Wanganui Prison, also known as Kaitoke Prison, accommodates 538 prisoners with security classification ratings ranging from minimum to high-medium.
The prison is made up of seven different complexes – Kaitoke, Te Moenga, Te Whakataa, Whanui, Southwood and two self-care units. The oldest part of the prison, the main Kaitoke complex, was built in 1978 while the Te Whakataa minimum security units opened in 2005.
Wanganui Prison is located south of Wanganui and employs 252 staff. It is part of Prison Services' Central Region.
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Further information
Security
Reducing re-offending
Motivational programmes
Cognitive-behavioural programmes
Maori Focus Unit
Prisoner employment
Education
Reintegration
Working with the community
Security
Protecting the public is the Department's highest priority, and this is accomplished through the secure incarceration of prisoners.
The level of physical security at each prison varies and is dependant on the type of prisoner accommodated. Because Wanganui Prison is a high-security prison and accommodates prisoners assessed as a potential risk to the public, the level of physical security is higher than would be found at some other prisons.
Wanganui Prison is surrounded by a highly secure perimeter fence topped with razor wire to prevent it being climbed.
The area immediately surrounding the perimeter fence is equipped with lighting, surveillance and detection equipment.
The prison also has a single point of entry, called the gatehouse. Everyone entering the prison, including staff, must pass through the gatehouse, where their belongings will be examined for unauthorised items and they will pass through a metal detector. This helps to prevent contraband being smuggled into the prison.
Electronic security devices and cameras, closed circuit TV, video recordings, motion detectors and microwave sensors are also used at Wanganui Prison.
Reducing re-offending
Reducing re-offending is critical if the Department is to meet its overriding objective of improving public safety.
Reducing re-offending means fewer offenders commit crime after completing their sentence – resulting in fewer victims, a reduction in the cost of crime and safer communities.
Wanganui Prison provides prisoners with a range of rehabilitation programmes and interventions that are designed to address the primary causes of their offending and prepare them for release.
The most intensive interventions are targeted at prisoners who are assessed as being a high-risk of re-offending, that have severe needs that caused their offending and are motivated to make positive changes in their lives.
Every prisoner entering Wanganui Prison receives a sentence plan which they are expected to comply with.
The focus of the sentence plan is on reducing re-offending on release and is developed following an assessment of a prisoner's risk, needs and motivation.
This ensures they are placed on the most appropriate and timely programmes and interventions to address the underlying causes of their offending.
Rehabilitation programmes and interventions provided at Wanganui Prison fall into four main categories: motivational, cognitive-behavioural, employment and education, and reintegrative.
Motivational programmes
Motivational programmes are designed to increase motivation and to encourage and prepare prisoners to confront the causes of their offending.
There are two primary motivational programmes used at Wanganui Prison: the Tikanga Maori Programme and the Short Motivational Programme.
Tikanga Maori programmes use Maori philosophy, values, knowledge and practice to help prisoners increase their understanding of their Maori identity and their values, and improve their self-esteem to help them become motivated to address the causes of their offending.
The Short Motivational Programme aims to increase motivation by increasing a prisoner's problem awareness and recognition, reducing ambivalence, addressing cognitive distortions, and helping them consider options and formulate goals.
Cognitive-behavioural programmes
Cognitive-behavioural programmes aim to reduce re-offending by helping prisoners address the causes of their offending and teaching them to identify, analyse and solve problems and make decisions to better their lives.
Prisoners also learn how to understand the consequences of their actions and gain control over their own behaviour.
Wanganui Prison offers two general cognitive-behavioural programmes.
The Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme is designed for prisoners in the middle risk range – those not considered high risk but still enough of a risk to warrant rehabilitation.
The programme increases problem awareness and recognition, reduces ambivalence, addresses cognitive distortions, and teaches prisoners to consider options and formulate goals.
The Short Rehabilitation Programme is a brief rehabilitation programme aimed at a smaller number of prisoners who require rehabilitation but do not have enough time in their sentence to complete a longer programme.
The programme is similar to the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme, but shorter and more intense.
Both the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme and the Short Rehabilitation Programme target a range of prisoners and are designed to cover the common elements of all offending.
