Sarah Vernon's Recent Activity

"Brighter Futures Sexual Exploitation Services Brighter Futures Sexual Exploitation Service has been in operation for over 15 years within the Stoke on Trent area working with vulnerable women and men with multiple and complex needs who are involved in or at risk of sexual exploitation. The service supports women and men involved in sex work on the streets, in parlours, their own homes, or on the telephone. We provide a one stop centre to assist customers with support tailored to the needs of the individuals. The staff team provide outreach sessions at least twice a week to engage with street sex workers and also visit local massage parlours. The outreach sessions are crucial to our work. We promote good sexual health practises by providing condoms and sexual health advice and it enables us to identify those workers who are either homeless or suffering with housing difficulties. We work closely with the Brighter Futures Rough Sleeper Team, the Homeless Hostel and Chepstow House (Community Project for Women Offenders) to provide short term accommodation solutions and support, enabling us to then work closely with the customer and partner agencies to secure more permanent and sustainable housing. This method of joint working has proved to be successful in the reduction of homelessness to women involved in sex work and reduction in reoffending for women supported through Chepstow house. The women’s project aims to provide our customers with alternative choices to enable them to make positive lifestyle changes. Working closely with partner agencies to:- • Support women to exit sex work • Prevent women from becoming involved in sex work. • Provide support and information to minimise the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy. • Assist those sex workers who are homeless to achieve secure and stable accommodation. • Reduce the numbers of sex workers who are not involved in education, employment or training. • Provide monthly Ugly mug bulletins in liaison with local police in order to promote safer working practices and support workers throughout court proceedings whether as a victim or offender. • Obtain a clear intelligence overview of the levels of sex work in the area. • We support and encourage customers to re-engage in education, training and ultimately achieve employment. Daily customer drop in sessions are provided where clothing and shower facilities are made available. One to one support is provided in order to address the individual needs of the customer. Staff are trained in a wide variety of areas to provide expert advice regarding housing, benefits and health related issues and to support customers to achieve their goals by signposting them to partner agencies such as drug/alcohol services, mental health services and social services. We support and supervise women who are subject to Engagement and Support Orders. The orders are an alternative to a financial penalty when women are arrested for soliciting and are issued by the magistrate’s court, to provide support to find a route out of sex work. The Engagement and Support Order consists of three set appointments over a 6 month period with structured support in between. Through a multi-agency approach the orders have proved to be a success in assisting sex workers to lead more fulfilling lives. Within Brighter Futures there are two specialist services which provide an example of the level of support available; these are Hopwood house and Chepstow house. Hopwood House Hopwood House is an accommodation based housing related support service to assist individuals with substance and dependency issues within the city. There is a designated area for females to be accommodated in recognition of the fact that some females may have experienced domestic abuse. This enables a safe environment for the female customer to identify the triggers to their substance misuse. A support worker will help each individual to develop their own plan based upon their individual needs surrounding substance misuse using the outcome star approach. Chepstow House - Community Project for Women Offenders Chepstow House helps women to find and keep accommodation, manage their money, deal with debts, overcome drug and alcohol abuse, manage their relationships, be better parents, improve their health as well as accessing training and employment. It also offers counselling and therapeutic interventions to deal with the emotional trauma caused by abuse, rape, domestic violence and sex work. Brighter Futures Is a voluntary organisation that puts the highest professional standards at the heart of all it does. It is a “champion” of best practice for the Government Department of Communities and Local Government and it has just won an NHS Innovation Champion award. All our work is delivered in accordance with Brighter Futures values and employs defined methodologies with have been developed over the last 25 years. We are a one-stop shop for people with complex needs. Our work is as varied as our customers. We are united by our ability to create effective solutions and to offer a Brighter Future to all."
Reply To: Women involved in prostitution*

"CHEPSTOW HOUSE Since February 2010 Brighter Futures’ has effectively supported women from North Staffordshire to stop offending. Chepstow House was established in response to the Corston Report and the growing recognition that women’s offending could be reduced by providing support which helped women address their complex needs including the nine pathways to offending. The project has been evaluated by Staffordshire & West Midlands Probation Trust who reported (December 2012) that ““Women who engaged with Chepstow House......had a much reduced reoffending rate compared to all female offenders on probation in Stoke. “ The latest proven reoffending rates show that customers of Chepstow House are almost 30% less likely to reoffend . Keele University produced a process evaluation of the service in 2011 . Both reports are attached. Chepstow House helps women to find and keep accommodation, manage their money, deal with debts, overcome drug and alcohol abuse, manage their relationships, be better parents, improve their health as well as accessing training and employment. It also offers counselling and therapeutic interventions to deal with the emotional trauma caused by abuse, rape, domestic violence and sex work. We provide the courts with an alternative to custody and imprisonment. We offer activities that fulfil the requirements of a specified activity requirement (SAR). We offer women on SARs 16 sessions, ten of which involve completing an accredited education programme. We currently offer life skills, employability, parenting and an offending behaviour programme. We work closely with the Probation Trust a enjoy the benefits of a co-located PSO and PO based at Chepstow House. Brighter Futures is a voluntary organisation that puts the highest professional standards at the heart of all it does. Its` Quality Assurance system is compliant with ISO9001, it has consistently achieved the coveted “excellent” score in the Local Authority Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) for its Supporting People work. It is a “champion” of best practice for the Government Dept of Communities and Local Government and it has just won an NHS Innovation Champion award."
Reply To: Women, homelessness and the criminal justice system