Download Corrections News November 2004 (pdf: 786KB)
As a general election must be held before the end of September 2005, it will be clear by now that this event is a major focus for all political parties and the intensity of campaigning and seeking to gain the political high ground will continue to increase from now on. With this trend it is to be expected that the public service and its activities will come under scrutiny and be a source of debate from a variety of perspectives. It will come as no surprise to any of us if the criminal justice system, its current policy settings and the operational performance of the various agencies emerge as catalysts for debate, including Corrections in any one or more of its dimensions.
While it may be tempting to react to comments, and especially so if the comments are inaccurate or unfair, we need to stay within the boundaries appropriate to a politically neutral public service and adhere to our own Values Statement, our Code of Conduct and the guidelines on political neutrality put out by the State Services Commission and the Cabinet Office. It is important to retain the confidence of, and ability to professionally serve, any Government the taxpayers elect as their representatives.
Links to information on these matters will be available on our intranet and I expect that more material will be released progressively over the coming months. It would be well worthwhile for staff to familiarise themselves with guidance that is available. And if you encounter an instance which raises in your mind the question about what behaviour is appropriate in dealing with politicians or matters in the political domain, then look up the guidelines and almost certainly raise questions with your manager.
Over the coming year we should continue to give our attention to achieving our core outcomes of Protecting the Public and Reducing Re-offending by effective and efficient operational management, delivery and performance. We must continue to do our best and also continue to avoid bringing the Department into disrepute. Particular attention should be given to observing the processes and requirements of the approach to risk management, which we have adopted and had in place for some years now.
Of course we must still continue to interact and communicate with our stakeholders or others who have an interest or involvement with Corrections. As part of these engagements and relationships, talk to them in a factual, information sharing and explanatory way.
The work pressures and related demands that will be placed on us over the coming period will be significant. However, that is not a reason for any relaxation of standards. We must aim not to let ourselves or others down. Past experience is often a good guide for the future and on this particular question I am sure staff will respond with the same levels of professionalism as have been exhibited on previous occasions and thus well and truly meet the requirements of the constitutional conventions in place for public servants.
Corrections is upgrading its Microsoft Office and Citrix applications in November.
“Upgrading the core systems environment allows the Department to take advantage of some of the new features available in the latest software versions, and provides enhanced support for the knowledge management initiatives that are beginning to be implemented,” says Information Technology Manager Derek Lyons.
“The upgrade also means the Department continues to use the latest versions of essential software.”
Staff will notice a number of new features in the standard Microsoft Office 2003 applications that will help to manage their work and documents more effectively. The Department’s intranet - Corrnet - will be the main source of information about what do to to prepare for the upgrade, as well as what to do when first logging on to the new environment.
Derek says this is the first time Corrnet has been used to distribute training material of this scale and nature.
“This will set a precedent for more projects to use Corrnet to share this kind of information across the Department.”
Each week from the middle of November, new information about the upgrade project will be published on Corrnet.
Following ‘go live’, weekly updates will be posted on Corrnet to supplement the training material, including helpful hints and tips on best use of the upgraded applications, and troubleshooting help that has been gathered.
A rare opportunity to visit the successful Te Piriti special treatment unit was offered to the Auckland public recently when the unit marked its tenth anniversary.
Corrections Minister Hon Paul Swain, around 40 guests, and national and local media agencies attended a powhiri and were guided around Te Piriti by staff and inmates.
During the past decade, more than 450 offenders have completed the treatment programme for men who sexually offend against children. The programme has a particular emphasis on incorporating a bicultural approach (tikanga Māori) to treatment.
“We are proud to say that recidivism rates for men who have been through Te Piriti are 5.47 percent overall, and 4.7 percent for Māori, compared to 21 percent for those who have not been through,” says Jim Van Rensburg, Te Piriti Principal Psychologist.
“As the Minister said in his speech, these results are world class,” he says.
“Te Piriti translates as ‘the bridge’, which is a very appropriate symbol because we offer a chance for inmates to cross to a new stage of their lives.”
In his speech, Mr Swain said the programme is very challenging for offenders. “It is a difficult programme. Inmates must confront their offending, give away all the excuses and build ways not to re-offend,” said Mr Swain.
‘Daniel’, an inmate, explains that the programme made him come to terms with his actions, learn to empathise with his victim and victim’s whanau, then re-build himself as a new person.
“I know what situations I need to stay away from, what the danger signs are. I now have the tools not to re-offend.”
The treatment programme is one of two special treatment units of this nature running in New Zealand. The other is Kia Marama, based at Rolleston Prison in Christchurch.
Construction has begun at the Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility (ARWCF).
Site Manager Wayne Otway says earthworks have begun on site and security has been increased to 24 hours, seven days a week.
“We’ve got eight diggers levelling areas in preparation for the building’s foundations to be poured.
“Roving patrols of the site’s perimeter will be undertaken now the site has become a construction zone, and access to the site, other than by construction personnel, will be by appointment only,” he says.
