Download Corrections News February 2004 (pdf: 471KB)
Inside:
- Progress with Otago
- Operation Chill a joint-exercise
- Looking back on 2003
- Habitat for Humanity homes
Recycling makes life cosy behind bars
Wellington Prison’s print shop has been putting its waste paper to good use behind bars - helping out the city’s zoo and SPCA animal shelter.
An inmate thought of the idea, and now the print shop shreds its waste paper for animal bedding, saving on rubbish collection fees and providing a useful service.
SPCA Clinic Supervisor, Sonia Frost, says the shredded paper is extremely useful and cost effective. “We make fresh beds for the puppies with it every day. They just love it! They get a knee-high pile of the shredded paper and it keeps them really cosy. “We can have up to 15 puppies at any one time so the paper is great for us. It keeps the puppies warm and dry, it’s easy to clean and all at no cost to us other than the trips to pick it up once every week or so.”
Terry O’Leary, Print Shop Manager, says “A few years ago one of the inmates suggested the zoo might like to use the shredded paper for their primates. The paper is used in the sleeping quarters for a few days then mulched for compost.” Terry says the idea took off and is how the print shop also came to supply Wellington SPCA.
Wellington Prison’s print shop helps inmates learn new skills and gain practical work experience, as a Corrections Inmate Employment initiative.
The future is diversity: a strength
Chief Executive’s Comment
Diversity is one of our values and entails being an organisation that treats all people with respect.
I was told recently that one in four people living in Auckland were not born there and that at some distance in the future this ratio will alter to one in three. Internal migration plays a part in this situation as a greater proportion of our population is located in the north. The arrival of people from overseas, including students, is also an important factor, as are New Zealanders travelling away for their OE.
Fertility rates for Maori and Pacific peoples have been higher than those for New Zealand Europeans, meaning that in the future those peoples will comprise a higher proportion of New Zealanders.
All of the above, coupled with more families of mixed backgrounds, will mean that New Zealand will be a more diverse country than ever before. And therein should lie a source of greater societal strength and richness.
Several years ago I attended a course that involved people of different nationalities, occupations and gender. The course was broken up into groups to tackle various case studies. The notable lesson for me from this experience was the potential strength available from such a diverse group bringing together different skills, perspectives and experiences to come up with a variety of innovative but equally valid solutions.
Of course, in some of the countries represented, they were used to working together in such a way and I believe this is something New Zealand is going to have to continue to learn to be as good at back home as we often are overseas, where we tend to mix well and be accepted.
This Department faces the challenges of diversity as much as any other government agency. This trend is likely to accelerate and I would like to think we will become increasingly well placed to capitalise on it and become more relevant and effective in all we do.
The results of the research on the Te Piriti programme are illustrative of what is possible. That programme involved a blend of Tikanga Maori and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to produce stronger results than a pure CBT approach in reducing re-offending.
Taking a whole of Department approach to offender management - achieving greater integration within and between Services and between Head Office and the field on policy and operational practices is illustrative of the inevitable track for the future.
I don’t pretend for a moment that our efforts to move towards a diverse and more effective approach have been completed.
They are the beginning of a journey that will involve patience, learning, tolerance, understanding, mediating and synthesising in ways which are different to those we engaged in previously but perhaps not wholly new. Often this process will involve bringing together the strongest of elements from different environments to develop something that will work well in our context but without compromising the integrity of each of the elements and their source of origin.
I don’t underestimate the difficulties that will be encountered including the management of expectations. It is inevitable mistakes will be made, but that should not deter us from persevering because if we want to be a cohesive society then such a society must work well for all its members. Corrections has an important part to play in that process both in respect to our own people and to offenders.
Mark Byers
Chief Executive
NZ in the global corrections scene
Chief Executive, Mark Byers, was recently elected to the Board of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) and has been asked to represent Oceania as Regional Vice-Chair. ICPA provides an international forum for criminal justice professionals to share ideas and practices aimed at advancing professional corrections. New Zealand has been actively involved with this organisation since its inception five years ago.
