A new assessment tool being used to support women in contact with the Criminal Justice System in Greater Manchester has been validated for use in the UK – along with a huge funding boost to expand the project.
Women's Risk Needs Assessment tool
The Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) tool allows women’s centres to carry out a trauma-informed, in-depth assessment with each woman supported following criminal justice involvement, to better understand factors leading to her arrest or conviction, and how to support her avoid re-offending. Women are supported following release from prison, through a community (non-custodial) sentence or through police liaison and diversion schemes.
The assessment has been in use since January 2024 at women’s centres in Salford, Oldham and Stockport through the Effective Women’s Centres (EWC) Partnership. More than 300 women in Greater Manchester have already received the assessment and support to date.
Following research by the Women’s Crime and Justice Group at the University of Birmingham, the tool has now been validated for use in the UK and is due to be rolled out more widely. Expansion of the EWC Partnership will be supported by a £3 million boost made up of £1.5 million from funders The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls plus matched funding from the Henry Smith Foundation – enabling more women’s centres to join the EWC Partnership and use WRNA.
The funding boost signals increased confidence in gender responsive, trauma-informed assessment and support at women’s centres as a way to reduce re-offending and improve health and wellbeing outcomes. Previous research from the University of Birmingham has shown more than 80 per cent of women who offend have experienced physical or sexual abuse. Their research also shows specialist women’s interventions, like those provided by women’s centres, are up to 42% more effective than non-gendered support in reducing re-offending.
Current EWC Partnership members in Greater Manchester are The Women’s Centre Stockport, Salford Foundation’s Together Women Project and Farida Women’s Centre run by Partners of Prisoners. These centres are currently the first in the UK to trial the Gendered Wellbeing Assessment (GWA), a similar in-depth assessment developed through the EWC Partnership for women not involved in the Criminal Justice System but facing multiple unmet need such as trauma, domestic abuse or addiction.
As well as creating personalised support plans for each woman, both the WRNA and GWA provide valuable data for policy-makers and funders in Greater Manchester on the effectiveness of community-based, gender-responsive support and the biggest challenges facing women and girls in the region.
Nikki Guy, CEO of The Women’s Centre Stockport, said: “Being able to understand the reasons why women enter the criminal justice system is essential in supporting them to rebuild their lives and avoid re-offending. Many of the women we support have experienced abuse and are struggling with debt, housing and mental ill-health. Using the Women's Risk Needs Assessment means we can provide tailored support for each woman but also build evidence of the impact these issues are having in Stockport. When we help women overcome the reasons behind their offending it benefits them and their family but also the wider community."
Chloe Geoghegan, Deputy Director at The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls, said, “This investment reflects the growing confidence in what we have known for a long time: supporting women in the community works. It’s brilliant to have the growing academic evidence to back it up and the opportunity to scale up this transformational partnership.”
Details of how organisations can apply to join the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership will be published by The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls later this year.