Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
‘On the Out’
Group work programme
This programme has been developed for young people currently serving sentences in secure establishments with the aim of supporting
and preparing them for their release and license period in the community.
It will be delivered by Hannah Walton (YOS Resettlement Worker) and Emma Hodgkinson (YOS Worker) from Staffordshire Youth
Offending Service.
The pilot of this programme will be delivered in partnership with HMYOI Werrington and will run over four group sessions with 8
participants. Staffordshire young people will take priority for this course with additional participants taken from other local areas as
selected by Governor Pattinson (HMYOI Werrington). It has also been agreed that the group will be better suited for those young people
in the final 4 months of their sentence.
Areas covered in the programme will include: thinking about release, planning and preparing for release, home and YOT, my license and
me, who will I spend time with, what happens when things go wrong, risks and temptations, time management, budgeting and benefits,
who will support me, transition to probation and setting goals for the future.
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Introduction
5 mins
Ice-breaker
15
mins
Group Rules
5-10
mins
Exercise 1
15
mins
Session 1
Welcome the group members, introduce yourselves and ask the group members to write a name card.
Explain the purpose and layout of the programme and encourage group members to ask questions. Ask group
members what their initial ideas are about release/resettlement and what support they would like/need. Keep
this simple as it will be explored further as the programme progresses.
Resources needed: name cards, ‘On The Out’ flipchart
‘Would You Rather…’
Ask the group to sit in a circle and explain that everyone will take turn in asking ‘Would you rather…’
questions from the pack of cards provided. Facilitators should also take part in this exercise in order to
engage with participants. Everyone should answer each question.
Resources needed: ‘Would You Rather’ cards
Ask the group members what they would expect from each other and facilitators whilst in the group room. Use
this discussion to encourage the group members to generate Group Rules/Compact that they can take
ownership of throughout the duration of the programme. If they experience difficulty in thinking of these
independently, prompt them with questions and ideas around respect (listen to each other, don’t interrupt),
taking part (get involved) etc.
Resources needed: flipchart
‘Now I Am…On The Out I Want To Be…’
Prepare 2 flipcharts, one with the heading ‘Now I Am’ and ‘On The Out I Want To Be’. Give each group
member a felt pen and ask them to write up a few words on each flipchart. Encourage them to think about
both good and bad things about themselves, their situation and how they feel (eg, ‘stuck in prison’ ‘bored’
‘confident’ ‘want to live by myself’ ‘working’). Explore what their comments are based on, why they feel a
certain way or want to be somewhere. Hand out the worksheet for this exercise and encourage group
members to record any extra thoughts or more personal ideas in the boxes provided.
Resources needed: ‘Now I Am’ and ‘On the Out’ flipcharts, felt pens, worksheets
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Exercise 2
5-10
mins
Break
10-15
mins
Exercise 3
30
mins
Exercise 4
25
mins
‘Release’
Prepare a flipchart with ‘Release’ in the middle. Ask group members to tell you words they associate with
release (‘what does release mean to you’ ‘what words pop in your head’). Add their responses to the flipchart.
Resources needed: ‘Release’ flipchart
Tell group members they will now get a break, be specific for what time this will end. Encourage them to relax
and get a drink etc.
Resources needed: cups/drinks
‘Thinking About My Release’
Prepare four flipcharts with one of each of the following headings: ‘What am I worried about’ ‘What can I do
myself to help’ ‘Who else can help me/What support can I access’ ‘What am I looking forward to’ and stick
these on the wall. Hand out blank post-it notes to the group members and ask them to write down their
thoughts on the post-it notes in relation to the headings on the flipcharts. Going through each flipchart one at a
time, ask the group members to stick up their post-its and explore their comments through group discussion.
Look out for similar responses from different group members and encourage them to share and compare their
experiences. Encourage group members to add more ideas to their worksheets if they can.
Resources needed: four flipcharts, pens, post-it notes, worksheets
‘Home And Getting To YOT’
Explain to the group that we will now start to look at the practicalities of home and attending appointments.
Hand out the worksheet for this exercise and support group members in completing the questions. Explore
and challenge group members ideas where appropriate, e.g. ask if they know of any restrictions to where they
will live/areas they can travel through - signpost forward to discussing their license conditions later in the
programme. Be mindful that some group members may not yet have housing secured.
