him, and also details of S.A.L.T (Sexual Abuse Listening Therapy) just in case he didn’t find Operation Emotion was what he was looking for.
We will be checking in with Mr. C to see how things progress for him, and to see that he gets the help that he needs. We have recently heard from the Offender Manager who tells us that the referral to Operation Emotion has made all the difference to Mr. C and things are beginning to move forward for him.
Liz Hand (Plymouth CASS+ Coordinator)
Please feel free to get in touch with us if you wish to discuss anything about CASSPLUS or our reports.
Our details are:
Carole Edwards- General Manager –
07949455137
Liz Hand- Plymouth CASS Co-ordinator-
07949455158
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