David Apparicio MBE JP FRSA
David serves on the Northampton Bench and has done so since 2004. However, more and more he has queried whether the CJS is in fact a broken business model.
Why? Because time after time he has become frustrated at the level of re-offending.
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in." Desmond Tutu
The Criminal Justice System for some, is like a ‘Circle Line of Reoffending’, such that once you are on the ‘circle line’, it can be difficult to get off.
“I believe that the Criminal Justice should not about Rehabilitation, which takes you backwards, but it should be about Re-integration or Integration which creates capability and moves individuals forward” David Apparicio
As a result, he created the Chrysalis Programme which provides a guide for change that goes beyond rehabilitation and into engagement and re-integration, breaking the cycle of re-offending.
“There is nothing about a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to become a butterfly” David Apparicio
The Chrysalis Programme focusing on positive reinforcement and creating a protected stage of development for learning, which enables participants to gain the Essential Life Skills needed to own and drive sustainable, positive change in their lives.
David has found that the Chrysalis Programme greatly reduces an individual’s propensity to re-offend and by helping participants embrace a change in thinking, break paradigms, create positive attitudes and learn the essential life skills, which halves the re-offending rate of successful Chrysalis Participants.
So, what is the impact of the Chrysalis Programme so far?
We have to March 2020, offered 1310 places and with 1306 participants completing the Chrysalis Programme. Of those successful Chrysalis participants released from prison, we have halved the reoffending rate, with only 24.6% reoffending, compared to the national average of 48% who typically reoffend within 12 months.
Consequently, we have seen an additional 306 Chrysalis participants leave prison and not reoffend. This equates to Public Purse Saving/Avoided Costs of £35,172,360.00
David is passionate about creating opportunities for returning citizens through employment, training, accommodation etc, which has directly reduced re-offending and provides them with a fresh start.
So, having created a Learning Platform (Chrysalis eAcademy) and an Information, Advice and Guidance platform to better support returning citizen’s re-integration with their family, a job, life and society as a whole, his goal is to contribute and shape the future strategy/philosophy and direction of the UK criminal justice system, resulting in a reduction in re-offending and less people sentenced to prison.
For this, David was appointed MBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List for services to reduce offending.