The facility is located on Hautu Drive in Manukau City on 47 hectares. It will be modern, purpose-built and will enhance the way the Department manages offenders by applying new approaches to security, layout and the movement and management of inmates. They are designed to specifically encourage behavioural improvement and inmate self responsibility.
Special features in the facility include a spiritual space and papamauri building where greetings, prayer, healing and Māori immersion language classes can take place. ARWCF is needed to service the upper North Island and accommodate the increasing number of female inmates.
The facility is one of four facilities planned to be open by the end of 2007. When the Northland Region Corrections Facility opens in March 2005, it will be the first new corrections facility built in New Zealand since Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison opened in 1989.
Chief Financial Officer Richard Morris left the Department last month after nine years at the helm of the Corporate Finance Group, where he expertly managed a role that has become increasingly complex and diversified.
During those nine years, Richard picked up responsibility for Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), the Regional Prisons Development Project and oversaw the development of the Assets and Property Unit. His original team of about 30 staff has grown to around 400 people at sites around the country.
Richard also oversaw numerous strategic projects, including the implementation of new financial and payroll systems, and the development of specialist units for young male inmates.
Richard says he takes personal pride in the development of the youth units, which he says encapsulate Corrections’ philosophy for the reintegration and rehabilitation of offenders. He is also pleased with the growth of CIE.
“We have seen it develop from a relatively small number of inmates working in forests, farms, and in prison units, to significant numbers of inmates getting real qualifications and with real prospects of jobs on release from prison.”
There’s a slight sense of frustration when Richard talks about some of the current pressures facing Corrections. “When I started here we had around 4,900 inmates. We were striving to deal with increases in the inmate population and to build new facilities fast enough to cope with the demand.
“We now have around 6,900 inmates, and are still striving to cope with an ever increasing inmate population.”
But Richard is proud of the Department’s standing in the wider corrections community, and the efforts of it staff.
“Corrections jurisdictions around the world are looking at us. We are recognised among our peers and respected for our achievements.
“Our staff deliver a great service, but they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.”
Chief Executive Mark Byers says Richard has made an enormous contribution to the Department during his tenure and will be greatly missed.
“Richard’s financial stewardship of the Department over the last nine years has been first class. He has overseen a complete overhaul of our physical infrastructure and the management systems required to operate it.
“Our financial systems, which were outdated when the Department was established, have also been completely replaced and are now highly rated by both our external auditors and the Treasury.
“More recently, the Output Pricing Review was a significant achievement.
It enabled us to secure $49.5 million in additional funding, which we put into a number of key areas, including risk assessment of offenders and health services for inmates. We were also able to put additional resources into the Psychological Service and New Zealand Parole Board, increase the number of probation officers and secure funding for training and development of our staff.
“We wish Richard well in his future endeavours. I will personally miss his strategic contribution and personal advice and support.” Richard’s successor will be profiled in the next issue.
Corrections’ Annual Report 2003/04, published last month, looks back on a year of challenges and successes for the Department.
With a raft of statistics and other measures, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of Corrections’ performance in 2003/04 against the four themes that form the framework of the Department’s Strategic Business Plan 2003-2008: ensuring effective offender management; improving responsiveness to Māori; contributing to reducing re-offending; and enhancing capability and capacity.
A feature of this year’s report is the expanded section on triple bottom line reporting - show-casing the Department’s performance in social, environmental and economic terms.
An important milestone during the year was the passage of the Corrections Act. The Annual Report 2003/04 new Act, which comes into effect in 2005, identifies principles that should guide the future development of corrections services and allows more effective management practices to evolve.
In his overview of the report, Chief Executive Mark Byers says one of the challenges the Department has faced is the rising numbers of offenders, both in prison and on community sentences. Although an extensive project is underway to provide additional prison capacity, the prison population is continuing to rise significantly faster than forecast by the Ministry of Justice, putting pressure on both staff and facilities.
The report is available online at www.corrections.govt.nz . Printed copies are available by emailing ministerialcoordinator@corrections.govt.nz or by contacting the Department’s head office on 04 499 5620.
Twleve Waikeria Prison staff were among those celebrating their achievements at a long service medal ceremony in Te Awamutu recently, in an event rapidly becoming the highlight of the annual prison calendar.
The New Zealand Prison Service medal is awarded for good conduct to corrections officers and staff employed in custodial or supervisory roles, in recognition of 14, 21, and 28 years’ continuous service with the Department.
Public Prisons Service General Manager Phil McCarthy presented the medals, noting in particular the achievements of three staff - Assistant Regional Manager Gavin Dalziel, Principal Corrections Officer Peter Neustroski and Senior Corrections Officer Steve Nikora - who were each recognised for 28 years in the Service.
Presentations were also made to 10 corrections officers who achieved NZQA Certificates in Offender Management levels 3 and 4.
Far from being a sombre, conservative affair, the Waikeria ceremony was a jazzy do, well befitting its status as a highlight of the annual prison calendar.