Resources needed: worksheets, pens
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Closing Exercise
10
mins
To round off the session ask the group members to stand in a circle. Tell them the challenge is to score as
many points as they can by passing the ball around and keeping it from touching the floor. They can only use
their hands. If they find it easy introduce extra rules such as not being allowed to pass it to the person next to
them. Be mindful of health and safety.
Resources needed: soft ball
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Ice-breaker
15
mins
Exercise 1
20
mins
Exercise 2
15
mins
Session 2
‘Catch the flag’
Split the group into 2 teams, sitting on chairs in a line opposite each other with their eyes closed and holding
each others wrists. One facilitator should sit at one end holding a coin; one member from each team that is
sitting closest to the facilitator should open their eyes and observe the coin being flipped. If the coin lands on
heads no pulse should be sent down the line, if tails the observing team members should send the pulse
down the line (by squeezing the next person’s wrist). The last person in the line should grab the flag. For
whichever team wins the flag, they move one chair down in order to swap the observing player. Repeat the
process. If a team has all it’s members return to their original seats they win; if this does not happen be
mindful of the time and end the game.
Resources needed: chairs, coin, flag
‘My Time On The Out’
Start the exercise by telling the group we will have a time challenge; one facilitator will lead the challenge with
a clock or stop watch and shout ‘Go’, each group member and the second facilitator should then stand up
when they think it has been 1 minute. Link this to the next part of the exercise, prepare a flip chart with a clock
and title ‘My time in custody’ and through discussion explore with the group how they spend their time/what
they do/what do they find difficult about the regime/what do they do if they are bored/what helps them manage
their time. Lead this onto ask the group ‘What’s the point?’ in planning and preparing their time on the out. Ask
if they ever managed their time before custody, if so how, if not why not and how did this effect them. Next tell
the group we will look forward at planning their time on the out, what would be the benefits of this, what might
be hard. Do they do anything now to plan and manage their time whilst in custody that might be useful for
them on the out. Facilitators should brainstorm the groups ideas whilst engaging in discussion. Engage the
group members in preparing a ‘what will help me’ toolbox eg. Calendar/diary, alarm, timetables, people
Resources needed: watch/stopwatch, flipcharts, worksheets, pens
‘Who Will I Spend My Time With On The Out’
Prepare a flip chart with a large circle and ‘me’ in the middle. The lead facilitator should demonstrate how the
social circle works by using a personal example of who they spend there time with, taking time to explain the
importance of distancing people based on time spent/level of influence. Alternatively, this can be
demonstrated using a TV programme example (the Simpsons, Eastenders etc). Handout the social circle
worksheets to the group members and support them in completing these for who they will spend their time
with when they are on the out.
Resources needed: flipcharts, worksheets, pens
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Break
10-15
mins
Exercise 3
15
mins
Exercise 4
15
mins
Exercise 5
15
mins
Tell group members they will now get a break, be specific for what time this will end. Encourage them to relax
and get a drink etc.
Resources needed: cups/drinks
‘My Time and Their Influence’
Link back to Exercise 2 and tell the group that we will now look further at the influences of the people we will
be spending time with on the out. Explain that for each person they have identified in their circle we will now
look at what is good about them/their influence and what could be risky about them. Demonstrate this using
one person from the facilitator’s example circle if necessary. Hand out the worksheets and support the group
members in completing these using exploratory questions and discussion.
Resources needed: worksheets, pens
‘What Can I Do?’
From the previous exercise encourage the group members to think about building on from their thoughts of
who they will spend their time with in planning ahead to identify and discuss: how they can build on the
positives (how can they improve existing relationships, and building new relationships through college etc);
and how they can manage the risky elements of spending time with people (eg. Alcohol, drugs, asking you to
help them with offending, pushes your anger triggers etc). After each group member has done this for their
own social circle bring the group together for discussion to share ideas and support each other in adding to
their work.
Resources needed: worksheets, pens
‘Where I Want To Be’
Link back to Session 1 where group members shared initial thoughts and ideas of where they want to be.
Explain that they will now have the opportunity to build on this now we have looked more at their time on the
out and who they want to be with. Give group members an A3 piece of paper and encourage them to be
creative in pulling together a picture of where they want to be/want to achieve. Ask them why it can be helpful
to have a clear image of what future they want to head towards – look for key ideas such as to motivate
themselves, stay positive etc.
