St Giles Trust believes charities can play a bigger role in future criminal justice services. We welcome justice secretary Chris Grayling's announcement last week that supervision for prisoners sentenced to less than a year will be extended. A snapshot of offending history into 165 very vulnerable women using our resettlement services showed that they had an average of 32 previous convictions each. We employ specially trained, carefully managed, reformed ex-offenders. Their credibility means we can reach the most disengaged individuals who are caught in a vicious cycle of prison, homelessness and reoffending ? and help to rebuild their lives in a way that anyone who has not been in prison would struggle to do.

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