Every year a number of approx. 30,000 car accidents are taking place in the EU taking the life or severely injuring thousands of citizens. To counteract this phenomenon, European Commission has adopted a document called Policy Orientations 2011-2020 setting itself a target of reducing the number of road deaths by half. The same objective was adopted by the UN to reduce by half the number of deaths by 2030 at the international level. In the same time, the project contributes to other transversal priorities, such as reducing poverty. As we know reducing re-offending could contribute to reducing in poverty among the offenders. One of the main reasons behind the car accidents are: driving without licence, driving under the influence of alcohol and overspending (or dangerous driving). To combat these offences, member states have adopted severe legislation that send offenders with this sort of behaviour under probation supervision or in prisons. In Romania, the proportion of road offenders out of the total number of probationers is 47% in 2018 (NAP, Annual Report 2018). In spite of this huge number of offenders with this kind of offending history, there is no correctional program available that is up to date and evidence based or offender informed at the European level. This is the aim of this project: to take an existing program in Portugal (STOP Responsibility and Safety) and up-date it in line with the research evidence and offender expectations. In order to achieve this aim, the project team will:- undertake a thorough literature review and collection of good practices, - will design a new program - Bringing Safety on the roads - BriSaR. - will pilot it and evaluate it for its impact - will provide training of trainers in three jurisdictions - will manualize both the program and the evaluation tool. The innovative side of the program is that it will take an existing program in Portugal and will up-date it using the research evidence, examples of good practice and the opinion of offenders with road offences history. Another innovation of this project is that it will incorporate the evaluation into the program so the program leaders will be able to collect feedback on their performance as they run the program. It is expected that a number of at least 30 professionals and volunteers and 45 offenders will benefit directly from the program. In the same time, we expect that indirectly a significant number of offenders will benefit from the program once it is developed and tested. Only in Romanian, a number of Aproximar. 47,000 offenders under probation supervision could benefit from this program. By reducing the re-offending among this group of offenders, we expect that the program will contribute to the reduction of car accidents and indirectly to the decrease in the number of deaths on the road, which is the European Commission long term target.

<< Background >>Prisons are meant to punish the criminal, compensate the victim and to rehabilitate dysfunctional individuals to improve their lives and prevent them from committing further crimes (Centre for Entrepreneurs, 2016). Given the large numbers of incarcerated people in prisons in Europe (Germany 79, Ireland 82 and Romania 107 per 100.000 inhabitants), as well as the fact that there are high rates of recidivism for former prisoners (35% in Germany, 38.4% in Romania, 55.2% in Ireland), there is a great need to understand better the reasons for relapse among released prisoners and to create enhanced mechanisms for preventing further crimes. Research has shown that one crucial success factor for reducing recidivism can be reintegration into work (e.g., Chappell, 2004; Costelloe & Langelid, 2011). The solution sounds very simple, but there are multiple caveats attached to it for ex-prisoners: For example, there is a negative attitude of employers towards prisoners, which some attribute to stigma (e.g., Cooney, 2012), which makes it very difficult to find any employment for people that have a criminal record. More recently, people have tried an alternative approach to reintegration into work i.e. reintegration through entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship programs, which were often developed in and imported from the USA, have tried to foster entrepreneurial thinking and action in prisoners so that post-release they can become more autonomous and self-determined through self-employment rather than depending solely on employment. Although the idea seems plausible at first sight, such entrepreneurship trainings come with their limitations. For example, in a prison environment, using traditional teaching and training methods, it is almost impossible to have a competency- and project-based training approach, as prisoners are not able to test out their ideas whilst still being incarcerated. Similarly, the few available educational programs regarding entrepreneurship for prisoners have mainly focused on the business mindset approach aimed at delivering basic knowledge on running a business. However, recent research (Frese et al., 2016) has shown that in addition to this business approach, a psychological mindset approach to entrepreneurship education is fruitful in helping to generate the entrepreneurial intentions of people. These studies have been primarily conducted with students, however, it seems logical that such an approach would be especially beneficial to prisoners as it is crucial to work on prisoners’ attitudes, motivation and self-efficacy for them to develop a long-term oriented way of thinking and acting.Lastly, traditional prison entrepreneurship programs are failing to translate the knowledge gained during imprisonment into action once prisoners