Cutting-edge study to evaluate a residential community alternative to prison for women

Researchers at the University of Southampton are leading an independent evaluation of a residential community alternative to prison.

The first of its kind in England, Hope Street is a 24-bed facility for women and their children. The women live in accommodation which has been designed to consider how their experiences affects their use and engagement with the support services available to them, and includes spaces and buildings that promote well-being, a sense of safety and healing.

The DIGNIFIE study aims to assess the health and wellbeing of women living at Hope Street and compare it with imprisoned women from Dorset. The study will also evaluate the cost of the intervention as well as social and criminal justice outcomes.

The study is being led by Professor Julie Parkes and Emma Plugge alongside EP:IC and the Prison Reform Trust, and funded by the charity One Small Thing.

Professor Parkes said: “We are delighted to be leading the evaluation of such an innovative and exciting intervention, which aims to provide a non-custodial alternative for women and their children in the criminal justice system - in particular we are very pleased to be working closely with partners in the Prison Reform Trust and EpIC and with women with lived experience. We look forward to the results of the research adding to the evidence base of effectiveness of interventions for this under-served group of women.”

Hope Street was set up in response to the well-established evidence that non-custodial residential community alternatives are appropriate for the majority of women currently sent to prison for short sentences.

The facility was recently officially opened by HRH The Princess of Wales where she toured the facility and spoke to residents and staff.

Donna Arrondelle, a researcher for the DIGNIFIE project, spoke with The Princess of Wales about the project. She said: “It was fantastic to discuss the evaluation with The Princess of Wales. She was very supportive of Hope Street and the independent evaluation, recognising the value of tracking women’s outcomes over time to build the much-needed evidence base for residential community alternatives to prison.”