The Early Days in Custody (EDiC) project is a prison-based crisis intervention delivered by Nepacs providing targeted support to prisoners and family members during the critical first two weeks of custody.

The aim is to prevent (or soften) the shock of entering custody, and to avoid an escalation of negative emotions into further problems including self-harm and suicide. EDiC was established as a pilot project in response to specific concerns from prisoners, family members and some prison staff about high numbers of men and women in custody reporting distress and exhibiting risky behaviours during their time on induction wings.

Funded by The Big Lottery Community Fund, the initial EDiC project was delivered in HMP Durham and HMP Low Newton between April 2020 – June 2023. The pilot EDiC project was externally evaluated by Durham University using a mixed methods approach and ran alongside delivery of the service. The report produced by Durham University is available HERE.

Building on the success of the pilots in HMP Low Newton women’s prison and HMP Durham, Nepacs secured additional funding in 2024 from the Department of Health and Social Care's Suicide Prevention Fund, enabling EDIC to be rolled out across six prisons in the north east from April 2024 to end March 2025. The project was delivered in HMPs Durham, Frankland, Holme House, Kirklevington Grange, Low Newton and Northumberland.

The report produced by Durham University with the findings of their research into the roll out of EDiC into six prisons in the north east, is available HERE.