Mark is currently a member of the Governing Board of the Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA). APCCA is an annual conference for senior corrections representatives from the Asia-Pacific region to discuss corrections issues. The conference has been held each year since 1980 and was last held in New Zealand in 1996. We will be host country again in 2006. Mark is also a long-standing member of APCCA’s Finance Committee.
For more information about these organisations, visit the icpa website and apcca website.
New Zealand is also a member of the Chief Executives’ International Roundtable for Corrections Excellence, which includes Canada, Scotland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and England.
Mark was recently made a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management, is Chair of the Government Superannuation Fund Appeals Board and a member of the Secretary of Education’s Internal Audit Committee. He was also elected to the Board of the Public Service Leadership Development Centre last year.
Minister gets familiar with local prisons
Already well-acquainted with Rimutaka Prison in Upper Hutt, which lies within his electorate, Minister of Corrections, Hon. Paul Swain, recently took the opportunity to visit the other two prisons in the Wellington region, Arohata Women’s Prison and Wellington Prison.
Following a rousing inmate powhiri and kapa haka welcome at Wellington Prison, Mr Swain was shown the prison’s accommodation, chapel, visiting room, control room areas and the prison’s printing industry.
Later in the day the Minister went to Tawa, north of Wellington city, to visit the facilities at Arohata Women’s Prison, including the at-risk cells, drug treatment unit and self care units. An important focus of the day was to meet with front-line staff and learn more about the challenges they face, says Mr Swain. “I was impressed with the staff I met, and their commitment to their jobs,” he said. “It was also good to see the recent building renovations put in place at these two prisons, such as Wellington Prison’s new control room areas, and the modern at-risk cells at Arohata. I understand that both are a great improvement on the previous facilities.”
Mr Swain commented favourably on the self care units at Arohata Women’s Prison, which are designed for inmates near the end of longer sentences to prepare for life back in the community.
Inmates in the self care units learn to live in flatting-style accommodation, doing their own cooking, shopping and budgeting. Some inmate mothers with babies under six months may also be eligible to live in the units, to assist their baby to bond with them pending their release from prison.
Mr Swain was likewise pleased to note the training and work skills in offset-printing available to the 30 or so inmates employed in Wellington Prison’s print shop.
Otago prison progress
A new prison for the Otago region is one step closer following a six-day designation hearing held at Milton in December.
The public hearing was to consider the planning application to build and run a prison at the chosen site near Milton, about a 30-minute drive south of Dunedin. Independent commissioners appointed by the Clutha District Council heard evidence for and against the application from the Department and submitters.
National Property Manager, William Whewell, says 39 individuals and groups made submissions on the prison proposal.
“The hearing was a further opportunity for affected people to have their say.” Submitters’ concerns centred on the impact of the prison on the community, inmate numbers, development on the site and demand on local water and wastewater services. Night lighting, building height and traffic impacts were also among the issues raised.
“Our application included an in-depth analysis of the facility’s potential effects and how they’ll be addressed. The Department’s proposal includes many adjustments arising from consultation,” says William.
“Experience with other corrections facilities in New Zealand shows that prisons are responsible neighbours and an asset to their communities. Much consultation and research has taken place to ensure the Otago facility would be no different.”
The commissioners are expected to make a recommendation on the designation to the Corrections Minister shortly. The Minister will then decide whether to accept their recommendation, in whole or in part, or reject it. Submitters may choose to appeal the Minister’s decision to the Environment Court.
The new Otago facility is needed to replace the aging 59-bed Dunedin Prison and to accommodate the steady increase in the inmate population. The state-of-the-art facility will provide a range of rehabilitative programmes and run a working farm, teaching inmates valuable employmentrelated skills.