are released. Hence, it is important that an entrepreneurial training program for prisoners takes a multidisciplinary approach and includes the post-release phase. Of course, educational programs need to start during imprisonment in order to lay the groundwork for future self-employment and ideally such programs can also utilize digital teaching methods for their sustainability. But once free (then) ex-prisoners will likely realize the challenges of enacting their entrepreneurial thoughts and ideas and will need personal guidance and coaching for following through with them. Although in many European countries there are support organizations that help ex-prisoners to deal with the basic challenges of life including finding work, such organizations lack the knowledge and training in respect to entrepreneurial coaching for ex-prisoners. In European countries, such as Ireland, Germany and Romania, the increasing focus on entrepreneurship for prisoners has led to a growing need for evidence-based approaches to entrepreneurship training as a means for ex-prisoners to join the labor market.<< Objectives >>The overarching objective of the project is to design and evaluate a new integrated approach to an entrepreneurship education program for prisoners. These programs are evidence-based approaches to reduce the recidivism rate among prisoners, but given that most entrepreneurial ideas fail, a program that solely focuses on business aspects is not enough for achieving positive long-term effects. Thus, our new integrated and multidisciplinary approach aims at improving previous programs in three different ways:1. A multidisciplinary approach for the training, including fundamental training modules for reintegration.2. Integrate the psychological-mindset approach into entrepreneurial training programs, which might prove to be even more relevant to prisoners.3. Incorporate the post-release phase into the training by building capacity in community-based organizations for entrepreneurial coaching of ex-prisoners.More specifically by implementing the project we want to achieve the following goals:A. CREATING AN EVIDENCE-BASIS FOR PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMSWe want to create a transnational report that makes a strong case for more integrated approaches to entrepreneurship for prisoners. Hence, apart from addressing teachers, trainers and educators in prisons, and researchers, this report will also be targeted at political decision-makers who want to take decisive action to improve reintegration of ex-prisoners into society and work.B. TEACHING PRISONERS’ FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THAT WILL FACILITATE THEIR REINTEGRATIONAs prisoners face multiple different socio-psychological problems and challenges after release we want to ensure that they are being equipped with knowledge they need concerning, for instance, accommodation, family issues, substance misuse, financial issues, etc. As these problems will likely occur and complicate life-planning, and in the worst-case lead to recidivism, preparing for them is crucial.C. FOSTER ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS AMONG PRISONERS AND TRAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS As many prisoners face social stigma and prejudices when searching for a job, this project wants to raise awareness for alternative ways of reintegrating through work, i.e. through entrepreneurship. Apart from a business-mindset, prisoners also need a psychological-mindset approach to entrepreneurship to assure that they can work in an autonomous, goal-oriented and sustainable manner. As a result, trained prisoners will generate business ideas, which they ideally turn into a reality after release, thereby reducing the recidivism rates.D. BUILD CAPACITY IN COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL COACHING OF EX-PRISONERSReintegration organizations support ex-prisoners in finding a job, yet many lack the competencies for entrepreneurial coaching that follows entrepreneurship training during imprisonment. By creating an entrepreneurship coaching guideline, we equip staff members in these organizations to build capacity in coaching and consulting of these ex-prisoners, thereby expanding their offerings.E. RAISING AWARENESS IN THE SOCIETY AT LARGE FOR A MORE INCLUSIVE APPROACH TOWARDS EX-PRISONERS Prisoners face multiple prejudices when reentering society, both in the work place and private life. In order to raise the awareness of the public for this vulnerable group we want to create a multimedia dissemination strategy showcasing successful examples of ex-prisoners who have founded a company. INCLUSIVENESSThese goals can only be achieved by a multidisciplinary perspective and a holistic approach towards entrepreneurship for prisoners. This consortium, therefore, combines expertise from sociology, social work, psychology and business in planning to create a learning experience that reaches a large number of prisoners across Europe and motivates many of them to take steps for becoming self-employed after they are released.