Beyond Bricks & Bars: Trans Decarceration

Evaluation – August 2024

Beyond Bricks & Bars is a testament to backing community-led projects. This is loud and clear in our first evaluation, led by Jo Farmer Consulting.

We’re excited to launch our evaluation report—a powerful community record of the voices, stories and sheer grit of trans and gender diverse people inside and outside of prison keeping each other alive and connected.

Evaluation Summary:

Criminalised trans and gender diverse people experience harassment, abuse and discrimination, systemic use of solitary confinement, and a widespread absence of support for their health, legal and social needs.

Beyond Bricks and Bars was established as a grassroots, community-led approach to support trans and gender diverse people in the prison, and broader legal, systems, through:

  • prevention of incarceration

  • support during incarceration

  • post-release support

Beyond Bricks and Bars has worked with 62 criminalised trans and gender diverse people.

Outcomes for criminalised trans and gender diverse people

  • Improvements in mental health and wellbeing

  • Support to transition back to the community

  • Reductions in suicide

  • Avoid and reduce further incarceration

  • Improvements in physical health and wellbeing

  • Amplification of incarcerated people’s advocacy

  • Improvements in understanding gender identity

  • Uphold human rights

  • A resource for the sector

How does Beyond Bricks and Bars achieve these outcomes?

  1. A skilled and knowledgeable project team who go ‘above and beyond’.

  2. A person-centred, non-transactional approach that centres autonomy.

  3. A non-judgement approach that builds trust.

  4. A trans and gender diverse team.

How could Beyond Bricks and Bars be strengthened?

  1. Improve project sustainability through ongoing funding, efforts to support workforce sustainability, and improved data collection.

  2. Involve people with experience of criminalisation in project delivery and advocacy,

  3. Strengthen relationships with service providers and the community.

Cover of the evaluation report with a purple and orange gradient background and parts of the Beyond Bricks & Bars project logo with flowering vines of pink and blue flowers entwined around broken bars against a brick background.

Beyond Bricks & Bars: Evaluation Report

The results of a comprehensive evaluation of the project carried out by Jo Farmer Consulting and released in August 2024.