‘Operation Chill’ puts the heat on offenders
A collaborative inter-agency project between Police, Corrections and other government departments has reaped impressive results, and may be the way of the future. “Operation Chill” took place in the Auckland metropolitan areas of Waitakere, Auckland and Manukau in late November, targeting offenders committing high volumes of crime such as burglary, vehicle crime and violence.
The operation identified some 400 offenders on community-based sentences, including those who had failed to report to their probation officer, comply with their release conditions, or had an outstanding arrest warrant or interim recall to prison.
Community Probation Service (CPS) offices provided information on these offenders to Police, highlighting the individuals of most concern for priority action. Other agencies taking part included the Ministry of Justice, Inland Revenue Department, Work and Income New Zealand, and Child, Youth and Family.
The operation resulted in around 200 arrests on 350 charges across the various agencies. No burglaries were reported to the police’s Manurewa area office for one 24-hour period - for the first time in memory. Brian Williams, Service Manager at the CPS New Lynn Service Centre, says the experience was very productive.
“This is the first time there’s been such a coordinated effort across the wider Auckland area.
“Overall, the cooperation and communication, by phone, email and in person, was excellent,” he says.
“The word soon got out about the increased Police presence - several offenders reported in to their probation officers the morning after hearing that Police were making enquiries about them.” Brian says the two-week blitz enabled inter-agency processes to be sped up during that time.
For example, Police were able to make a same-day arrest without warrant, and charge individuals who were of concern to probation officers, instead of CPS taking enforcement action and seeking warrants through the usual court process.
“Obviously we can’t do things on that scale all the time, but it does show what can be achieved when needed and the importance of keeping offenders accountable,” says Brian.
Operation Chill is being regarded as a trial, with the possibility of another to follow this year.
Inmates help fill labour gap
Release to Work, the programme where inmates nearing the end of their sentences are temporarily released to work in the community, is often successful where there is a local labour shortage. With recent reports of a fruit-picker shortage in the Hawke’s Bay, about 10 Release to Work inmates from Hawke’s Bay Prison are helping fill a gap in the local labour market by working in Hastings-based pack houses and orchards.
Corrections in national psychology journal
Research by Corrections staff, current and previous, features highly in the December 2003 New Zealand Journal of Psychology - a special issue on criminal justice psychology. All but one of the eight contributors are, or have been, Corrections’ Psychological Service staff. The December issue includes articles on treating violent offending, women inmates’ security risk, and the effectiveness of interventions in reducing reoffending.
For a copy of the journal, either request it via your library or contact the New Zealand Psychological Society on 04 473 4884.
Computer maintenance programme an asset
Whether it’s a blown light bulb or monitoring wastewater levels, Corrections’ sophisticated computer programme, The Maintenance Authority (TMA), helps ensure the smooth functioning of its 1,037 buildings.
Managed by Assets and Property Senior Systems Administrator, Ray Baker-Underhill, TMA’s bland name belies its outstanding abilities and possibilities.
Details of cell layout, access ways, machinery and generators - down to the last broom cupboard and light fitting - are loaded into TMA.
“Every space is identified,” says Ray. Maintenance history, service reminders, prison blueprints and images are logged into the system, to aid care of the Department’s buildings and equipment by the 40 or so Assets and Property staff based at sites and offices nationwide.
“This allows for preventative and proactive maintenance rather than reactive maintenance. However, inmate vandalism is an ongoing problem that cannot be planned for,” he says.
Replacing a paper-based system, TMA was installed in 2001, and has seen proactive maintenance jump from two percent to over 20 percent and climbing, saving the Department thousands of dollars and work hours.
TMA’s introduction has standardised the management of the Department’s property, guaranteeing nationwide regulatory, legislative and contractual compliance such as meeting the standard inmate cell requirements.
The system is also being used by Energy Manager, Cees Ebskamp, to locate all assets that consume energy.
“Ray sends me prison plans outlining things like boiler rooms. Two might be electric, another might be gas or oil. From there I can begin monitoring their usage,” says Cees, who is working on reducing the Department’s energy consumption, with the flow-on effect of lowering utility costs.