<< Implementation >>In this project, we aim to create a novel and integrated training approach to entrepreneurship for prisoners. Starting with an in-depth analysis of prisoners’ and ex-prisoners’ challenges to starting an own business after release, we will develop three digital teaching modules geared towards reintegration into society, i.e. the fundamentals for reintegration, the psychological mindset approach to entrepreneurship and the business approach to entrepreneurship. These training modules will be created with self-administered E-Learning in mind, but will also serve as a foundation for blended learning approaches in countries where E-Learning in prisons is still in its infancy. While these digital teaching resources will be geared towards prisoners (up to 12 months prior to their release), results produced in PR5 will be aimed at community-based organizations (CBOs) and associations dealing with ex-prisoners (i.e. after their release) to build these organizations’ capacity in the domain of entrepreneurial coaching of ex-prisoners i.e. by creating an entrepreneurial coaching guideline. Finally, the last output created in this project will be targeted at policy makers and society at large. An awareness campaign will be built around short videos, a podcast series and a case study that highlight the challenges for ex-prisoners trying to reintegrate into society and showcasing success stories that could also serve as motivation to many.To sum up, we will implement the following activities during the course of the project:1.MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION AMONGST PROJECT PARTNERS FOR CREATING PROJECT OUTPUTS GEARED TOWARDS A NOVEL INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING FOR PRISONERS AND EX-PRISONERSRegular virtual and transnational meetings of experts in the consortium will lead us to create a set of integrated multidisciplinary teaching and training materials for prisoners close to their release (up to 12 months before their release) as well as an entrepreneurial coaching guideline for ex-prisoners that is to be administered primarily by community-based organizations in the criminal justice system.2.PILOTING DEVELOPED TRAINING MATERIALS WITH PRISONERS We will begin with creating a solid evidence-basis for trainings, then generate manuals and teaching and training material before implementing them into a digital platform accessible from within prisons. These trainings will be both self-administered as well as face-to-face, and will enhance the skills and knowledge of prisoners and ex-prisoners in the domain of entrepreneurship.3.ENTREPRENEURIAL COACHING FOR EX-PRISONERSUsing the evidence-based entrepreneurial coaching guideline that will be developed in this collaboration, we will train community-based organizations to guide and coach ex-prisoners who have firm intentions towards the establishment of a successful and sustainable business.4.A BROAD AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR DIFFERENT GROUPS OF STAKEHOLDERSGiven the social stigma attached to ex-offenders, the project will implement a broad communication strategy to reach society at large (as potential customers of ex-offenders’ businesses) as well as policy makers, community-based organizations, and prisons to make a case for more entrepreneurial training of prisoners. To make a solid evidence-based case for more multidisciplinary approaches to entrepreneurship education in prisons, this awareness campaign will also include the transnational report produced in project result 1 (PR1) and will be broadly disseminated to a variety of stakeholders across the partner countries.<< Results >>For PR1, a transnational report on entrepreneurship education for prisoners will be created. To do so, the project partners will review the existing global academic literature on prison reintegration and prisoner entrepreneurship. Additionally, the report will incorporate a qualitative approach. Project partners will establish contact with prisoners and ex-prisoners and conduct interviews with them to get their view on self-employment and the development of entrepreneurial intentions during their time in prison. Furthermore, relevant stakeholders in each project country will be contacted and interviewed as well to include their view on the design of an effective entrepreneurship education tool which incorporates the business-mindset approach, as well as the psychological mindset approach necessary for entrepreneurial efforts to flourish. The transnational report will be disseminated through all available channels of the (associate) project and partners and will serve not only as the evidence-based foundation for the remaining project outputs, but will also raise the interest of relevant stakeholders in the project‘s objectives.PR2, 3 and 4 will target the prisoners themselves. We aim to have at least 60 prisoners participating in the designed courses across all project countries. The multidisciplinary entrepreneurship course will be piloted with face-to-face teaching and then shift towards a blended-learning approach or a pure digital learning approach, depending on the legal and administrative framework in the countries. It will consist of 3 modules, i.e. PR2, 3 & 4. For PR2, the project partners will develop a training kit concerning the most problematic areas for prisoners after their release. Seven awareness modules, ranging from accommodation issues to financial issues, will be discussed. Each module holds several activities for prisoners: reading texts, watching videos and self-evaluating exercises. In PR3, prisoners will develop the right mindset to become successful entrepreneurs after their release. Important issues, such as innovation, proactivity, self-control, time management and persistence, will be developed through self-directed activities such as reading texts and watching videos, which convey the educational content, but also through exercises and small workshops (depending on national/regional policies in prisons). In PR4, the participants of the entrepreneurship training will complete the business-mindset approach to entrepreneurship. They will work through the business canvas model, which will guide them through different considerations for enterprise, such as generating