Phil McCarthy (Chair) General Manager, Rehabilitation
Brendan Anstiss Service Development Manager
Russell Underwood National Advisor: Volunteers
Lyanne Kerr National Director, PARS
David Major National Director, PCSANZ
Barry Timms Transition Manager, PFNZ
Apologies for absence:
Basil Wakelin (represented by Barry Timms)
1 Welcome and Introduction
1. Phil McCarthy extended a welcome to those present.
2 Minutes of the meeting held on 7 May 2008
Accuracy
2. The minutes of the meeting held on 7 May 2008 were confirmed as a correct record.
Matters Arising
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tutors
3. The meeting noted that five existing volunteers in the Wellington area were being trained by ESOL Home Tutors to deliver this service to prisoners.
Approved Provider Prison Entry (APPE) System
4. The meeting noted with profound disappointment that the project to provide a machine-readable prison access card system to volunteers and other providers had stalled. At present it did not specifically appear on the current year’s capital programme. Phil McCarthy would discuss with his colleagues prospects for resurrecting the initiative during the 2008/2009 financial year. Action – Phil McCarthy.
Volunteer training
5. The meeting noted ongoing problems with the messages being delivered during ‘Getting Got’ training in some areas. There was some evidence of volunteers being advised that contact with prisoners post-release was expressly forbidden. Work to provide volunteers with accurate and consistent training in this area was ongoing, with a volunteer induction training template due by the end of the year. In the meantime, Phil McCarthy asked that he be informed of any such examples of this problem as soon as they occurred. Furthermore, and given indications that there might still be pockets of resistance to the policy, he would discuss the possibility of a letter to prisons from the General Manager: Prison Services by way of clarification. He would endeavour to attend a volunteer induction training session before the next meeting of PVAG. Action – Phil McCarthy.
3 Volunteer Progress Report
6. Russell Underwood referred to the Volunteer Progress Report circulated prior to the meeting. The number of ‘approved’ volunteers continued to rise steadily across the country, with a 5.6 per cent increase in the number of individual volunteers since the beginning of 2008. At the same time, work was ongoing on cleansing the database with 249 records having been removed during the same period.
7. The volunteer coordinators had identified a number of specific volunteering needs and invited the volunteer stakeholder organisations to assist with sourcing volunteers to meet them.
8. The meeting noted progress made with implementation of the Department’s revised volunteer policy. Most of the key milestones had been met to date, including the introduction of the new two year approval period, the ‘grand parenting’ of existing volunteers to new approval status, the introduction of new application documentation and increases in the petrol voucher recognition scheme. Top priorities for the remainder of 2008 included production of the volunteer induction training template and the new volunteer handbook.
4 Volunteer Coordinator appointments
9. The meeting noted the following appointments to the role of volunteer coordinator:
Margaret Maurice – ACRP, Mt Eden, NRCF, Auckland
To be advised – ARWCF, SHCF
Vicky Mavin – Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison
Nadine Allen – Waikeria
Lynn Smith-McGregor – Tongariro/Rangipo
Tracy Murphy – Wanganui, Manawatu, New Plymouth
Amy Blowers – Rimutaka, Arohata, Wellington
Stephen Ferguson – Christchurch Men’s, Christchurch Women’s, Rolleston, ORCF, Invercargill
5 Feedback from Volunteer Awareness Week
10. Russell Underwood reported back on the excellent feedback received from both volunteers and Corrections staff following the events held to commemorate Volunteer Awareness Week in June. Over 700 prison volunteers and Corrections staff had gathered together at a series of special events across the country. This initiative was likely to be repeated in June 2009.
6 Proposed Volunteer Recognition Awards
11. Following on from the success of the Volunteer Awareness Week events in June, the next volunteer recognition initiative was planned to coincide with International Volunteer Day on 5 December 2008. This would be a series of local Volunteer Recognition Awards, with nominations being sought from Corrections staff and two awards (one individual and one team) being made by each Prison Manager. Arrangements for these awards had been set in train with the nomination process scheduled for October.
12. Stakeholder representatives welcomed the awards and suggested that letters be sent to all those nominated as well as the actual winners. Action – Russell Underwood to arrange.
7 Prison visit for PVAG members
13. It was agreed that arrangements would be made for PVAG members to attend one of the Volunteer Recognition Award events in December, taking the opportunity to meet with local prison management and volunteers. Action – Russell Underwood to arrange.
8 Any other business
Prisoners and prison volunteers
14. David Major informed the meeting about a new DVD that had been produced featuring a prisoner being interviewed about his expectations of volunteers. The interview also touched on some of the ‘dos and don’ts’ of effective prison volunteering. Action – David Major/Russell Underwood would arrange for a copy of the DVD to be circulated to the Group.
Wellington prison volunteers
15. The meeting noted that the temporary closure of Wellington prison had resulted in approximately 70 volunteers being stood down. An afternoon tea had been held at the prison on 3 September 2008 to thank the volunteers for their contribution to the prison over many years. Following further discussion, it was agreed that all the prison volunteers affected by the temporary closure should receive a letter of thanks and be retained on a ‘standby’ list should the prison be reopened at short notice. Action – Russell Underwood.
Angel Tree
16. The meeting noted that the Angel Tree programme would resume in October, with prisoners being given a two week period in which to provide the necessary information. Barry Timms would provide the relevant dates to Brendan Anstiss so that the prisons could be forewarned. Action – Barry Timms/Brendan Anstiss.
Joyce Meyer Ministries
17. The meeting noted that the Joyce Meyer Ministries initiative, whereby prisoners were provided with a small gift of toiletries, would not be repeated.
Streamed television channel on the Faith-Based Unit
18. Barry Timms described how an alternative television channel would shortly be going ‘live’ on the Faith-Based Unit at Rimutaka Prison. This was a local broadcasting system providing an alternative to the poor quality and often inappropriate programming found on mainstream television. The new channel had potential for use in other units and prisons, particularly where cabling was already in situ.
Volunteers and the pre-release process
19. Russell Underwood reported on a proposed initiative in the Northern Region to engage volunteers to support prisoners in the pre-release process, and then follow that process forward post release. The intention was to run a small scale pilot of the initiative at Mt Eden Prison towards the end of the year. Barry Timms welcomed the initiative, and said that PFNZ would be keen to integrate with it.
Safety of prison volunteers delivering Church Services
20. Russell Underwood reported on concerns that been expressed by volunteers at certain prisons where they were being asked to deliver Church services on the units rather than in the prison chapel. Some volunteers felt that this left them feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Russell Underwood and David Major would follow up these reports to ensure that the prisons concerned were doing what they should be. Action – Russell Underwood/David Major.
9 Date of next meeting
21. The next meeting would be held on Friday 7 November 2008 commencing at 1.00pm.