In the future, TMA technology could see all Assets and Property field staff linked to the Department’s main server through wireless palm pilots, allowing them to update images and details onsite, with staff at head office accessing the intranet to process maintenance requests.
Long service recognised
Corrections officers from Canterbury’s three prisons have received special recognition of their dedicated service at an awards ceremony attended by the Minister of Corrections, Hon. Paul Swain.
Corrections officers from Christchurch, Christchurch Women’s and Rolleston prisons received Long Service and Good Conduct Medals, presented for 14 years service. Clasps are presented for each additional seven year milestone. The medals are issued by Royal Warrant and are engraved with each officer’s name.
Among the recipients were John Spencer and Bob Norriss, who have each given 35 years service. Four staff members received clasps for 28 years service, four for 21 years, and 27 received 14 year medals.
Families and friends were invited to the ceremony, held at Hornby Working Men’s Club.
2004 The Year in Review
2003 was another busy 12 months for the Department. It was a year of consolidation in the move toward better coordination of services, and Corrections’ aim of reducing re-offending was a clear thread throughout. This is illustrated in the following selected highlights.
Probation and Offender Services
2003 was the first full year of operation for the newly formed Probation and Offender Services group, comprising the Community Probation Service, Psychological Service and, from July 2003, the training functions of the new Intervention Service Unit.
“During the year we focussed strongly on improving compliance with our new assessment tools, policies, procedures and systems,” says General Manager, Katrina Casey. “This has been a joint effort with Psychological Service getting underway with the integrity monitoring process and working with the Community Probation Service to identify issues and improve results.”
Through the year, Probation and Offender Services contributed to new initiatives such as the Dunedin interagency pilot for managing sex offenders, the Waikato “Circuit Breakers” inter-agency pilot, the Police initiative “Operation Chill” in Auckland, and was involved in the design of new policy for managing high risk child sex offenders. “Last year saw us able to analyse the effect of the Sentencing and Parole Acts 2002 on our offender and sentence volumes, with the result that a further 60 probation officers were granted to meet increased demand. This was accompanied by additional funds for training and development for our staff,” Katrina adds.
Public Prisons Service (PPS)
PPS General Manager, Phil McCarthy, says 2003 was a busy year for the Service.
He says the success of the Professional Ethics project in winning a State Services Commissioner’s Award for Ethics, Values and Standards in the Public Sector was a real boost for the organisation. “And we’ve done well with our recruiting this last year, generating interest and matching the values and attributes required by PPS and sentence management with the ‘right’ people.”
Progress was also made in establishing the way in which the new Corrections facility in Northland will be run.
Further, the relatively straightforward bargaining round was a testament to the positive efforts of unions, staff and managers.
Another high profile initiative last year was the opening of the Faithbased Unit at Rimutaka Prison.
Corrections Inmate Employment
2003 was a year of milestones for Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE).
For the first time, inmates gained over 2,000 New Zealand Qualifications Authority unit standards. CIE concrete and engineering operations have also manufactured thousands of components for the new Northland prison, and CIE’s operating structure was realigned to improve its performance and better affect the outcomes identified in the Statement of Intent.
Inmates got new menus, which along with a national tender for food supply, has cut costs and achieved national consistency without compromising on quality.
Regional Prisons Programme
Last year was a busy and productive one for the regional prisons programme.
Four purpose-built corrections facilities are planned by 2007. Construction of the Northland facility near Kaikohe is well underway, on track for completion in early 2005. Over 150 workers have been on site daily. Planning permission (a designation) to build both the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, near Meremere, and a women’s prison in Manukau City was approved after considerable consultation, research and public hearings. Environment Court appeals on these designations will be considered early in 2004.
Several years of preparation for the proposed Otago Region Corrections Facility culminated in the designation application being lodged in July and a public hearing in December - the outcome of which is expected shortly.
