Project number: 2025-1-DE02-KA220-ADU-000356566
Implementation period: 2025- 2027
Holistic Outreach for (former) Prisoner and Employee Mental Health
HOPE builds on existing competencies of people working or volunteering in the criminal justice system, or even their families and communities, by integrating evidence-based mental health practices into real-world prison settings. The project aims to train mental health champions, who could be justice professionals, NGOs, volunteers, families of prisoners and community actors in mental health-first approaches. HOPE training will empower participants to deliver effective, low-cost interventions within their roles.
A key innovation of HOPE is its focus on generating evidence for future policy and funding decisions across four justice jurisdictions in Europe. Through pilot projects and evaluations, HOPE will demonstrate the effectiveness of targeted mental health strategies, providing policymakers with data-driven recommendations on how to allocate health resources more efficiently within the justice system. By ensuring direct engagement, professional upskilling, and scalable interventions, HOPE bridges the gap between theory, practice, and policy, making mental health in prisons a priority for long-term reform.
Plans within the HOPE initiative:
The HOPE project is actually designed and created in order to promote tangible synergies between education, training, and justice by integrating MH awareness and training into criminal justice settings, ensuring cross-sector collaboration and upskilling in evaluation methods so as to prove short and long-term impact.
Our resources:
The HOPE project was developed in response to urgent mental health needs within the criminal justice system, identified through collaborative discussions among experienced practitioners and trainers. All project partners are both actively in discussion and engaged in their local justice settings, either as direct practitioners, trainers of justice professionals, reintegration specialists, mental health specialists, justice educators, and rehabilitation experts to ensure a balance of practical experience and academic expertise. Most partners are also members of the Pact No 248 LiberateSkills – A lifelong learning European Pact for Correctional Excellence, coordinated by HOPE (P3) CENTRUL PENTRU PROMOVAREA INVATARII PERMANENTE, CPIP – Romania.
(P1) hoppenbank e.V. – Germany
(P2) Interchange Non-Profit Gug – Germany
(P3) CENTRUL PENTRU PROMOVAREA INVATARII PERMANENTE, CPIP – Romania
(P4) Penitenciarul Oradea – Romania
