Supporting prisoners with mental health needs in the transition to RESETtle in the community: the RESET study

Background<br />Homelessness is linked to poor mental health and an increased likelihood of offending. People often lose accommodation when they enter prison and struggle to find accommodation upon release leading to an increased likelihood of relapse and re-offending. The RESET intervention was developed to support prisoners with mental health needs for 12 weeks after release to co-ordinate their transition into the community and obtaining secure housing. <br /><br />Methods<br />The primary objective of the study was to assess the participants’ housing situation. A prospective cohort design followed up sixty-two prisoners with mental health needs for nine-months post-release. Data was collected at three time points regarding accommodation, re-offending and contact and engagement with services. Inferential statistics using chi-squared tests and t-tests were used to examine differences in scores between the two groups at each time point. <br /><br />Results <br />The RESET group were significantly more likely to have secure housing at all three time points being housed for approximately twice as many days than the comparison group (244 vs 129 days at nine months: p=<0.01). The RESET group also had a significantly greater level of contact with GPs and significantly more received benefits at all three time points.<br /><br />Conclusion<br />This is the first study to focus on reducing homeless for recently released prisoners with mental health needs. The RESET intervention was successful in achieving its main objective; accommodating participants in permanent housing and reducing homelessness. There was also an association between receiving the intervention and greater engagement with other services. This supports the view that secure housing is important in ensuring a positive transition from prison to the community for prisoners with mental health needs.<br />