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 were originally developed collaboratively in 2017 by a working group led by the Scottish Prison Service and with representation from Scottish Government, Chartered Institute of Housing, Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Shelter, Scotland’s Housing Network, Homelessness Action Scotland, Dundee City Council, Edinburgh City Council, South Lanarkshire Council and NHS. A number of organisations and groups were also consulted in the process and these are listed in the document which was first published in December 2017.
The standards were developed 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.