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Maori Focus Unit
Wanganui Prison has one of New Zealand's five Maori Focus Units.
The unit, Whanui, establishes a culturally appropriate environment in which prisoners can address issues relating to their offending.
The unit is constituted on tikanga Maori principles and operates within a tikanga Maori environment.
Through the practice of Maori values and disciplines, and specialist Maori programmes, the unit aims to bring about positive changes in thinking and behaviour.
Prisoner employment
Prisoner employment, managed by Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), plays an integral part in the rehabilitation of prisoners as it provides prisoners with essential work skills and habits.
The last prison census in 2003 found more than half of prisoners were not in paid employment prior to sentencing.
Prisoner employment increases the chance a prisoner will find sustainable work on release and research shows this will result in a decreased number of prisoners being reconvicted.
Wanganui Prison offers two main types of employment:
• internal self-sufficiency activities such as food preparation, laundry and grounds maintenance
• business-like industries including a nursery, joinery and timber processing workshops and a pre-cast concrete yard.
Prisoners are able to earn credits under the National Qualification Framework, allowing them to work towards qualifications whilst they are engaged in employment and training.
Minimum security prisoners who are nearing release may also be eligible to participate in Release to Work.
Release to Work is a form of temporary release that allows prisoners to be in paid work in the community during the day.
It provides prisoners with a stable work record and the job is often carried on after a prisoner's release.
Education
There is a strong relationship between a lack of education and criminal behaviour. At the time of the last prison census in 2003, 51.7 per cent of all prisoners had no formal qualifications.
Educational achievement and participation can equip prisoners for self-sufficiency and reduce the barriers to living an offence-free life.
A prisoner can enrol in any subject or education programme they consider themselves capable of achieving.
There are four main types of education offered to prisoners at Wanganui Prison:
Reintegration
Reintegration programmes address problems likely to increase a prisoners' risk of re-offending on release.
Being imprisoned can have significant social consequences for a prisoner.
They are likely to have lost their job and accommodation, they are unlikely to be able to support their families and their relationships can be adversely affected in other ways.
Combined, this can lead offenders into a cycle of institutionalisation.
Wanganui Prison provides two reintegrative programmes:
• Living Skills, which is a broad-based programme to give prisoner skills and knowledge on how to function effectively in society on their release
• Parenting Skills, which is a group programme designed to teach parenting and relationship skills.
Reintegration case-workers also work with high-need prisoners at Wanganui Prison to address their specific reintegrative needs and help them prepare for release in the community.
Wanganui Prison also has Self-Care Units where longer-serving prisoners may be eligible to spend time as they near release.
These are residential-style units inside the prison that let prisoners get used to living in a flatting type environment and give prisoners an opportunity to learn and practise the skills they will need to live independently after release.
The Living Skills Programme is also delivered in the Self-Care Units and many prisoners participate in the Release to Work programme.
The Ministry of Social Development have Work and Income work brokers and case managers permanently based at Wanganui Prison to help prisoners nearing release to find suitable work before they are released. Prisoners who find sustainable employment on release are less likely to re-offend.
Working with the community
The community has an important role to play in the rehabilitation and transition of prisoners back into the community by supporting and encouraging prisoners to live an offence free life.
Many sectors of the community are involved in rehabilitating offenders and helping them move back into the community.
Wanganui Prison has a strong relationship with local iwi. The Minister of Corrections signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Whanganui Iwi in 2007.
This memorandum signifies the strong relationship and commitment to reduce the re-offending of Maori, between Whanganui Iwi and the Department.
Kaumaatua from the local hapu come into the prison and provide support for prisoners, and they also sit on the Kaumaatua Roopu which meets with prison staff and managers from Prison Service and Community Probation and Psychological Services regularly.
Wanganui Prison also works with a number of support agencies, including New Zealand Prisoner's Aid and Rehabilitation Society (NZPARS), Prison Fellowship and the Salvation Army to support the successful reintegration of prisoners back into the community.
A large number of people also regularly donate their time, energy and expertise as volunteers with Wanganui Prison.
Volunteers provide invaluable support for prisoners and their families and give prisoners the opportunity to spend their free time constructively through music, art or sport.