Social Work Scotland's Justice Social Work Conference 2024

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‘Shifting the Balance’ from custody to community

TUESDAY 4 JUNE 2024

WELCOME

On behalf of Social Work Scotland, welcome to our 2024 Justice Conference!

We are delighted to be hosting an event that will focus on you, our practitioners, and partners.

Given the current complexities of our rising prison population, ‘Shifting the Balance’ from custody to community is critical now more than ever. We need to come together to reflect on the Justice system as a whole and consider real community-based solutions to the challenges we, and the more than 8000 people in our Scottish prison system, are facing.

Despite the multitude of legislative and policy changes implemented across the Justice system in recent years, the prison population rates are higher in Scotland than most other comparable European countries. To be part of a change, we must collaborate with our partners and address the ‘big ticket items’. Robust communitybased disposals, trauma informed practice, early intervention and prevention initiatives, Community Justice and evidence-based practice will likely be the foundations of much of the discussion today.

Outside the ever-evolving nature of our work, Justice Social Work is facing significant change in the coming years which we must prepare ourselves for. The unknowns around the National Care Service and the yet to be seen impact of Bail and Release from Custody Bill, Children (Care and Justice) Bill and the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill brings uncertainty, opportunity, and hope.

We know the new ways of working, standards, guidance and policies will need to be implemented against a backdrop of wider financial austerity and critical workforce pressures. Professional associations like Social Work Scotland – along with other partners – are working hard to advocate for the profession, and the specifics of what we need, but we are stronger with your voices. So that’s why I want to encourage you to use today to network, learn, share and to be part of the solution. The Justice system is a complex myriad of partners, where the sum is greater than the parts. Justice Social Work facilitates change with the people we work with, now let’s influence change across the system.

FIONA KENNEDY,

Group Service Manager, Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership, Chair of Conference Steering Group

WITH THANKS TO THE CONFERENCE STEERING GROUP MEMBERS

GILLIAN BOOTH | Justice Service Manager (Children and Justice Services), South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership

LAURA SMITH | Service Manager- Justice Services, West Dunbartonshire HSCP

SUSAN THOMPSON | Professional Justice Social Work adviser, Scottish Government

FLORA ALDRIDGE | Head of Operations, Social Work Scotland

SHARON STIRRAT | Justice Social Work Policy and Practice Lead, Social Work Scotland

PROGRAMME

0830hrs Registration opens and refreshments available

Exhibitions available to view and networking time

0930hrs CONFERENCE COMMENCES

Welcome

Lynsey Smith

Justice Standing Committee Chair, Social Work Scotland

Conference Chair Professor Fergus McNeill

Professor of Criminology & Social Work, University of Glasgow

‘Shifting the Balance’ from custody to community scene setting with Cat Dalrymple, Director of Justice, Scottish Government & Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive, Scottish Prison Service SPS

1100hrs BREAK

Refreshments available

Exhibitions available to view and networking time

1130hrs CONFERENCE RECOMMENCES

From Custody to Community

James Docherty, Advisor, Community Justice Scotland

1230hrs LUNCH BREAK

Exhibitions available to view and networking time

1315hrs CONFERENCE RECOMMENCES

Balancing Act delivered by Geese Theatre

An interactive performance exploring some of the dilemmas which Justice Social Workers face in 2024. How do you weigh up the impact of custodial and community sentences? How do you balance risk and strengths in the people you work with? How do you support those on your caseload while looking after your own well-being?

1445hrs INFORMAL COMFORT BREAK WITH REFRESHMENTS

1510hrs AFTERNOON CONFERENCE SESSION CONTINUES

FACILITATED DISCUSSION GROUPS

Number 1

Children (Care & Justice) Act: what does it mean for Justice Social Work?

