What is the Bournemouth Threshold Dialogue?
The Bournemouth Threshold Dialogue, which was initiated in 2007, is a ground-breaking multi-agency venture. Its significance is that it has the potential to provide real end-to-end offender management for all offenders from one town. This enables attention to be given to particular target groups, such as high repeat offenders who are not on the PPO register and hence below the radar of most interventions. Once it is fully operational, it will engage every prisoner who is released into Bournemouth from HMP Dorchester and HMP Guys Marsh (the two main release prisons for the city). The Threshold is the prison gate, and offenders are recruited into prison dialogue sessions, then encouraged to continue to meet on their release in community dialogues. Dialogue sessions are on-the-level enquiries into all aspects of resettlement and involve offenders, prison staff, probation, police, drug action team members and the local authority with facilitation provided by Prison Dialogue. The Bournemouth Threshold Dialogue acts in service of the citizens of Bournemouth. Direction is provided by the Governance Board, which has representation from the criminal justice agencies, whilst the Operations Group ensures activities work in a co-ordinated fashion at a local level. There is a register of Bournemouth Offenders compiled by the prisons and held and maintained by the police who, along with the other agencies, are keen to get to know and understand offenders who fall under their responsibility. The Local Authority has provided funding for the training of local facilitators b y Prison Dialogue.
The Bournemouth Threshold Dialogue has its immediate origins in a pilot (funded by the Dorset Criminal Justice Board and run by Prison Dialogue) for PPOs and other high repeat offenders (see PPO pilot) which was designed, run and written up between 2004 and 2007. This pilot received the DCJB Partnership Award in 2007 for bringing together the various criminal justice agencies so effectively. It was evaluated by the University of Coventry and the Completion Report to the DCJB encouraged taking this work forward with the inclusion of HMP Guys Marsh.
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