Resources needed: A3 paper, pens, felts
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Closing Exercise
10
mins
‘Swaps’
One facilitator should lead the exercise and one should play the game. Everyone should sit in a circle with 1
player stood in the middle, leave no empty chairs. Prepare 8 pieces of paper with numbers 1-8 on them, these
should then be folded up and each player should pick a number and keep this to themselves. The player
stood in the middle should say 2 numbers out loud; the two players with this number must try and swap seats
without the central player stealing one of their seats first. Each time the numbers should be collected and
dealt out again so that no-one knows who has which number. Repeat the game.
Resources needed: paper, pens
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Ice-breaker
10-15
mins
Exercise 1
20
mins
Exercise 2
15
mins
Exercise 3
20
mins
Session 3
‘Wink Murder’
The group should sit in a circle, one person should volunteer or be nominated to be the ‘detective’ and stand
in the middle of the circle. The rest of the group should be given a card; whoever gets the card with a picture
of an eye on it will be the ‘wink murderer’. With the detective in the middle the wink murderer must secretly
‘kill’ the other players one at a time by winking at them, they must then ‘die’ in a way they choose. The
detective must try to guess who the wink murderer is. Time permitting play again.
Resources needed: 8 plain cards and 1 eye card
‘My License and Me’
Start by asking the group members what they understand by a license and through discussion find out if any
group members are currently aware of specific conditions they will face on release. Use this discussion to lead
on to the worksheet where facilitators should support group members in identifying license conditions as
written, exploring what this will physically mean, and how this might effect them. (Facilitators will need to
gather information on each group members licenses before the session).
Resources needed: worksheets, pens
‘MAPPA’
Ask group members if they have heard the term MAPPA/understands what it means. Explain that MAPPA
stands for Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements. Use the leaflet to explain how being on MAPPA will
affect their license depending on level, and explore what this could mean to them personally. Engage group
members in discussion around how MAPPA is determined, managed and reviewed. Hand out leaflets.
Resources needed: flipchart ‘MAPPA’, pens, leaflets
‘Sticking to My License?’
Prepare two flipcharts ‘ What will I struggle with’ and ‘How can I overcome this?’ and stick them up/have them
on the table side by side. Refer back to exercises 1 and 2 and what license conditions group members have
identified. Explain that we will now look at what problems they might have sticking to their licenses. Hand out
post-it notes to the group members and ask them to write down their ideas, ask them to stick the post-its to
the flipchart and explore. Once this has been completed for ‘What will I struggle with’, repeat the process in
supporting group members to generate ideas that will help them to overcome these problems on the ‘How can
I overcome this?’ flipchart.
Resources needed: flipcharts, post-its, felts and pens
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Break
10-15
mins
Exercise 4
15
mins
Exercise 5
25
mins
Tell group members they will now get a break, be specific for what time this will end. Encourage them to relax
and get a drink etc.
Resources needed: cups/drinks
‘What Happens When Things Go Wrong?...Recall and Breach’
Prepare a flipchart with ‘What do I think I can be breached for?’ and through group discussion brainstorm their
ideas. Explore what their responses are based on eg. past experience, what family and friends say etc. Now
introduce a second flipchart ‘What is the reality’ and explore a range of prepared Myths and Truths about
breach and recall. Explain how breach and recall works in relation to the new LASPO procedures. Explore
how breach on license is different to breach of a community order. Discuss what the likely process will be if a
group member finds themselves in breach/recall, use a flipchart ‘What will happen to me’ to record ideas.
Resources needed: flipcharts, pens, ‘Myths and Reality’ cards/quotes
‘Risks and Temptations’
Ask the group what they understand by ‘risks’ or ‘temptations’ in relation to their offending behaviour and
sticking to their license conditions. Start by asking each group member to share one personal risk/temptation
and add these to a flipchart ‘What are my risks/temptations?’(write these in red) and explore how/why. After
each group member has shared a risk, explain that we will now work as a team to identify what they could do
to reduce this risk, facilitators should check in with the key group member to see how realistic an option this
would be for them. After the group discussion, hand out worksheets and encourage group members to repeat
the same process for other risks and temptations that they might face.
Resources needed: flipcharts, felts, pens
Closing Exercise
10
mins
‘Suddenly/Add Words’
Suddenly - The leader starts with a sentence that ends with SUDDENLY. The next person adds to this story
with their own sentence that ends with SUDDENLY. Continue until everyone has contributed.
Add Words – The group takes it in turns to add one word to a sentence, add twists for fun.
