An Evaluation of Out of Court Disposals Delivered by RISE Mutual CIC with a Specific Focus on Short Courses
Task
Out of court disposals (OOCDs) are an option available to both the police and Crown Prosecution Service when an individual commits a ‘low level’ offence, admits they have committed this offence and is willing to accept an OOCD.
At the time of the evaluation, RISE were delivering six OOCDs across England. This means police, in these force areas, who issued a conditional caution or community resolution can stipulate one of the courses - outlined below – as a requirement.
In preparation for the upcoming two-tier system that was being introduced, and the increasing interest in RISE’s portfolio of OOCD work, RISE commissioned TONIC to conduct an independent evaluation of the four short OOCDs:
Consider - Aims to raise awareness of inappropriate sexual behaviours, increase participants’ understanding of the effects of inappropriate sexual behaviours on others, help participants identify and manage risky behaviours, and recognise warning signs.
Always Choose to Tell (ACT) - Aims to raise awareness of the importance of adhering to the notification, identify personal barriers to compliance, and offer solutions, as well as examine the consequences of a breach.
Keep it Calm (KIC) - Aims to raise awareness of an individual's violence and aggression, enhance skills to manage emotions, develop interpersonal and conflict resolution skills, increase prosocial awareness and perspective taking skills in relation to the effects of aggressive behaviour on communities and individuals living within them.
Assault on Emergency Workers (AEW) - Aims to address the motivating factors and unpick the reasoning behind them, offering alternatives to violence.
Some of the objectives of the independent evaluation were as follows:
What is the effectiveness and impact of each of the courses being delivered?
To what extent is the course utilised by the force? How well known and regarded is it? What could be done to support more referrals?
How do those who attend the course perceive it? What difference have they noted in their behaviour and cognition as a result of the course?
TONIC’s Approach
Our methodology, to answer the questions above, was designed as follows:
Undertake an overarching literature review about the effectiveness of OOCDs.
Conduct interviews with:
Key stakeholders in each commissioning force; those with experience of using the OOCDs, including individuals at both a strategic and operational level.
RISE staff, including those delivering the course (RISE facilitators).
Offenders attending the course.
Collate Police data on the reoffending rates of those referred to the OOCDs, relative to those who received a fine or caution.
Observe OOCD courses.
Consider the feedback collated by RISE after courses are completed (via survey data).
Outcome
A total of 25 qualitative interviews were undertaken, using a semi-structured interview schedule. This included RISE staff members (n = 5), male offenders (n = 7) and external stakeholders (n = 13).
A further part of the work was a needs assessment component. This involved the creation of a survey, which was distributed to all police forces in the country as well as being shared with the national OOCDs lead. The main emphasis of this part of the project was to ask forces to detail the range of courses they currently offer and where they consider there to be gaps (e.g., what courses they would like to have in the future and for what offence type/behaviour or needs). The survey was live between May 2022 and July 2022 and received responses from 19 police forces.
Based on the findings from the evaluation and needs assessment, TONIC were able to make a series of conclusions and recommendations to support and strengthen continued delivery of OOCDs.