Having somewhere to stay on release from a period of time in custody is key to successful reintegration into the community and is often the means to accessing other services.
The Scottish Quality Standards for Housing Advice, Information and Support for people in custody or the Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone (SHORE) Standards have recently been refreshed to reflect legislative and policy changes since they were first published in 2017.
This has been written collaboratively, with the oversight of the Strategic Oversight Group which was set up in late 2023, with representation from Scottish Government, SPS, COSLA, ALACHO, SOLACE, local authorities and third sector organisations. They have been redesigned to make each section easier for the reader to follow and now include an action plan which sets out areas for future strategic direction.
The standards aim to ensure that everyone has access to sustainable housing on release. In turn this will contribute towards the prevention of homelessness and reoffending. The standards and outcomes detailed in the document describe the processes and results which service users expect community justice partners to achieve.
SHORE is now part of the homeless and community justice systems vocabulary in Scotland and while not fully embedded across the country, they are a common aspirational goal for Community Justice Partners and organisations.
This refreshed document replaces the original version which can still be accessed below for reference.