customer segments and key resources, and engage them to think about these domains.PR5 targets released prisoners on the one hand and on the other hand staff members of NGOs. During the project, a blended learning short course for staff members will be implemented which aims to enable staff members to consult and support ex-prisoners regarding the establishment of their own business. For this purpose, a step-by-step guideline containing effective entrepreneurial coaching techniques and skills will be developed. We aim to reach at least 15 released prisoners across all partner countries and just as many staff members. PR6 is part of the dissemination strategy of the project results and also serves as an awareness campaign for different stakeholders. Project partners will present key information on the challenges encountered by ex-prisoners upon release in graphic form via teaser videos, as well as produce a podcast series featuring successful entrepreneurs who were ex-prisoners. We aim to include at least six successful ex-prisoners from all partner countries. Furthermore, a real-life case study on prison entrepreneurship will be written and distributed on different channels. As all active and associate project partners will use their channels and networks to distribute these outputs, we are optimistic that over 1000 people will be reached

The FREE to CODE project had the ambitious goal of using digital skills and computer programming as a means of human development that can help adult European prisoners to re-enter society. 1. CONTEXTSAlthough significant progress was reported in Europe on the digitalization agenda, different disadvantaged groups were excluded from it due to some structural or personal obstacles. This project aims at bringing prisoners and former prisoners closer to the labour market by developing in them coding and other relevant soft skills. This aim was achieved by developing a responsive and interactive training platform that can work also in closed institutions such as prisons. 2. OBJECTIVESThe project was aiming at the following objectives: General: - The project intended to develop an innovative training programme on coding for learners detained (men, at least graduated and with a short-time sentence, to prepare them to be reintegrated into the society), with the aim to favour the development of their digital skills and in turn their transversal skills, particularly problem-solving. Specific: - The project aimed at transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications; application of the European recommendations to validate the non-formal and informal learning with the improvement of their digital and programming skills in an informal and formal learning environment, - Applying the methodology of the European recommendations to validate the non-formal and informal learning to adult education into social assistance fields.Both objectives were achieved. The training programme on coding was created, piloted, evaluated and adjusted. There is now basic training on coding available for the prison systems around Europe. There are manuals available for this training in English, Romanian, French, Greek, Italian and Portuguese. The programme was built taking into account the European principles for identifying and validating non-formal and informal learning adopted by the European Council in 2004. Partners have agreed on the learning outcomes and stakeholders involved in the process of validation were involved in the multiplication events and expressed positive views on the programme. 3. PARTICIPANTS-NUMBER-PROFILEThe participants in the project were divided into two main categories: direct beneficiaries and indirect beneficiaries. Direct beneficiaries - prisoners, former prisoners and other disadvantaged people with similar profile - 162 direct participants took part in the survey or benefited from the training programme. Indirect beneficiaries - were the stakeholders (those interested in the programme - education agencies, labour agencies, local authorities, prisons etc.) and the community (NGOs) who participated in the multiplication events - 229 participants. The indirect beneficiaries were also informed about the project activities and results through the dissemination activities were approx. 10.000 people were involved. 4. ACTIVITIESAlmost all activities were performed as they were planned. However, due to the pandemic, most prisons were closed in Europe for the non-essential staff. Therefore, the project had to adapt its activities in order to achieve its aim and objectives. The main activities were: conduct national evaluations to identify the training needs and trainees expectations, design a training plan (taking into account the European standards for informal and non-formal validation), develop a training platform, pilot it and evaluate it and refine it. 5. RESULTS AND IMPACTThe main result of the project is the use of an online training tool in the prison field. This project is one of the first ones that contribute to the opening of the prison system towards the online platform. The training platform created under this project helps prisoners better prepare for the new economy where digital and computational skills are crucial. Following the guidelines of the European Framework for validating non-formal and informal learning, the project is easily scalable across Europe in prison and alike institutions. 6. LONG-TERM BENEFITSThe project is an example of how prisons can use the online platform to enhance education. We can expect the use of this environment to be expanded in the near future towards other sections of prison life: vocational training, job searching, visits and so on.

