Mark
Aged 34, Mark* was a prolific offender who had been in and out of custody since his first arrest aged 13. Having used heroin for 15 years, he’d had limited contact with treatment services.
On his latest release from prison in March 2008, Mark was listed as a Persistent Prolific Offender and engaged with the Offender Management Team [OMT.] They referred Mark to Lifeline services for support on his return to the community. He accessed the Drug Intervention Programme and accepted treatment on a maintenance programme using Subutex. This stabilized his drug use and allowed him to start thinking about the future.
Mark identified daily structure as a priority for reducing the possibility of re-offending or relapse and started attending regular sessions at Lifeline’s Day Programme. Keen to gain employment, he felt his lack of skills and long history of offending would be insurmountable barriers to finding work. With his Lifeline worker he was able to draft a care plan to address not only these issues, but ensure he had access to constructive activities to fill his time and stay positive.
As part of his care plan, Mark completed fork lift truck training. He attended sessions punctually and received positive feedback in terms of his attitude and abilities. Following this, Mark secured an interview with a local engineering firm for a position as fork lift truck driver and warehouse operative. He practiced his interview skills with his Lifeline worker and discussed how best to disclose his past offending behaviour.
Mark was offered a position with the firm and has now been in full time employment for 3 months. He is in touch with Lifeline to access support if he feels he needs it, has not re-offended and remains stable on his medication. As a result, Mark has been moved down the ‘traffic light’ scheme used by the OMT from red to green. He reports that he feels very confident about his future since he has all the elements and support he thinks are necessary to maintain his current progress.
* Mark is an assumed name for the purposes of this case study
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