About prison
We will help you if you are held in custody and when you are released.
Support from the Leaving Care Service while you are in prison
Financial help
To find out about financial support, see our finance pages. You can find information about:
Contact and visits
Your personal advisor (PA) will have regular contact with prison offender managers who support care experienced prisoners.
Within 10 days of you going into custody, your PA will contact the prison to arrange a visit. After this, they will visit you every 8 weeks. If you are between 21 and 25 years old, your visits may be up to 12 weeks apart.
You can agree with your PA how to stay in touch between visits. You can do this by:
- post
- phone call
- the email a prisoner service
Your PA can also offer to visit as part of a family day.
Pathway plan
Your PA will arrange to update your pathway plan with you within 28 days of you going into custody.
It's best if your pathway plan works with your sentencing plan. To make sure this happens, you'll need to agree that your PA can communicate with prison and probation officers.
Other help from the Leaving Care Service
To let them know that you are in custody, your PA will offer to contact your:
- housing provider or landlord
- place of education, training or employment
Drop-in sessions
If you are in a prison outside of Sussex, find out from prison officers if they have Leaving Care Services drop-in sessions.
Find out more about our drop-in sessions at Lewes prison below.
If you are in custody at His Majesty's Prison (HMP) Lewes
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"At Lewes Prison, we have prison offender managers who are single points of contact (SPOC) for care experienced prisoners. Our aim is to provide improved assistance and advice to our care experienced population whilst in custody and to work closely with the Leaving Care Services." -
West Sussex Leaving Care Service are working with East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Leaving Care services. Together we run monthly drop-in sessions at Lewes Prison.
Care experienced young people can ask any questions or just come along to a session to have a chat. If you want to attend, you can speak to a prison officer or your keyworker.
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HMP Lewes can give you help with:
- making sure you get phone calls with professionals
- booking visits or accessing video links
- working with your PA
- sending money
- sending clothes
- attending drop-in sessions
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Insiders
When you first come to prison and go onto the induction wing for around 5 to 10 days, you will get support from an INSIDER. INSIDERs are trusted inmates who have experience of the position you are in. They will talk to you about procedures, what they are for and what life is like in the prison.
Listener scheme
Listeners are prisoners who provide confidential emotional support to their peers who are struggling to cope or are feeling suicidal. The aim of the scheme is to reduce suicide and self-harm.
The Shannon Trust
The Shannon Trust gives adults who have had negative experiences of education early in their life a second chance at learning to read and gaining numeracy skills. This scheme trains prisoners, helping them become Shannon Trust mentors. This means they can help other prisoners who struggle in these areas.
Chaplaincy
We have a highly regarded chaplaincy team who cover a range of different faiths. You will have opportunities to attend services and get support, which doesn't have to be religious. We can also help with grief counselling.
Neurodiverse lead and wing
Our specialist lead meets those who are neurodiverse. Together, they form a plan to support them and help prison staff understand individual needs.
We also have a neurodiverse wing. There are specialist staff who make sure prisoners can access the right education and training opportunities while in prison. These are important to reducing reoffending.
Work opportunities
While in prison you may have the opportunity to work in the:
- kitchens
- staff mess
- wing servery
- recycling workshop
- headphone workshop
- pack and copy workshop
- garden
You might also get to work on a wing or in Lewes Assurance Multiskills (LAM), which improves and refurbishes the prison or in other industries.
Pathways to Change
This is a weekly life skills group that helps inmates prepare for successful release. It helps those who want to make positive choices in their lives outside prison.
Kintsugi
Kintsugi means 'golden joinery'. This is a Japanese technique of repairing broken pottery with seams of gold. The repair work uses a lacquer or resin sprinkled with powdered gold. This celebrates the repair, rather than hiding it. The philosophy is about being non-judgemental, accepting and compassionate towards yourself and others.
Through the Gate (TTG)
This is a voluntary mentoring service that offers tailored support to offenders before and after their release and to ex-offenders in the community.
Settling back into the community
If you agree, a meeting will happen 12 weeks before your expected release date. The people who will attend are:
- you
- your personal advisor (PA)
- your prison offender manager
- a housing officer
The meeting takes place to plan support for your successful move back into the community. We will update your pathway plan within 28 days of the meeting.
Probation
You may work with the probation service after a prison sentence.
For more information, see our about probation page.
Housing
The housing officer and your PA will help you understand your housing options. You will have an assessment of your needs which may mean we have a duty to refer you for social housing or supported accommodation. Alternatively, it may suggest private rented options.
If you must stay in approved premises, your probation officer will discuss this with you.
Criminal record
You will need to know if you have to tell people about your criminal record.
You may need to declare it when you are:
- applying for jobs
- taking out insurance polices
- applying for further education
- travelling abroad
You can find a guide about when you need to tell someone about your criminal record and what you need to do on GOV.UK.
Other support
On the day of your release, your PA can support you.
The Leaving Care Service can also support you while you are settling into the community by helping you with:
- arranging finances
- registering with a GP and dentist
- exploring education, training and employment opportunities
You will receive help to build and maintain relationships with the people who are important to you.
Help from other organisations
You can find more help from the organisations below.
Making it Out
This is a Brighton-based charity supporting people to learn new skills and in a creative environment.
Pact
Pact is a national charity supporting prisoners, people with convictions, and their children and families. They are the leading Catholic charity working in the criminal justice system.
They provide services through each stage of the justice process - in court, in prison, on release and in the community.
REES
Help and support for care leavers.
Sussex Pathways
Criminal justice charity based in Lewes.