Qualitative

methods will be used to explore processes within probation services, and experiences of offenders and care farm staff. Target population and setting The target population for the study is adult offenders (18 years and over) serving a community order. Offenders who have committed severe offences or have severe mental health issues may occasionally be sentenced to price INK 128 community orders but are not eligible for placement on a care farm, and so will not be included in this study. Resources have been included in the budget for translation services for those who are not comfortable being interviewed in English, thus no one will be excluded based on their ethnicity or language abilities. In this study, three sites in England will be selected in order to study the variation in Probation Service processes and types of care farms.

We will purposively sample Probation Services which have different procedures and structures for working with offenders, including systems for providing initial ‘inductions’, communication mechanisms and processes for allocating offenders to locations to serve their community orders. We will purposively sample care farms which have a different range of activities both on the farm and also health and support services. For example, some farms offer counselling sessions or health trainers, while others provide skills training in farming or conservation activities or life skills. A few care farms offer qualifications to their clients. Care farms also display a range of organisational cultures, with some working as social enterprises selling the goods that are produced; others have a religious or spiritual focus. There may also be differences in the types of community order that are accepted on different care farms. Some care farms specialise in supporting those with substance misuse problems and may only take offenders with a ‘special requirement’ for a substance misuse rehabilitation requirement as part of their

community order. Understanding these dynamics and how feasible it is to conduct a fully powered study sensitive to these complexities is a key aim of this study. Comparator locations The comparator population will be offenders GSK-3 serving community orders in settings other than a care farm in the same Probation Service areas as the selected farm. The activities carried out while serving community orders in these comparator locations areas may include: building work, working in charity shops, food handling, painting and decorating, recycling and cleaning. Understanding the characteristics of offenders attending the care farms is an important part of establishing the make-up of the comparator arm.