people we support have ever returned to prison for a repeat of their index offence
58%
of the people we support with a high and medium forensic risk saw a reduced risk rating in 2024
Forensic Support: Helping You Rehabilitate and Thrive
At Discovery, we believe in you—even when others don’t. Our expertise in supporting people with risky behaviours and complex histories is second to none.
Through our specialist forensic support services, we help individuals with diverse backgrounds to recover and rebuild their lives. This includes people considered at risk of offending and those with a history of sexual offences. Every person we support is treated with dignity and respect, with the goal of leading a safe, fulfilling life in the community.
Our approach combines rehabilitation, risk management, and positive behaviour support, ensuring tailored plans that promote independence and long-term success.
Peter has a mild learning disability and was detained following an index offence of rape and sexual assault against a child.
The victim was his brother and the offence took place over a number of years.
There were also allegations of sexually abusive behaviour towards other relatives… [continued below]
How can people rehabilitate and thrive? Key principles for recovery
Rehabilitation for individuals with long-term mental health challenges has been a well-established concept for many years. Successful rehabilitation focuses on three essential themes:
1. Agency Developing a sense of control over one’s life and condition is crucial. This includes finding personal meaning and building an identity that acknowledges disability while maintaining a positive sense of self.
2. Opportunity Creating a life beyond disability means accessing opportunities through non-mental health services, informal supports, and natural social networks. These connections promote social inclusion and community integration.
3. Hope Believing in the possibility of pursuing personal goals and dreams—even with ongoing challenges—is fundamental. Rehabilitation encourages individuals not to settle for reduced expectations but to strive for a fulfilling life.
At Discovery, we embed these principles into our rehabilitation and recovery support, helping people regain independence and thrive in the community.
Precursors to Offending: Understanding Risk Factors
Research and experience show that certain life conditions can increase the likelihood of offending among people with learning disabilities. Key risk factors include:
– Lack of positive relationships, especially with family members
– Missed education, unemployment, social isolation, and boredom
– Reduced social and emotional comprehension
– Difficulties with structure, power struggles, and discrimination
– Unrealistic expectations
– Unaddressed trauma, combined with trust and learning challenges
These factors, when combined, are strong indicators of risk. In particular, most individuals with learning disabilities who offend have had few positive relational experiences, including family connections. Building these relationships is one of the most effective ways to motivate people to live safe, fulfilling lives.
Community-based support providers play a critical role in identifying, discussing, and managing these risk factors in collaboration with the individual and multiple agencies to prevent relapse.
However, this process can be challenging—especially at the start—because social inclusion and learning to trust others can feel daunting for someone who has struggled and fears failure.
Finding reasons to care: Building Skills for Safer, Inclusive Living
At Discovery, we help people develop the skills needed to make informed choices about their lives and find meaningful reasons to care what happens to them.
Most precursors to offending can be addressed through professional support. Our approach focuses on teaching essential life skills, including:
– Social inclusion and community engagement
– Relational development and empathy
– Understanding social rules and expectations
– Active listening and communication skills
– Self-discipline and emotional regulation
By prioritising relationships, we empower individuals to build successful connections beyond paid support. When people create a positive identity for themselves, they become valued members of their community—leading safer, more fulfilling lives.
Risk Management and Rehabilitation: Building Independence Safely
Risk is an inherent part of developing relationships and living independently. Initially, risk management is handled by the support team surrounding the individual. Over time, as the person gains the skills and tools to manage risk, responsibility can gradually transfer to them.
Once someone understands their triggers, has a genuine reason to care, and possesses strategies to manage their own behaviour, we begin planning reductions in support needs. This process is guided by two key plans:
– Risk Management Plan – Strategies to keep the person and community safe.
– Outcomes and Development Plan – Identifies the skills the individual needs to develop and how they will be supported to achieve them, reducing risk over time.
As part of this journey, people learn the difference between delinquency and criminality, and how these behaviours impact community inclusion. This understanding is essential for building a positive identity and living a safe, fulfilling life.
[continued] …Peter has developed good working relationships with the support team, reducing the social anxiety which triggered his offending behaviour. He now recognises the need for structure and routine in managing his risks and making better decisions.
This has also helped him be part of his community – he’s been made captain of a football team! – which was previously prohibited due to his anxiety and impulsive behaviours.
He is being encouraged to ask questions about appropriate boundaries. He now has unsupported time in his local area once a week. And he uses public transport independently to visit his mother every other Sunday.
Peter was initially supported at all times on a one-to-one basis. The level of support he receives has reduced over time to reflect his progress.
You can count on our clinical team
Behaviours of distress
If you are distressed or behaving in a risky way, this can put your support at risk, and we’re determined to avoid your support breaking down.
At those times your regular support team might need to think about some new strategies to support you well. That’s where our clinical team comes in.
The clinical team has expert knowledge in positive behaviour support and includes several Board Certified Behaviour Analysts (BCBAs) – the highest qualification in the field.
By involving this team early we can identify and respond effectively to any issues at an early stage.
All of the team’s work is centred on your individual needs, and much of the time we’re also working in close multi-agency partnerships to get the best possible outcomes for you.
The team is determined to share what we’ve learned along the way. Indeed, several of the people we support now choose to tell their complex histories in public to help more people believe in their own futures.
Forensic support
Some risky behaviours can lead to contact with the criminal justice system.
If this is you, and you have a mild to moderate learning disability and/or autism, we’ll support you to learn the skills to manage your own risks, enabling you to live safely and independently.
It won’t happen overnight. Typically we aim to be able to fade out of your life over about a seven-year period.
The forensic team has specialist knowledge, experience and input in managing these sorts of risks.
We’ll support you to create meaningful relationships and a life for yourself in the community which is better than life in prison or hospital. This gives you a reason to care about your life and a reason to change your behaviour.
Relationships rely on a particular set of skills which we’ll support you to develop over time: Empathy, Compassion, Conscience and Guilt.
Clinical documentation that provide the framework for your support includes the Personal Agreement, Risk-Trigger-Response Plan, Disengaging From Support Protocol and the Exit Plan.
It works. No-one we support has ever been recalled to prison for a repeat of their index offence. Many now live successful, unsupported lives.
My hours continue to reduce [from 112 to 13 at time of writing] which leads to my goal of no support. I can see that in my future now
