Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Bail Supervision Scheme offers courts an alternative option to detaining a young person who comes before them by providing them the possibility of granting bail with intensive supervision.

By reducing the need for remand places, this also provides an opportunity to focus on developing successful community resources designed to prevent young people being detained in a youth justice facility and preventing them from going further down the path of criminality.

The Bail Supervision Scheme currently serves the Children Courts in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. The scheme uses Multisystemic Therapy (MST) to support families of young people, who appear before the court and receive bail with conditions, to adhere to these conditions prior to subsequent court appearances.

Therapists meet with families and the young person in their homes and communities and empower parents/ guardians to ensure their children adhere to their conditions while at the same time assisting them to engage in education or other courses.

Across the three sites, therapists are currently working with 26 young people and their families, with a further three cases referred. These three cases are being assessed for suitability to participate.

There are currently no plans to extend this scheme; however consideration of a similar scheme for adult female offenders is at a very early stage.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Housing First Service is a model of homeless provision which centres on the provision of permanent housing as the first step in tackling homelessness for individuals with complex needs. The Housing First Service is administered by the Housing Agency who are an agency under the aegis of the Department Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The provision of a tenancy is accompanied by intensive wrap around housing and health supports delivered by a multidisciplinary team to help the individual sustain their tenancy.

The Criminal Justice Housing First Project commenced with effect from 1^st October 2020 to deliver a commitment contained in the Housing First National Implementation Plan 2018-2021. The Criminal Justice Housing First project provides help to people with a criminal background (those leaving prison and/or subject to Probation Service Supervision) to obtain and sustain a tenancy upon release from prison. Funding for the Criminal Justice Housing First Project which is an Irish Prison Service/Probation Service joint initiative is administered by the Probation Service. It represents a positive and effective model of cross-agency co-operation.

The Irish Prison Service identifies suitable candidates and assists candidates in completing an expression of interest and confirmation of social housing eligibility. The service is delivered by Peter McVerry Trust on behalf of the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, the Irish Prison Service and The Probation Service, the Health Service Executive and the four Dublin local authorities. The Criminal Justice Housing First Project has completed the pilot phase and is being extended to 31^st May 2024 at which point it will be streamlined into the mainstream Housing First Service.

Based on figures provided by the Peter McVerry Trust, I can advise as of 29 January 2024, the Criminal Justice Housing First Project has received 117 expressions of interest from former prisoners, of these 69 have been accepted onto the project while 48 applicants did not meet the criteria for participation. Further 40 tenancies have been created under this project, 21 of these remain active.