Other highlights
Chief Financial Officer, Richard Morris, says 2003’s highlights include the new state-of-the-art facilities opened at Rimutaka Prison, and Christchurch Prison’s old cells receiving a major upgrade.
The Output Pricing Review was completed, resulting in extra funding for the Community Probation Service, and a boost in funding across other
parts of the Department. The Department also launched a new Energy Strategy, achieving considerable energy-smart savings.
What do measures of effective treatment mean?
WHAT’S NEW IN THE LITERATURE
Those charged with spending public money are increasingly held accountable for results by governments and policy makers. Internationally, this has been reflected in a growing body of research concerning the effectiveness of various offender treatments and programmes.
As previously noted in this column, summaries of various evaluations are aggregated using a technique called “meta-analysis”. Meta-analysis allows statistical conclusions about the impacts of various correctional strategies, and allows comparisons of how different approaches may affect different offender groups.
Studies that evaluate offender treatment usually compare the outcome of a treated group in terms of some future event, such as recidivism, with the outcome of a non-treated group. That difference is expressed in terms of an “effect size”, which is a number between +1 and –1 indicating the level of difference between the two groups. For example, if a treated group of drug offenders re-offend at a rate of 40 percent, and an untreated group re-offend at a rate of 60 percent, then this difference would be an effect size of .20, or a 20 percent improvement in the treated group’s outcomes.
We now have a great deal of research - amounting to over 2,500 separate evaluations - which indicate that certain offender treatments typically result in benefits with effect sizes between .05 and .25. This represents improvements in the treated groups of between five and 25 percent.
Recently some have looked sceptically at such results, suggesting improvement levels post-treatment are negligible and reflect poorly on the state of practice in offender treatment.
In a recent article Professors Marshall and McGuire(1) discuss effect sizes with particular reference to sex offender treatment, but their comments also apply generally to correctional treatment.
They compare offender treatment with medical areas, and note that effect sizes of .10 to .15 in the correctional area compares very well. For example, the effect size for coronary bypass surgery to treat heart attacks is .15 and the effect size of chemotherapy for breast cancer is .08.
They also refer to the well-known study that investigated the impact of aspirin in preventing future heart attacks, which was stopped on ethical grounds when the initial results indicated an effect size of .03. Given such statistically significant results it was considered unethical to continue to monitor the welfare of the control group, who were receiving a placebo instead of aspirin. To do so could have meant an increase of three percent in fatalities from heart attacks in that group!
Given such effect sizes in mainstream medical practice, the fact that well targeted offender interventions can achieve effect sizes of up to .25 is remarkable. Such positive effect sizes are clearly desirable. Finally, Marshall and McGuire note that effect sizes are based on gross measures of recidivism only. If more sophisticated measures, such as a “harm index”, are employed then it throws into even sharper relief the potential benefits of interventions within Corrections (a harm index considers the severity of the crime, the degree of its intrusiveness, and the number of victims involved).
David Riley
Director of Psychological Services
Restorative justice facilitator scoops international award
Ahead of nominees from 96 other countries, restorative justice facilitator, Jackie Katounas, has received an international award for her work with inmates.
Jackie received the Kamil Shehade Award for Restorative Justice from Prison Fellowship International. The award recognises her work advocating and implementing the principles of restorative justice through her “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” programme.
Initially, Jackie was involved in facilitating victim and offender conferences at Hawke’s Bay Prison, then later developed the victim-awareness programme “Walk a Mile in My Shoes”, which is also delivered at the prison.
Inmates who attend this programme become better prepared to enter a formal restorative justice conference with their victims at a future date.
Jackie says restorative justice is about helping offenders face up to their crimes and face up to how it has affected their victims. She is employed part-time by Prison Fellowship New Zealand (PFNZ), a Christian ministry organisation that works with current and former inmates and their victims.
Hawke’s Bay Prison Site Manager, Walker Manaena, says that working through restorative justice issues can be very beneficial for offenders. “Understanding the impact of the crime on the victim can be a powerful tool to help inmates break the offending cycle,” he says.
