Introduce project
The project brought together 3 service designers and 3 policy makers to analyse the current state of the prison resettlement system and develop an ambitious but deliverable roadmap for long-term change.

What was the context & industry sector?
In 2021, almost 80% of crime was committed by someone who had offended previously.¹
The Ministry of Justice has estimated that reoffending costs society approximately £16.7 billion a year.²

What was the challenge / brief?
With that in mind, in late 2022, a major UK government department wanted to establish a clear long-term vision for how people in prison are settled into prison, prepared for release, and resettled back into the community.

Target market
People who are and have been in custody, and the government department and civil society actors they engage with across the justice system.

Objectives
Establish a vision and delivery model for resettlement from prison that’s ambitious and outcome focused, but achievable within current (and future) political and organisational constraints (budget, team skills and setup, etc).

_{1 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/first-time-entrants-fte-into-the-criminal-justice-system-and-offender-histories-year-ending-december-2021
2 https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/improving-resettlement-support-for-prison-leavers-to-reduce-reoffending/}

Main impact

Planting the seeds of systemic design, multi-disciplinary working, and iterative approaches to driving change are likely to have long-lasting impacts on this government department’s ability to drive positive outcomes across the justice sector – fundamentally driving public protection and saving taxpayers huge sums of money, through reduced reoffending rates.

Service Designer/team:
Service Designers: Jeffrey Allen, Isabelle Ohlson, Diana Hidalgo + Policy officials: Harriet Mills, Kate Haseler-Young, Nisha Patel

Service Provider: UK government department and associated agencies

Client/In house project: In house

Project Location(s): England and Wales

Duration: 6 months (so far)

Year of Service Launch: 2023