<< Objectives >>CoPPer, through comparative analysis and knowledge exchange of training of volunteers in probation, will strengthen participants' education and skills, while developing the transnational capacity of volunteering in probation.For the volunteers and CBOs, tools to increase their knowledge, skills, and competencies will be created. By improving volunteers' and CBOs' capacity to better deliver volunteer programs, we want to facilitate the integration of offenders, contributing to safer communities.<< Implementation >>The projects main activities will be mapping volunteering programmes, identifying key features, proposing a European approach to volunteering in criminal justice and probation services, developing the European Training programme for volunteers in the Probation Service, creating a sourcebook to design and implement volunteer programmes using an inter-agency collaboration, and developing the European Probation Volunteering – a Handbook for probation practitioners.<< Results >>Some of the expected results are: Enhance the partner's creation of knowledge, dissemination, and embodiment in products and services; Increase the engagement between probation services and the community; Upgrade the capacity of organisations to use models of inter-agency collaboration; Improve the offer of high-quality training and support to volunteers and CBOs. We also expect to enhance the social inclusion of offenders and stimulate policy innovation and development among CJS’ stakeholders.

<< Background >>Despite the significant developments made in the Criminal Justice System field (CJS), namely investing in offenders' social reintegration programmes during detention or community measures, little attention has been paid to prisoners' families and their needs during the re-entry process. The incarceration experience represents economic, social and psychological impacts for the families of the prisoners. The prisoners’ families are among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations in society, experiencing multidimensional and intersectional forms of inequality (Western and Pettit, 2010). Given that, many of the consequences on prisoners’ families can be alleviated by some moderators. Two of these moderators are the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), i.e., the support from civil society and the welfare policies and social services (Condry & Smith, 2018). These NGOs, enterprises and social services have a diverse range of goods and services that are provided to families that are crucial for the family support and wellbeing. The problem is that most of the time CJS' families lack awareness on where and how to look for the right support.One strategy to decrease the impacts of incarceration on offenders’ families is to create new ways to support the prisoners’ families coping with incarceration. Civil society organisations that offer services to families with incarcerated individuals and during the re-entry process - must obviously be part of any comprehensive crime prevention strategy.<< Objectives >>UpFamilies’ aims are to provide to prisoners’ families a compendium of existing services available (from local to national) that can support them cope with imprisonment impacts. The services’ up-to-date information will be made available using a mobile application. At the same time, we intend to create awareness on the importance of capacity building of the organisations that daily work with these families so they can be better prepared for their unique needs. Our main focus is to build social capital by reinforcing the role community organisations play in the social inclusion of both these specific families and prisoners upon release and training them for excellence.To do that, several objectives were created, such as:Obj1: By September 2022, to develop a roadmap on existing programs/services that better meet the needs of prisoners’ familiesObj2: By May 2024, to make available a mobile platform with existing services/programs available for prisoners’ families, to be validated through 5 pilots, involving at least 100 prisoners’ families. Obj3: By October 2024, to increase the number of prisoners’ families that use the mobile application , fighting against info-exclusion, downloading on average 100 times the mobile platform. Obj4: By July 2022, to create a network of institutions/professionals that work with prisoners’ families, promoting alliances and cooperation between allObj5: By October 2022, to create promotion of good practices regarding the already available services to provide support to prisoners’ families, organizing 5 stakeholders consultation that should involve 30 CJS professionalsObj 6: By August 2023, to improve the services provided to prisoners’ families, conducting 5 pilots with 40 community organizationsObj7: By November 2023, to create society awareness and citizenship on the needs of CJS’ families, making available a training manual