Here are some frequently asked questions and answers you may have about your time during and after prison:
Our resettlement officers will work with you while in prison. We will help you prepare for release. This support is known as Through the Gate (TTG).
A case manager will supervise you in the community for a minimum of 12 months following your release from prison. This is a condition of your licence and aims to help you resettle back into the community.
The ‘Through the Gate’ service begins as soon as you enter prison. We ask you questions to find out any immediate issues you may have and the support you will need to resettle back into the community. Your case manager will write this up into a plan. The plan will help you:
- Get the support you need to prepare for when you leave prison
- Understand what to expect and who will be supporting you
- Share your plan with your case manager in the community and other agencies so they know your story and can support you when you leave prison.
You will normally move to a resettlement prison in your home area before your release. This is to help you prepare for when you leave prison.
You will receive information and advice that will help you make final arrangements for your release, including planning for you to contact agencies that will support your resettlement in the community.
The aims of the licence period are to help you resettle back into the community, prevent your reoffending and protect the public.
‘Being on licence’ means you must follow certain rules. These are called ‘conditions’ and will form part of your licence period. Following your release from prison, you must:
- Keep in touch with and follow your case manager’s instructions, including letting the case manager visit you in your home or hostel
- Live at an address your case manager has agreed and let them know before you move or stay at a different address, even just for one night
- Follow the conditions of your licence
- Not take on a job or a certain type of work unless your case manager has agreed it
- Not travel abroad without getting your case manager’s permission before you book it
- Follow any other licence conditions the prison governor has given you.
We will support you to:
- Find somewhere to live
- Manage your finances and debt
- Find a suitable job
- Find training or education courses
- Maintain positive relationships
- Access health services
- Think about your choices in life
- Access specialist support services.