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Session 4
Ice-breaker
10-15
mins
Exercise 1
20
mins
Exercise 2
20
mins
Break
10-15
mins
‘Pictionary’
Facilitators should prepare a group of cards with well known TV Programmes, Films, Songs etc. Split the
group into two teams, with one person taking it in turns to draw for their team, the other players must guess
the answer. One facilitator should lead the drawing time allowed – which is 60 seconds. Once the correct
answer is guessed, swap. The team with the most answers wins.
‘Where Am I Living?’
Being mindful of those that may not have housing secured, facilitators should ask group members what
options they might have for housing on the out and add these to a flipchart (eg. with mom, supported,
independent flat, hostel etc). For each type of accommodation group members should work together through
discussion to identify what could be difficult about living there (eg. family arguments, not liking support staff,
rules of hostels, not liking people you live with). Next, the group should then add ways they can manage these
difficulties, including exploration of ways to maintain a tenancy. Be realistic in what could cause them to lose
their placements and the consequences that this could have.
Resources needed: flipchart, pens, felts
‘Money and Me On the Out’
Ask group members if they have heard of ‘budgeting’ before and what words they associate with this, have
they done this before, what worked or didn’t work for them. Ask what could be the consequences for them if
they do not budget and manage their money on the out. Introduce the budgeting pack and explore tips and
skills to help budget successfully. Spend time discussing benefits, what they are entitled to, what they need to
be able to claim, how they go about claiming, the consequences of false claims. End with a ‘Wants’ and
‘Needs’ flipchart, asking group members what they will want to spend on and what they need to spend on.
Resources needed: flipchart, pens, felts, budget packs
Tell group members they will now get a break, be specific for what time this will end. Encourage them to relax
and get a drink etc.
Resources needed: cups/drinks
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Exercise 3
25
mins
Exercise 4
20
mins
‘Getting Support’
Ask group members how easy they find it to ask for help or seek support both in custody and on the out, and
explore their experiences of this. Discuss what can be a barrier to getting support and what they can do to
overcome these barriers. Introduce the ‘Wheel of Support’ and work with the group as a whole to identify who
they can go to for support on the out, encourage the group members to be specific. Hand out the worksheets
and support individuals in completing personal wheels of support, encourage them to think of how they can
contact these people or agencies (emails, telephone numbers etc) and what kind of support they can give.
Time permitting, engage group members in running role plays for asking for help if they find this difficult – be
mindful that some group members may say they find this easy but in reality they may come across as
aggressive rather than assertive. Discuss the differences in being passive, aggressive and assertive and how
important this can be in getting support. Examples could be: at the jobcentre, tempted to drink, needing
repairs at home…
Resources needed: flipchart, pens, felts, worksheets
‘Who Cares?’
Ask group members to think back to their social circles and to think of two people that are most important to
them/they care about/who cares about them. Hand out the ‘Who Cares’ worksheet and ask them to write
down these people in the spaces provided. From this engage a group member to step into the shoes of these
people in order to explore: what do they think of them being in custody, how does it feel, what is it like
visiting/getting searched, how do they feel about them getting released, how will it affect them if they get into
trouble again/recalled. This works best by the group member physically swapping chairs/names tags. After the
group member has answered questions as the other person/people, encourage them to step back into their
own shoes to review their thoughts and feelings seeing it from another point of view. Repeat with other group
members if possible, if not, ask for their feedback on the exercise and how they can relate this to themselves.
Encourage group members to think of who cares about them as another motivation to stick to their license.
Resources needed: worksheets, pens, name cards
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Emma Hodgkinson and Hannah Walton
Staffordshire Youth Offending Service
Exercise 5
15
mins
‘What Next?’
Display the flipchart from the first session ‘On The Out’ – showing group members initial thoughts about
release/resettlement and what support they would like/need. Use a soft ball to throw around the group and
ask group members if we have fulfilled what they wanted to know, what else they would still like to know or get
support with. Explore if their views toward their license and release has changed since being on the group.
Hand out the ‘What Next’ worksheets and ask group members to write down things they still need to do to
prepare for release, who they need to speak to, what information they need etc.
Hand out feedback forms for On The Out and ask group members to complete these as honestly as they can
in order to help facilitators continue to develop the programme.
Resources needed: flipcharts, pens, felts, worksheets, soft ball, feedback forms
Closing Exercise
10
mins
Ask the group to pick their favourite ice breaker or closing exercise from the group (or from other groups if
appropriate) and repeat this, if everyone does not agree go with the majority first and run more exercises if
time allows!
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