Jackie also implements PFNZ’s Sycamore Tree programme, an intensive fourweek restorative justice course run at Arohata, Hawke’s Bay and Rimutaka prisons. The Sycamore Tree programme includes victim and offender meetings, although the victims are usually not those of the inmates taking part.
PFNZ and Corrections are looking at extending “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” to several other prisons over the next few years.
“Walk a Mile in My Shoes” and the Sycamore Tree programme are additional to the court-referred restorative justice process that involves offenders and victims in a facilitated meeting before sentencing.
Piggery instructor top of his class
Warren Chilton, Christchurch Prison’s Piggery Instructor, is flying high after being named the 2003 Pig Herd Manager of the Year.
Warren was selected by the Agriculture Industry Training Organisation (Agriculture ITO) after completing the Level 4 National Certificate in Pork Production during 2001/02. He was awarded the title from among 15 course participants nationwide.
Agriculture ITO spokesperson, Andrew Donohue, says participants were judged on their attitude and social skills, theory results, employer reports and their on-the-job practical results.
The award recognises excellence in allround ability.
“We not only judged whether candidates successfully completed the certificate, but their attendance and participation too. We also asked employers for their feedback. Warren passed the criteria with flying colours and was a worthy award recipient,” explains Andrew.
Warren’s practical skills were assessed at Christchurch Prison’s piggery, where he has worked for the last five years. As well as managing the piggery, Warren trains the 40 inmates it employs. These offenders learn about key aspects of running a piggery, including pig welfare, health, husbandry, biosecurity and handling.
Following the award presentation at a recent Canterbury Pork Industry Board meeting, Brian Goodes, Christchurch Prison’s Farm Manager, added his congratulations.
“It’s important for Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) instructors to keep up their training and maintain industry links, so that the training they give inmates is on a par with the market place.
“Warren’s done really well. The Pig Herd Manager of the Year Award shows that CIE has some of the best people around,” he says.
Psychological Service manager wins UK fellowship
David Wales, Manager Special Projects of Corrections Psychological Service, has been awarded one of two prestigious ?10,000 FCO Aotearoa Fellowships.
The fellowships are sponsored by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) to enable recipients to study leadership, management or human resources in the UK. Awards will be presented to David and the other recipient for 2003/04, Dr Barbara Disley of the Ministry of Education, at a function in March.
David will travel to the UK later this year on a study tour centred around the transfer of skills and knowledge from small groups of highly-skilled staff to generic application in "front line" settings.
David plans to study leadership, organisational change and field application of innovations at the London Business School. In addition, he will visit a range of institutions that deliver high-skill tasks, including the Home Office, Her Majesty’s Prison Service and the England and Wales Probation Service.
The study topic flows from his work over the past three years as Manager Special Projects, where he played a major role in overseeing a comprehensive new system of offender management. The new system was introduced across prison, probation, psychological and head office work environments.
The fellowship reflects the high quality of David’s work, says David Riley, Psychological Service Director.
"Corrections Psychological Service has been building strong connections in recent years with corrections jurisdictions internationally, particularly in the UK, the USA and Canada, and David’s study trip will help strengthen these links," he adds.
David Wales has previously worked as a Senior Psychologist at Kia Marama Special Treatment Unit (for men who sexually offend against children) at Rolleston Prison, Canterbury; following which he was appointed Principal Psychologist at the Psychological Service Auckland Office. He became Manager Special Projects in 2000.
For more information about FCO Aotearoa Fellowships, see www.ldc.govt.nz .
Offenders proud of Habitat homes
Porirua offenders have been proudly showing off their handiwork, driving their families past the Habitat for Humanity home that they have helped to build.
Offenders on community-based sentences have completed their hours helping to build five houses in the past five years under the Habitat for Humanity scheme. The most recent was completed in November.
Habitat for Humanity, a charitable Christian organisation, wants to eliminate poverty housing and it has helped more than 200 New Zealand families into their own homes. The homes have gone up at minimal cost using volunteer labour and donated materials where possible.
