The New Futures Network (NFN), is the specialist part of the prison service that brokers partnerships between prisons and employers in England and Wales. These partnerships help businesses fill skills gaps and helps prison leavers to find employment. NFN brokers three types of partnership:
- Prison industries: when businesses set up commercial workspaces in prisons, staffed by serving prisoners.
- Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL): when risk-assessed prisoners leave prison each day to work for employers in the community. This can be for a full working week, over an extended period.
- Employment on release: when employers offer opportunities to prison leavers. This can follow on from a prisoner working in an industry workshop or in a workplace during ROTL.
NFN will:
- Work with you to understand the needs of your business
- Connect you with other employers who have recruited prison leavers
- Take you into one or more prisons to meet the men and women there, talk to staff and see the facilities available and the work and training that goes on each day
- Advise you on which prison or prisons you should recruit from, considering factors like location, the cohort and the training on offer there
- Guide you through the process of identifying suitable candidates
- Connect you with the specialist charities who work in many prisons and support prison leavers
Remain a single point of contact for you with the prison and probation service