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<p>Our vision is that no one who is subject to probation supervision is released from
prison homeless.</p><p>Women on remand are supported to meet resettlement needs and
prepare for release by Probation staff in prisons. We will supplement this support
from Probation staff with access to specialist accommodation support for all women
on remand or sentenced in custody by the summer of this year.</p><p>We currently provide
a Community Accommodation Service (CAS3), which provides temporary accommodation for
sentenced women at risk of homelessness upon release from prison, in five probation
regions and aim to expand this to all regions across England and Wales.</p><p>In 2021,
we introduced Housing Specialists in twenty prisons, including four women’s prisons,
to support prisons and probation in their strategic response to reducing homelessness.
We intend to increase these to 48 across England and Wales, including across the women’s
estate.</p><p>The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) launched
their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) scheme in July 2021 to support offenders
at risk of homelessness into private rental tenancies. Overall, this financial year,
£13 million has been allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities.</p><p>To
ensure consistent and accurate data recording, HMPPS, in collaboration with the Department
for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government, has
recently updated the Accommodation Recording Guidance to ensure Probation regions
have a clear and consistent understanding of the accommodation status definitions,
and how to record accurately. The Guidance defines homelessness as where an individual
is rough sleeping, squatting, residing in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites.
Individuals with other forms of temporary, short-term or otherwise unstable accommodation
are encompassed by the ‘unsettled accommodation’ category in published statistics.</p><p>Accommodation
circumstances for offenders are reported annually as official statistics. Data for
the period 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 will be published in July 2022 in the Community
Performance Annual report.</p>
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