Finding our way: early learning from the Compass Project,an Intensive Intervention Risk Management service for women

Abstract

Intensive Intervention Risk Management (IIRM) services are commissioned under the Offender Personality Disorder strategy to contribute to a psychologically informed pathway by supporting individuals ‘through the gate’. This paper reports some of the learning from the first IIRM service for women and outlines how those involved have sought to understand the challenges that were faced by this project in its early days. This paper argues that these challenges help to clarify the role of IIRM services for women and that the ambition for these services should be to facilitate coherent, holistic management. We suggest that IIRM services for women offenders are likely to be most effective if they are well integrated and responsive to the social context, underpinned by a partnership approach and have clear processes for service delivery. Finally, we argue that IIRM services for women should be characterised by a commitment to involvement at every level.