Delivered by Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ)

Number 2

Commissioning a national third sector partnership to deliver voluntary throughcare

Delivered by Community Justice Scotland

Number 3

Hamilton Sheriff Court Alcohol and Drug Problem Solving Court – A Public Health Approach

Delivered by Hamilton Sheriff Court/South and North Lanarkshire Justice Social Work

NUMBER 4

Unpaid Work Opportunities

Delivered by Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership

Number 5

Scottish Government priorities for community justice

Delivered by Scottish Government

Number 6

Shetland Justice Social Work and third sector Restorative Justice provider, Space2face, co-running The Phenomenal Women’s Group

Delivered by Shetland Islands Council

Number 7

Digital Approaches in Justice Social Work

Delivered by Social Work Scotland

Number 8

Blueprints: What should justice look like?

Delivered by Vox Liminis

1550hrs Session 2 of Facilitated Discussion Groups

1630hrs Closing remarks

1645hrs END OF FORMAL CONFERENCE SESSIONS

Networking time with refreshments

SPEAKERS

FERGUS MCNEILL

Professor of Criminology and Social Work | University of Glasgow

Fergus McNeill is Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow where he works in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and in Sociology. He is also the Chair of the Board of the Howard League for Penal Reform.

Prior to becoming an academic in 1998, Fergus worked for a decade in residential drug rehabilitation and as a criminal justice social worker. Since then, his teaching and his many research projects and publications have examined institutions, cultures and practices of punishment, rehabilitation and reintegration. His most recent book ‘Pervasive Punishment: Making sense of mass supervision’ was the winner of the European Society of Criminology’s 2021 Book Prize.

Beyond his academic work, Fergus’s engagement with creative methods and processes over the last decade has had the unanticipated effect of enabling him to become an award-winning singer-songwriter, but that’s a whole other story.

JAMES DOCHERTY

Advisor | Community Justice Scotland

CAT DALRYMPLE Director of Justice | Scottish Government

Catriona (Cat) Dalrymple started her career in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in 1997 as a trainee solicitor. She spent 23 years within COPFS and was Head of Policy and Engagement for a number of years as well as holding a number of key operational and senior leadership roles within the organisation.

In 2020, she moved to Scottish Government to take up the role as Deputy Director, Community Justice.

In July 2023, she was appointed the role of Interim Director for Justice, Scottish Government. In April 2024 she was appointed the role of Director for Justice.

James Is a development officer within the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU). He has helped develop and worked on various SVRU projects that enable the process of desistance and prevention of violence in all its forms. James advocates strongly for change and awareness of how we address the cost of untreated trauma in our society. Previously he has worked with a leading Children’s charity on diversion programmes with young people on the cusp of organised crime. James is also a member of Trauma Informed Law who work to improve the justice system in order to prevent further victims.

Additionally, James is also an Advisor at Community Justice Scotland. A cross team functional post that aims to ensure all work is fully aligned to Community Justice Scotland values. He is also a resident trainer at Tigers early years academy which aims to educate and imbed relationships, children’s rights, play and attachment at the heart of care and early years practice.

TERESA MEDHURST

Chief Executive | Scottish Prison Service

Teresa joined the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in September 1984 after graduating from the University of Stirling with a BA(Hons) in Sociology and Social Administration. She served her first year in the Prison Officer Grade, based at HMP Cornton Vale, and then moved into a middle management development programme for 2 years in HMP Edinburgh.

Within SPS, she has served in several establishments in operational roles including as Governor-in-Charge at HMPs Cornton Vale, Edinburgh and Greenock. She has also held senior managerial roles in both SPS and HM Prisons Inspectorate, including Assistant Director of Prisons.

Teresa was appointed to the position of Director, Strategy and Innovation in June 2016, serving as a member of the SPS Advisory Board. Her portfolio of responsibilities included the delivery of the new model of custody for women in Scotland focusing on the new national facility and Community Custody Units until 2018.

Teresa secured a secondment to Scottish Government as the Deputy Director for Adult Mental Health at the end of 2018, when the Mental Health Division was being formed into a new Directorate, with responsibility for all aspects of Adult Mental Health policy. She then returned to SPS at short notice to cover the Chief Executive position for a period of absence at the end of 2019, before taking over the role on an interim basis in March 2020 at the start of the first pandemic lockdown. Following a recruitment campaign, she was appointed substantive Chief Executive in March 2022.