User Voice’s Council Model: Only offenders can stop re-offending

Introduction

The UK charity User Voice works on the principle of co-production: it is led and run by people who have experienced the same problems it is seeking to solve - ex-offenders aiming to reduce offending. Author of Wasted and Guardian columnist, Mark Johnson’s experiences in prison, and later as an employer of ex-offenders and advisor to the government and voluntary sector, left him convinced of the need to create a model of engagement that is fair and incentive-led. And as a pilot project with Prison Councils on the Isle of Wight shows, prisoners are more willing to change behaviour when they are given responsibility and listened to…

To understand what User Voice is doing, watch these youtube videos: