This is a guest blog from Joy Doal (Anawim) and Dr Tom McNeil (The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls). If you are a CJA member and would like to collaborate on a story, get in touch by emailing media@criminaljusticealliance.org.uk.
Birmingham is leading the way in transforming the criminal justice system for women.
The city’s pioneering Women’s Intensive Supervision Court (ISC), first piloted in 2023, is consistently praised by Justice Ministers past and present for its radical yet effective approach.
Built on the learning of longer-standing innovations like the problem-solving court in Greater Manchester, the Birmingham court is hailed by many across the justice sector as the model to follow in expanding ISCs to other areas – a key recommendation of David Gauke’s Independent Sentencing Review and one the Government has accepted in principle.
But what are the reasons for its early success?
As two sector leaders who were both heavily involved in setting up this court, we know it is in no small part due to the impressive collaboration between key agencies and stakeholders, with Women’s Centres at its heart.
In a sector that is notoriously bleak and challenging, and with growing frustrations about the many missed opportunities to break down silos, this should give us all hope that a fairer, more sustainable and effective system is possible.
A different approach
At the Birmingham ISC, women whose offences would normally meet the custody threshold are instead given the option to work with probation and a range of partner agencies, including representatives from mental health, substance misuse and housing, to tackle their complex needs and address the root causes of their offending.
A 2024 evaluation report by the Ministry of Justice found that ISCs are enabling diversion from custody, helping to reduce drug and alcohol intake, and giving people a sense of purpose and routine.
Between July 2023 and January 2024 alone, 31 women were kept out of prison because of the Birmingham ISC, with dozens still completing community orders in place of prison.
This is a positive step forward in a system that often does little to tackle the underlying reasons why women enter it in the first place – among them trauma, poverty, substance misuse, mental ill health, and domestic abuse and violence.
A court that addresses women’s needs
Women’s Centres are not an add-on or a referral option at the Birmingham ISC. They are central, and for good reason: their staff are experts in offering a safe, trauma-informed environment that addresses the complex needs of women in the criminal justice system. They provide practical help and emotional support – often in a unique and trusted way that no other agency can – enabling women to stabilise their lives, reconnect with their families, and build new futures.
Using the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA), a tool being validated by the University of Birmingham for the first time in the UK, Women’s Centre staff gain a far more nuanced understanding of a woman’s circumstances than a typical pre-sentence report allows. This not only helps a woman feel heard and understood, often for the first time, but it enables Women’s Centres, probation, and other agencies to develop the most effective response.
A standout example of this is how WRNA has demonstrated the need for urgent health care and significantly enhanced relationships with NHS mental health services, with Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs) offered in many more cases than they normally would.
This must be a strategic priority for any government, commissioner, and police force that is serious about tackling the root causes of crime and ensuring women can lead safer, healthier lives.
The realities of building strong collaboration
While Women’s Centres are a critical component, no single agency can deliver justice that works for women on its own.
Shortly after we learned Birmingham was selected for a pilot ISC, local Strategic and Delivery Boards were set up, bringing key partners – including probation, mental health, housing agencies, commissioners, and judges together on a shared journey.
We heard from operational leads in Family Drug & Alcohol Courts (FDACs) about their experiences, as FDACs share many of the same practices for a similar cohort of people, such as women in crisis supported by a co-located, multi-agency team.
We saw how good collaboration must have a strong degree of flexibility, particularly when developing new models. Testing, learning, and being open-minded to new ideas is paramount. There was a lot of goodwill and commitment to co-locating and working in a more integrated way. Agencies were determined to make the court work and didn’t allow difficulties to stand in the way.
And importantly, local champions drove the project forward – in the case of Birmingham, it was the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner who led the partnership bid for the pilot, and took the very practical step of providing funding for Women’s Centres.
These steps made a significant difference, although it’s important to recognise there is no silver bullet in tackling broad societal issues. While this cohort had been kept out of prison, they still face major challenges in the community due to stretched services like poor housing and pervasive issues like domestic abuse. Key agencies must increase broader collaboration and do so more effectively.
A blueprint for the future
The Birmingham ISC is a brilliant example of what can happen when we are bold enough to move away from the status quo and try something new.
But this is just the beginning, and if we want more successful Women’s ISCs up and down the country, the government and key agencies must commit to:
Put Women’s Centres at the heart of any future Women’s ISC, with resources made available for their services. This approach is ethical, smart and effective.
Invest in the hard yards of partnership-building as early as possible – between probation and other statutory services, commissioners, and the third sector.
Embed learning and sharing of best practice based on evidence and experience, such as FDACs, the Birmingham Women’s ISC, and learnings from the Greater Manchester problem-solving court model.
To move this agenda forward in a way that works most effectively, The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls is supporting the Centre for Justice Innovation to convene national networks on women’s problem-solving courts and diversion, to spread best practice and develop an implementation framework for other areas to draw on.
We are on the verge of a historic moment for women’s justice, and Women’s Centres are uniquely placed to be at the heart of this change.
Joy Doal is CEO of Anawim – Birmingham’s Centre for Women, and was an implementation lead and Strategic Board member for the Birmingham Women’s ISC. Joy leads the team at Anawim providing holistic support to women who go through the ISC. Anawim is a long-term advocate of community sentences over custody, and was an early pioneer of the Corstonian one-stop-shop model for Women’s Centres.
Dr Tom McNeil is CEO of The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls and an appointed member of the Government’s Women’s Justice Board. He established and chaired the Strategic Board overseeing the implementation of the Birmingham Women’s Intensive Supervision Court, in his former role as West Midlands Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner.
