DHSC: GPH: Female Residential Rehabilitation Feasibility Study

There is a growing body of evidence which demonstrates the vulnerability of women in the criminal justice system who have problems with drugs and alcohol. There have been limited approaches which have sought to improve treatment for women in services dominated by men. This research project offers the opportunity to identify the effectiveness of entering residential treatment immediately after release from prison for women.

The proposal is to fund the University of York’s “ARROW Project”, covering the costs of residential treatment episodes in what is otherwise a NIHR funded study. The funding would provide 12 weeks of residential rehabilitation for each woman (20 in total) allocated to that arm of the study.

The research will test a women only, gender and trauma-informed residential rehabilitation pathway for drug dependent women leaving prison and whether it supports long-term recovery in comparison to treatment as usual.