Bob Stuart, Habitat Porirua’s Building Supervisor, praised the job done by the work parties. “They help out every step of the way. Porirua’s not flat, so you can imagine what’s involved in levelling a section. Without using diggers it’s all done by hand using a spade and wheelbarrow.”
Once the earthworks and foundations are finished, it takes about three months to complete each house. During this phase the skills of any offenders with trades are made use of. Work parties have included carpenters, plumbers, electricians, scaffolders, gib-stoppers, roofers, painters and carpet layers.
Bob says an ingredient of Habitat for Humanity Porirua’s success is that he and other Habitat volunteers work alongside offenders. “We don’t think anything of it and that’s probably why the work parties take the houses to heart and have such pride in their work.”
According to Work Party Supervisor, Lance Te Patu, a benefit of working on Habitat for Humanity is the opportunity for many younger offenders to learn new workbased skills. “How many young people can read a plan or put in a string-line? They basically learn how to build a house, right through to tapping in the letterbox,” he says.
After 18 years as a work party supervisor Lance feels the Habitat project is one of the most rewarding. “I tell the guys to do everything like it is their house and I can see the satisfaction they get from the end result. They can now say they’ve done something great - built a house for someone who would never own one otherwise.”
Porirua Community Probation Service has an ongoing relationship with Habitat for Humanity and will be involved in building two more homes in 2004. Construction of the first house gets underway next month.
Habitat for Humanity
- Dedicated to eliminating poverty housing, Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit Christian ministry founded in the late 1970s by Millard and Linda Fuller in the USA.
- 150,000 Habitat houses have been built worldwide.
- 200 Habitat houses have been built in New Zealand.
- Habitat homeowners help build their house, contributing at least 500 hours of labour.
- Homes are sold to families at no profit for a $500 deposit. The cost is repaid, interest-free but inflationadjusted, over 20 years.
Weeknight work party popular
While most workers are winding down on a Tuesday summer’s evening, Dunedin Community Probation Service (CPS) Work Party Supervisor, Sonny Toka, is gearing up for his shift.
Every Tuesday at dusk a work party of offenders has been helping out on various community projects around Dunedin. The offenders are completing between 40 to 400 hours of unpaid work to fulfil their Community Work sentences. The sentences can take over a year to complete, either on a part or full-time basis, so the evening work option is proving a popular incentive for offenders keen to quickly reduce their hours.
“I enjoy helping offenders who are receptive to seeing their sentences being knocked down,” says Sonny.
The novel initiative was introduced by Dunedin CPS to cater for the large proportion of Community Work offenders with stable daytime employment.
“Employment opportunities in the area have increased and our business has changed to reflect that,” says Dunedin Service Manager, Les Carse.
The work parties help out on a range of projects, from school maintenance to wood chopping. Standard safety rules apply, with one supervisor present per work party of 10 offenders. With light lasting till 10pm, work party projects can be carried out with ease.
Dunedin’s evening work party scheme concludes on 11 March, and is expected to resume again next summer.
CPS workers make tracks
Several months of hard work by Nelson Community Work offenders has helped create a purpose-built network of mountain bike tracks in the Nelson forests.
Nelson Mountain Bike Club member, Tim Tucker, approached the Nelson Community Probation Service after the club gained permission to cut a series of tracks through Carter Holt Harvey-owned forest. “It was a great opportunity for the region to develop a nationally competitive mountain biking resource. The only problem was getting the manpower to complete the work,” says Tim.
“Then I heard from other organisations that Community Work work parties contribute heaps to local projects. I wrote to our local Community Probation Service Centre and explained the situation.
“They got behind us straight away. We’ve worked closely with Probation Officer, Ray Miller, and since he became involved the project has gone ahead quickly.
“Ray and the Community Work work parties built some sections of the track from scratch and expanded other sections that had already been cut.”
