At Catch22 we’ve been working to reduce offending and reoffending for over 200 years. From supporting young people at risk of crime in our alternative provision schools and county lines services, to mentoring those leaving custody and delivering commissioned rehabilitative services. We believe that for people to thrive, they need the ‘3Ps’: a good place to live, a purpose, and good people around them. So, when it comes to reducing reoffending, our focus is simple: helping people to build lives they value and communities they feel part of.
One of our recent areas of focus has been the overuse of short prison sentences and recall – particularly fixed-term recall (FTR). Both are costly, destabilising, and often ineffective. They remove people from family, housing, and work, but often don’t allow the time to tackle underlying issues – such as substance misuse, mental health, or unemployment.
We know that so often, recall occurs because someone has not received the necessary support in the community to address their needs, which then leads to breaches of licence conditions or sometimes reoffending. For many on probation, individualised community support is key to preventing breaches of licence conditions.
Short sentences and recall – a shift in sentencing policy
Following the Independent Sentencing Review earlier this year, the new Sentencing Bill, introduced on 2 September 2025, sets out major reforms: a presumption against short custodial sentences (particularly those under 12 months), greater use of community sentences, and the replacement of standard recalls and 14/28-day fixed-term recalls with a single 56-day fixed-term recall for all Standard Determinate Sentence offenders, excluding certain high-risk groups.
We welcome the expansion of community sentences. Evidence shows they are more effective than short prison terms at addressing the root causes of offending. They protect stability – family ties, employment, housing – and provide the space to work on criminogenic needs.
But we are clear: these reforms will only succeed if they are matched by the right community support. If someone struggles with licence conditions, support must be offered before recall is triggered.
That’s why we are launching our Reducing Reoffending campaign, rooted in three core principles:
- Connection in the community: Rooted locally. Connected nationally.
- Co-production: Real voices. Real results.
- Voluntary sector value: Powered by purpose.
These pillars guide how we believe rehabilitative services should be designed and delivered, to make both recall reform and the shift away from short sentences meaningful and reduce reoffending for the long term.
Rooted locally. Connected nationally.
The greatest strength of community sentences is that they allow people to rebuild their lives in the places they live, rather than being cut off from their support networks. But this only works if individuals are connected to the right people, at the right time, in the right place.
Many of those we support don’t know what’s available locally or lack the confidence to reach out. Our role is to bridge that gap; embedding workers in communities, building partnerships with grassroots organisations, and making active connections for people on probation.
Through our growing Community Partner Network – now made up of over 200 organisations – we strengthen local capacity rather than duplicate it. By working hand in hand with prisons, probation, and community providers, we ensure that by the time individuals complete their licence period, they have found the right support for them and leave with a community to belong to.
Real voices. Real results.
Effective rehabilitation cannot be designed behind closed doors. It must be shaped by those who know the system best: people with lived experience and frontline practitioners.
At Catch22, we design services for people but also with people, through regular consultation and co-design sessions with those with lived experience of the criminal justice system and through staff feedback loops. This ensures that interventions are relevant and empowering, and services are effective.
Our position on recall itself stems from this approach. We conducted interviews with people who had experienced FTR and with Catch22 caseworkers supporting probation cohorts. Their insights informed our Fixed-Term Recall Insights Paper, which was cited in the Independent Sentencing Review and helped to shape the new reforms.
We also amplify lived experience through our Experts by Experience podcast series, which is broadcast on Prison Radio, where people share real advice and lessons for those navigating custody and community supervision. This co-produced approach, grounded in lived reality and backed by our data and research partnerships, means that our services are both person-centred and academically robust.
Powered by purpose
We believe that the voluntary sector plays a vital role in making rehabilitation effective. As a not-for-profit, Catch22 reinvests every pound into the people and communities we serve. Unlike statutory services, our role is not enforcement. This distinction matters: people often find it easier to engage with voluntary sector staff, knowing our only purpose is to support their progress.
At our Youth2Adulthood hub in Newham, co-located with probation, this balance works in practice. We can liaise directly with probation officers while providing a trusted, non-punitive environment for young people. This dual presence helps build bridges between individuals and statutory services, improving compliance and outcomes.
We also reinvest directly in innovation. Through our staff innovation fund, we have supported projects such as:
- A 10-week theatre programme for prison leavers exploring creative rehabilitation.
- An online training course for multilingual individuals with an offending history to boost employment prospects.
- Fully funded clinical training for community rehabilitative service staff, enabling earlier mental health support for people on probation.
This combination of scale, trust, and reinvestment is the voluntary sector’s unique value, and it must be harnessed if sentencing reform is to succeed.
The Sentencing Bill has set the stage for meaningful reform. But legislation alone cannot reduce reoffending. Success depends on how we deliver community-based support in practice.
At Catch22, we believe this requires:
- Locally rooted services with connections to the community
- Services shaped by lived experience and frontline insight
- A voluntary sector powered by purpose, reinvesting in people and places.
If these principles underpin probation and community provision, community sentences will deliver their true potential: helping people to change, and communities to thrive and ultimately reduce reoffending.
Follow along to learn more about what we’re doing to Reduce Reoffending.