Scoping the involvement of third sector organisations in the seven resettlement pathways for offenders

The role of the third sector in the resettlement of offenders has become a prominent issue in recent years, and is increasingly recognised as being essential to efforts to reduce re-offending. A reasonable amount of knowledge already exists about public sector organisations which engage in work with offenders through the seven ‘pathways’ of resettlement: accommodation; education, employment and training; health; drugs and alcohol; finance, benefit and debt; children and families; and attitudes, thinking and behaviour. Determining the number and nature of third sector organisations involved in work with offenders is more complex. This paper aims to map out the landscape and extent of third sector involvement in the resettlement of offenders, with a specific focus on the seven pathways. Using existing datasets, it looks at the properties of third sector organisations working with offenders, more specifically their size, number, geographic area of operation and total income. It is estimated that nearly 20,000 third sector organisations work with offenders in England and Wales, and that they rely predominantly on public sector funding for survival. Compared to the figures for all third sector organisations there is over representation of organisations providing accommodation services, health care and family-support services to offenders. The implications of these and other findings are also discussed.