Nelson Service Centre Manager, Alan Clarke, says it has been rewarding for the offenders who spent their community-based sentence hours on the project.
“They’ve made real progress with the tracks. This project gives something back to the community, as a good system of rideable tracks encourages visitors to the area. Nelson’s economy benefits greatly from the tourists who come looking for the outdoor experience.”
Tim agrees, saying that recently when riding along the new tracks he met some of the work party members who were trying the tracks out for themselves. “They said they weren’t normally into mountain biking but were pleased with the job they’d done and wanted to see what they were like to ride on.”
Department flies through ACC audit
Ongoing work by staff to improve the Department’s health and safety standards has paid off. ACC confirmed recently that the Department has achieved full accreditation on the ACC Partnership Programme at primary level.
The programme allows Corrections to work as an agent for ACC, managing workplace injuries for employees and providing entitlements under the Accident Insurance Act 1998, in relation to workrelated injuries and illnesses.
Through the programme, Corrections takes responsibility for its workplace health and safety, injury management and rehabilitation, and claims management. By doing so the Department can minimise workrelated injury costs and raise the level of its health and safety management.
An ACC auditor examined approximately 12 randomly-selected sites and offices, looking at health and safety plans, management commitment and staff involvement in health and safety.
Bending bars in the name of God
Demonstrations of brute strength are not usually associated with Christian ministry, but a recent visit by Team Xtreme to Invercargill Prison saw phonebooks ripped apart and heads used to bend steel bars.
For the first time in a prison chapel Team Xtreme “he-men”, Rick Vanetta and Jason Hotere, performed their strong-man act in front of 50 inmates plus 20 visitors from local churches and the Prison Fellowship.
Team Xtreme is part of Impact World Tour Christian Ministry, a multi-national group with different acts such as hip-hop performers and cultural groups. They perform before a range of audiences, including youth and Church groups throughout the world.
“The message from Rick and Jason was that even though they’re tough, they’re still human and their faith keeps them on the right track,” says Prison Chaplain, Jeff Low.
“While their strong-man antics grab attention, it was their testimony that hit home with the inmates,” explains Jeff. “Rick and Jason have had their share of problems with drugs and violence, coming from similar backgrounds to many inmates. Through their faith, they’ve made something of themselves and are now family men contributing to society and staying out of trouble.”
Jeff says many of the inmates who attended had never been to church before. After listening to the Team Xtreme role models some of the men have signalled they want to explore Christianity.
“It’s important we continue to look outside the square to meet the inmates’ spiritual needs - and the Team Xtreme visit was another way to challenge them to turn their lives around.”
Team Xtreme’s visit to Invercargill Prison was supported by the Invercargill Christian Centre. Team Extreme and other acts from Impact World Tour plan to visit prisons nationwide during the first half of 2004.
Invercargill Prison cleaners work safely
At Invercargill Prison, Corrections Officer, Allan Dunn, developed a training package for inmate cleaners after observing inmates using cleaning chemicals incorrectly.
“I wanted to increase their awareness of health and safety, particularly when using the cleaning products,” Allan explains.
“The training package I put together identified the chemicals and covered their correct use, dilution and potential harm. The package includes workplace injury prevention, and each inmate who completes it receives a certificate.”
Thanks to Allan’s foresight, all the prison’s inmate cleaners now use proper equipment and handle the chemicals safely.
Looking for hazards in Canterbury
Probation Officer, Alan Woods, is the current Health and Safety Committee Chairperson for the Canterbury area.
An important first initiative of the committee has been regular walkthroughs of work places to identify potential hazards.
“Walk-throughs are an excellent way to raise awareness of health and safety among staff. Delegates in each office or work place assess for hazards and check fire and emergency procedures,” Alan says.
“There has been a huge commitment from staff to address health and safety and the good outcome of the ACC audit is due to their continued effort.”
1 Marshall W L and McGuire J (2003), Effect Sizes in the Treatment of Sexual Offenders, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 47, pp653-663.