Notes of the meeting held in Mayfair House, Wellington on Friday 7 November 2008.
Present:
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
Basil Wakelin National Director, PFNZ
Barry Timms Operations Manager, PFNZ
Apologies for absence: None
1 - Welcome and Introduction
1. Phil McCarthy extended a welcome to those present.
2 - Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2008
Accuracy
2. The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2008 were confirmed as a correct record.
Matters Arising
Volunteer Coordinator appointments
3. The meeting noted that interviews for the final Volunteer Coordinator position, covering Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility (ARWCF) and Spring Hill Corrections Facility (SHCF), were scheduled for 14 November.
Location of Church services
4. Concerns had been expressed about the delivery of Church services on the units rather than in the prison chapel at some sites. This was unavoidable at some prisons because of the site configuration, but Russell Underwood would investigate these concerns further with prison chaplains where these restrictions were unnecessary.
Action – Russell Underwood
3 - Volunteer Progress Report
5. Russell Underwood tabled a Volunteer Progress Report. The latest report showed a 5.7 per cent decrease in the number of volunteers since September. This was largely due to the temporary closure of Wellington Prison and the ongoing exercise to cleanse the Volunteer Register Database – 286 records having been removed during the previous two months.
6. The meeting noted progress made during the previous two months in building volunteering capacity in areas of specific prisoner need. In particular:
Furthermore the meeting noted:
4 - Handbook for Prison Volunteers
7. The first draft of a new Handbook for Prison Volunteers had been circulated to Prisoner Services Managers, Volunteer Coordinators and PVAG members. It had also been ‘peer reviewed’ by a former Prison Manager.
8. The meeting discussed the content of the initial draft and its value as a reference point for all prison volunteers. The Handbook was broadly welcomed, particularly in terms of pulling together all the important information relating to prison volunteering in one document. Lyanne Kerr expressed reservations about the ‘Glossary of Terms’ as she felt the widespread use of acronyms within Corrections was ‘exclusionary’.
9. In line with a request from the Prisoner Services Managers, the meeting endorsed the inclusion of additional material addressing the Department’s position on volunteers’ support for prisoners post-release, including some guidelines so that this could be done safely. The main thrust of this material would be to promote and support arrangements that linked volunteers with offenders pre and post release, backed up with sensible guidance. This addition would be drafted and put out for consultation separately, before inclusion in the final product. A revised draft would now be presented to the Service Development Business Management Group ahead of their meeting on 2 December 2008.
5 - Volunteer Induction Training
10. Phil McCarthy reported back on the Volunteer Induction Training session he had attended in Wellington. He complimented the staff involved for the quality and professionalism of their presentations, and for the way in which they delivered some important security messages in a balanced and engaging manner.
11. The meeting discussed the first draft of the Staying Safe (formerly ‘Getting Got’) Power Point presentation for volunteers. A number of different views were expressed but there was agreement that the underpinning message was ‘to keep volunteers safe’. The views put forward would help to inform a second draft.
12. The meeting noted that a template for Volunteer Induction Training was under preparation and would be presented to the group for feedback in due course. This was likely to take the form of a ‘Facilitator’s Handbook’ and would include the Staying Safe element.
6 - Volunteer Recognition Awards
13. Russell Underwood updated the meeting on arrangements for the forthcoming Volunteer Recognition Awards, and tabled a list of nominations. Local award ceremonies would be held late November/early December. Arrangements would be made for members of PVAG to attend one of the ceremonies where possible.
Action – Russell Underwood to arrange
14. Further to a request made at the last meeting, Russell Underwood confirmed that arrangements had been made for letters to be sent to those who were nominated for, but did not win, an award.
7 - Prisoners and prison volunteers DVD
15. PVAG members viewed a DVD produced by Prison Chaplaincy which featured an interview with a prisoner about the contribution of volunteers and their interaction with prisoners. Although the DVD centred on the role of Church volunteers, the interview contained some key messages that were relevant to all prison volunteers. Work was underway to explore how some of these key messages could be included in the Staying Safe presentation, possibly in the form of short video extracts.
8 - Any other business
Appointment of new Māori advisors
16. Phil McCarthy updated the group on progress with the appointment of new Māori advisors for the Department. The role of these new appointments would have a heavy emphasis on Māori prisoner reintegration.
Writing to prisoners
17. Recent events had highlighted some inconsistencies and problems associated with the issue of volunteers writing to prisoners and vice versa. Some prisons, such as Otago, had established a Writing Ministry with the support of prison management, while in other areas no specific arrangements were in place. Basil Wakelin championed the usefulness of national guidelines and it was agreed that Brendan Anstiss and Russell Underwood would explore this option and report back to the next meeting. Action – Brendan Anstiss/Russell Underwood
9 - Meeting dates for 2009
18. The following meeting dates were agreed for 2009:
Friday 13 February 2009 at 1.00pm
Friday 1 May 2009 at 1.00pm
Friday 24 July 2009 at 1.00pm
Friday 16 October 2009 at 1.00pm