The purpose of the CCUs is to provide safe accommodation and to support the needs of women who will benefit from closer community contact and access to local services, to create and sustain independence in preparation for successful reintegration into the community. Each CCU is comprised of a number of small accommodation units and a community hub where women can meet with visitors and a range of services and activities will be delivered.
The approach is founded on the principle that all aspects of the care of women in custody should be designed for women and take account of their likely experience of trauma and adversities. All aspects of the approach will therefore be both gender-specific and trauma-informed.
Each of the CCUs are unlike any existing facility in the prison estate. The women live in shared house-style accommodation with shared facilities downstairs and bedrooms upstairs. They blend into the surrounding community; there are no bars on the windows, no barbed wire or high fences that you might associate with a prison.
Every woman allocated to a CCU will have undergone a robust risk and needs assessment process. They will accommodate women of mixed custodial sentence lengths and women will, following appropriate risk assessments have the opportunity to access the community. Living in the CCU will enable these women to foster stronger and closer links within the appropriate community support agencies they will be working with prior to release.
Women living within each CCU will have access to a range of in-reach and outreach services in order to develop a range of skills required for successful reintegration into the community as responsible citizens. The aim of the CCU is to become an integral part of the community and should be seen as a community asset for partners and stakeholders.
The regime will provide a range of opportunities to encourage individual choice, support self-management and develop independence. Consequently, women will be actively involved in the formulation of their time in custody and will be encouraged to engage in case management with their personal officer and service providers to sustain their support plans.
The Bella Centre
Located in the Hilltown area of Dundee, it has accommodation for 16 women. It became operational in August 2022.
The Lilias Centre
Located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, it has accommodation for 24 women. It became operational in October 2022.
