When people leave prison, they are much less likely to reoffend if they have a home and a job. But many prisoners are released with nowhere to go, and support from friends or family is not always available.

Finding somewhere to live can be difficult, and without an address and the necessary documents it can be hard to find work, or even to access services such as health care. All this can create a vicious circle, making people more likely to reoffend.

Each year Nacro works in prisons with about 16,000 prisoners to help them plan for their release. Wherever possible, we continue to support them in the community after their release, working closely with other agencies.

We provide:

• prison-based services – providing needs assessments for prisoners, as well as information and guidance on issues such as employment, training, housing and benefits, and support to help rebuild relationships with family or friends. Some services are provided through peer support, where fellow prisoners receive training to act as advisers
• community-based services – making initial contact with people still in prison, followed by far-reaching, intensive support on their release into the community. Training programmes equip individuals with the skills to secure and maintain a tenancy, and to find and keep a job, while local employers provide work placements and job experience
• mentoring programmes – offering impartial and confidential practical and emotional support both before and after release, delivered through trained volunteer mentors, to help individuals achieve their goals
• the Nacro Resettlement Plus helpline – providing specialist information and advice service to over 38,000 prisoners, ex-offenders, their friends and family, and people working with them about housing, jobs, education, employment and other issues that affect people with a criminal record
• Resettlement Service Finder – is an online database of over 10,000 community services for ex-prisoners: an invaluable tool for anyone working to help prisoners and ex-offenders resettle successfully

As well as providing services, we work with national and regional agencies to develop policies and strategies for improving the resettlement of ex-prisoners and offenders.