Based in offices just outside Cardiff, the Centre was formed in 1993 and over the years has accumulated considerable experience in working in partnership with statutory, voluntary and private organisations. As well as extensive work throughout the UK and Northern Ireland, our work has taken us to Australasia, and Europe.
We provide consultancy, training and support to organisations that wish to develop and improve their ability to work effectively with people. We are an independent organisation and this allows us the freedom to be flexible and responsive to the needs of our customers, and to develop new and creative approaches to the complex and multi faceted problems involved in providing effective ‘human services' to people.
Our expertise is based on:
- A staff group with experience at practitioner and management levels
- A staff group with a proven track record in training and consultancy
- Partnerships with many of the leading national and international experts in the field of working effectively with people
- Partnerships with national and international organisations, companies and individuals
- A commitment to ongoing research and evaluation designed to inform the development of new and innovative approaches.
Academic Partnerships
We pride ourselves in the fact that our work is underpinned by the most recent research evidence available from throughout the world. Our academic partnerships include:
Professor Robert Ross
From the University of Ottawa, the author of the original "Reasoning and Rehabilitation' Programme. Robert Ross was one of the pioneers of the What Works" movement in criminal justice and remains a major influence in the field. The Ross Programme (R&R2) was introduced into the United Kingdom in 2003 and as a result of collaboration between Professor Ross and the Centre, a version of the programme has been designed specifically for work with girls and young women.
Professor Chris Trotter
From Monash University, Australia whose recent work on Prosocial Modelling has been demonstrated to have wide ranging applications in the fields of work with families and children, child protection and criminal justice. During the last few years Chris has worked with the Centre to produce a prosocial modeling programme ‘Focus on People - Effect Change, and the ‘Family Problem-Solving' Programme. A programme designed specifically for those working in child protection will shortly become available.
Dr. Barbara Armstrong
Formerly Chief Psychologist at the Rideau Correctional Centre in Ottawa and author of the widely acclaimed ‘Criminal Lifestyles' suite of offender programmes. Professor Paul Gendreau of New Brunswick University has assessed these as being the best programmes of their type available. Dr. Armstrong has worked with the Centre to modify these programmes for use in community settings in the UK. Since her retirement Barbara has been able to work more closely with us on the development of programmed approaches. Our other consultants are:
Dr. James Bonta, Solicitor Generals Office, CanadaDr Vincente Garrido, University of Valencia
Professor Robert Hare, University of Columbia
Professor Clive Hollin, University of Leicester
Dr. John Marshall, Head of Forensic Services for Young People, Glasgow NHS Trust
Dr. Graeme Richardson, Head Person at the Kolvin Clinic, Newcastle -on-Tyne
Professor Peter Raynor is research consultant for the Centre. Professor Raynor works in the Centre for Applied Social Studies at the University of Wales, Swansea and has published extensively on criminal justice and evidence based practice. A former probation officer, he was a member of the joint Prisons and Probation Accreditation Panel for England and Wales and the Scottish Accreditation Panel. His research over the past twenty-five years has included work on victim support, the career progression of ethnic minority probation officers, offenders who misuse drugs, youth justice and evaluations, Automatic Conditional Release, pre-sentence reports, through-care of short term prisoners, risk and need assessment, and the effectiveness of probation programmes.
PARTNERSHIPS
We have a number of partnerships with other organisations that support us in our work.
Multi Health Systems Inc
A key partnership is with Multi-Health System (MHS) Incorporated, a company engaged in the development, marketing and delivery of high-quality, standardised and integrated assessment and diagnostic products as well as practice and treatment management products and services. Their customers are mental health, counselling, and human resource professionals in clinical, managed care, forensic, education, and corporate organisations. Our partnership with MHS enables us to supply a wide range of tests for use in private and public organisations to support a wide range of assessment processes.
Forum Educatief
We have begun working closely with Forum Educatief, the Centre for Forensic Medicine and Behavioral Sciences in Utrecht, in the Netherlands to promote in the UK the SAPROF (Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors for violence risk). Forum Educatief provides mental health services for people who have become involved with or are likely to become involved with the Justice System, for whom a relationship is apparent between their disrupting behaviours and one or more psychiatric or personality disorders. Their objectives are diverse and range from the prevention of (serious) offences, treatment of mental disorders, development of expertise and research, to education and training in our field.
Psychological Assessment Resources Inc
We are also pleased to have entered into partnership with Psychological Assessment Resources Inc (PAR) to sell a range of their most popular products which are included on our website and in our catalogue.
ProActive ReSolutions Inc
We continue our partnership agreement with ProActive ReSolutions Inc in Canada and are their approved UK publisher and supplier of a range of assessments including the HCR-20 (2nd edition), RSVP, SARA, B-SAFER and SAM (Guidelines for Stalking Assessment and Management).