to mobilize community capacity to provide informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families<< Implementation >>For 3 years, partners expect to perform the following main activities/ involve the following number of participants in the project:Create a Resource guide framework to conduct the mappingCreate a Network of institutions/professionals to support prisoners’ familiesDevelop a roadmap on existing programs/services that better meet the needs of prisoners’ familiesDevelop the UpFamilies APP (ENG, SP, PT, RO, GR, GE), that will be piloted with 100 prisoners’ familiesInvolve 30 stakeholders in the consultation for the training course on providing informal support and assistance to prisoners’ familiesCreate a Multimedia Training course on providing informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families5 Training courses on providing informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families (available in ENG, SP, PT, RO, GR, GE), that will be piloted with 40 Community OrganisationsCreate a Training Manual to mobilize community capacity to provide informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families (ENG, SP, PT, RO, GR, GE)<< Results >>The following results are expect during and on the completion of UpFamilies project: (1) During the projectA - TANGIBLE INDICATORS_6 bilateral agreements_1 project' gantt chart_3 Action Plan (for each Project Result strategic implementation)_project presentation (PPT) (ENG version + SP; RO; PT; GR; GE)_ 1 Resource guide framework to conduct the mapping_1 Roadmap on existing programs/services that better meet the needs of families with incarcerated members (ENG version + SP; RO; PT; GR; GE)_1 Network of institutions/professionals to support prisoners’ families_APP Architecture and blueprint: technical document for a mobile application (ENG)Training Manual to mobilize community capacity to provide informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families_1 APP “UpFamilies” (available in ENG; SP; RO; PT; GR; GE)_1 Report on the APP’ piloting experience (ENG)_ 1 Guidelines on stakeholders’ consultation_ 1 Multimedia Training course on providing informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families (ENG + SP; RO; PT; GR; GE)_ 1 Training Manual to mobilize community capacity to provide informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families (ENG + SP; RO; PT; GR; GE)_ 5 pilots + 5 pilot reports (ENG)_3 project meetings + 3 project meeting minutes_7 Multiplier Events + 7 reports (ENG)_1 Learning/Teaching/Training Activities _1 project website_1 Implementation Plan_1 Quality and Evaluation Plan_1 Communication and Dissemination Plan_1 online Leaflet - ENG + translated in 5 languages _1 logo_1 interim report_1 final reportB - INTANGIBLE INDICATORS_internal communication_exchange of practices between project partners _organisational, professional and personal development_families' satisfaction & increased capacity to cope_ community organisations satisfaction & increased capacity to support offenders families _increased IT literacy_project quality _Timing (lead time; product development time; waiting time;…)_Reputation of the project during the project implementation(2) On its completionA - TANGIBLE INDICATORS_1 Roadmap on existing programs/services that better meet the needs of families with incarcerated members (ENG version + RO; PT; GR; GE; SP)_1 Network of institutions/professionals to support prisoners’ families_1 mobile application “UpFamilies” available in 6 languages: ENG; RO; PT; GR; GE; SP)_ 1 Multimedia Training course on providing informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families (ENG + RO; PT; GR; GE; SP)_ 1 Training Manual to mobilize community capacity to provide informal support and assistance to prisoners’ families (ENG + RO; PT; GR; GE; SP)B - INTANGIBLE INDICATORS_promotion of innovative programs for social inclusion of disadvantaged families _promotion of a common understanding among researchers, managers, users of the project results, stakeholders and policy makers on the needs’ of families with incarcerated members and on available resources; _ create society awareness and citizenship on the needs of CJS’ families;_minimization of the effects of imprisonment for the family members;_families perception of usefulness and added value of the Application to improve their quality of life_families' knowledge about the available services that can support them, and help them to cope (including children and (ex) offenders)_families' decrease on feeling of not being supported by the CJS agencies, NGOs and the State; _families' decrease on feeling of vulnerability _increased families' access to opportunities for lifelong learning_increased NG0’s, welfare services, schools and state capacity to address the needs of prisoners’ families_increased schools and local community organisations capacity to provide informal support to prisoners’ families