Womens Justice Teams

Womens Justice Teams have been established in South Lanarkshire since May 2014. Locality hubs operate on a weekly basis in each of the 4 locality areas and online. The hubs provide a trauma informed network of support for women who have come into contact with the justice system. The hubs aim to provide individuals with positive peer support as well as the opportunity to access 1:1 supports, provided by trained and experienced hub facilitators. The hubs are supported by a range of local services and agencies, which allow women the opportunity to participate fully in their own communities and to become involved in community-based activities.

The participants within the hub work in partnership with facilitators and service providers to plan weekly sessions and inputs, allowing topics of interest and varying services to be involved on a rotational basis in each of the hubs. This includes visits from services such as the NHS Health and Wellbeing Nurses, Money Matters, Benefits Agency, DWP, Police Scotland, Fire Service, Community Learning, Routes to Work, SACRO, Circle and Venture Trust. The women's hubs have also developed strong links with the local recovery network services including the Beacons, Liber8, and Community Addiction Recovery Services (CAReS) who regularly attend, as and when the women need or request their expertise. The sole criterion for attendance is involvement with Justice Social Work in any capacity, so not only those on CPO's attend but women who are subject to Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTO), Diversion from Prosecution and Bail Supervision.

Hubs enable easy access for women who attend to help with health and wellbeing and to increase their skills. Partnership arrangements have played an important part in ensuring the success of the hubs leading to one of our key facilitators being awarded the Butler Trust Award in 2019, in recognition of the exceptional care and support this service has offered to women across the South Lanarkshire area.