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Eva Roussou

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Eva Roussou

Job description: Project Coordinator FMHP Service (Women's Services) at Together for Mental Wellbeing

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Areas of interest: Women involved in the criminal justice system, Mental health and wellbeing

Eva Roussou's Recent Activity

"You can download a copy of 'A common sense approach to working with women with health and wellbeing needs in the criminal justice system’ here."
Reply To: Women, homelessness and the criminal justice system

"Together is a national mental health charity that has been supporting offenders with mental health and wellbeing needs since it set up its Forensic Mental Health Practitioner Service in 1993. This service now operates 18 projects across London Magistrates Courts and Probation Offices, including three dedicated Women’s Court Liaison and Outreach Projects - at Thames Magistrates’ Court, Westminster Magistrates’ Court; and Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court. The Women’s Forensic Mental Health Practitioners proactively offer a mental health and wellbeing assessment to every woman in custody that appears in Court. They submit on the day reports to the Court with sentencing recommendations that address areas of mental health and social care need and support sentencers to consider alternatives to custodial sentences, where appropriate. The Service is also available to women on bail. In addition to the above, the Service offers outreach support and ongoing interventions, working closely with Probation. These aspects of the Service, combined with the expertise in our team, are designed to support women to comply with bail conditions, complete their Community Orders and contribute to reducing their re-offending. The plethora and complexity of issues faced by women in contact with the Criminal Justice System has been well document in a number of reports, including the 2007 Corston report, whose recommendations are yet to be followed by a reduction in the numbers of women sent to prison. To support frontline criminal justice staff in identifying and responding to women’s complex needs, we have recently launched a guide. You can download a copy of ‘A common sense approach to working with women with health and wellbeing needs in the criminal justice system’ here. Among these issues, lack of stable or safe accommodation is, in our experience, a common reason why many women are refused bail or are unable to comply with bail conditions. Recognizing the importance of this factor, our women’s projects in East and South London run in partnership with St Mungo’s as well as with the local NHS Trusts. Our practitioners work closely with St Mungo’s Housing Workers to ensure women can access appropriate accommodation on the day they appear in Court and therefore are not remanded for the sole reason of not having a suitable bail address."
Reply To: Women, homelessness and the criminal justice system