Waikeria Prison Site Manager Liz Nielsen says the medal ceremony is eagerly anticipated by prison staff and their families.
“Waikeria has become very large, very quickly. The ceremony is an important opportunity for staff from across the prison to come together, socialise, and celebrate our individual and collective achievements.”
It’s also an opportunity to recognise the support of family members, and to share achievements with former staff and local dignitaries. Waipa District Council Mayor Alan Livingstone was among the guests and local media who attended the ceremony.
Public Prisons Service General Manager Phil McCarthy says the new recruitment drive is a major campaign, aimed at recruiting more than 200 corrections officers in the first instance.
“Corrections has really thrown itself into this campaign, everyone is aware of our current staffing needs and this is one way we are seeking to address them. Another 1800 staff will also be needed once the new corrections facilities become operational, so we have a big task ahead.”
The campaign is based on the faces, messages and experiences of current corrections officers and PPS staff.
The campaign was launched with an eight-page full colour insert in all major daily newspapers and key regional papers.
The press advertising was supported by a range of targeted initiatives, including advertising in the TV Guide, specialist publications, cinema and on Māori TV.
Other innovative recruitment initiatives include efforts in Samoa and the United Kingdom.
The Department’s ground-breaking recruitment campaign is front-page news in Samoa.
Each year, over 1500 Samoan citizens are granted eligibility for residence in New Zealand through a ballot that is broadcast live on television.
The ballot is extremely popular, with over 6000 applications for this year’s draw.
This year a Corrections information pack was included with all successful ballot notification letters.
Hearing from a former inmate that her work helped change his life is just one of the experiences Penny Eames will treasure when she leaves Arts Access Aotearoa this month, after nearly 18 years working with art in New Zealand prisons.
Penny bumped into the former inmate during a hospital art programme in Dunedin.
“He told me that if he hadn’t had the chance to be involved with the arts programme he attended while inside Wanganui Prison, he would not now be a professional artist and happily married with two children.”
The prison art advocacy work has had a profound influence on Penny, who has devoted much of her life to arts advocacy. Penny helped establish Arts Access Aotearoa, an organisation that advocates all people have a right to creative expression. It encourages communities and social sector organisations to create arts projects, independently or in partnerships with other groups.
“The arts are also a tool for reintegration to society for inmates,” says Penny.
“The ability to express oneself in this way creates intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual balance, giving someone a consistent way of expressing themselves.”
Penny and Arts Access Aotearoa’s work has been internationally recognised, with South Africa recently establishing an arts in prisons programme based on the New Zealand model.
“It comes as no surprise that another country would see the value in the programmes operating here,” says Chief Executive Mark Byers.
“Penny’s tireless energy has left its mark, both in the organisation she has headed for nearly 10 years and within the Department of Corrections.
“Helping to change even one life is significant and we’ll never really know how many people have been inspired through the programmes they have accessed while serving a sentence. We recognise the value of this work, and look forward to it continuing.”
Since Penny’s initial involvement with art in prisons initiatives, programmes have included a ‘writers visiting prisons’ programme, painting, poetry and songwriting, books, drama, fabric art and carving in wood, bone and pounamu (greenstone), plus various kinds of music and drama. There was also a major research project conducted through the Institute of Criminology at the Victoria University of Wellington.
Penny will continue her involvement with Corrections through Singing with Conviction, the most recent programme initiated by Arts Access Aotearoa, which will see singing groups established in prisons throughout the country.
Ann Sharley replaces Penny as Arts Access Aotearoa’s Executive Director.
Investment in Marae-based violence prevention programme He Tete Kura Mana Tangata is paying off, as it helps offenders address their violent offending behaviour.
“He Tete Kura Mana Tangata is one of a number of programmes run though the Community Probation Service and Public Prisons Service to help offenders address their particular criminogenic (crime-causing) needs,” says Manukau Community Probation Service Area Manager Martin Cheer.
The programme was developed in 2000 and sends a clear message that violence is not acceptable, he says.
Twelve weeks long, it looks at violent behaviour and how these attitudes impact on the whanau, wider hapu and the community.
Offenders address their behaviour through learning Māori values, ideas and practices that support non-violence. Former course member ‘Junior’ says the programme, based at the Nga Hau E Wha Marae, has taught him to have more confidence in himself and to control how he thinks and acts.
Junior’s success is helped by his whanau’s support of his achievement.
“It is good to know that you’re going to be there for them; now my family are above my mates,” says Junior.
“We make it clear from the beginning that we want men who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions,” says Dianne Harrison, who facilitates the programme with Hohepa McLean.
“They must be motivated to change (and) are expected to incorporate their learnings into their day-to-day life - that is to ‘walk the talk’.”
South and Centre Unit inmates at Invercargill Prison are making the most of the spring weather in new exercise yards, following completion of the first stage of a project to upgrade the prison.
The new yards were blessed by Upoko (head) of Waihopai Runaka (Runanga) Mike Skerret and Prison Chaplain Jeff Low in a ceremony attended by representatives from local iwi, community groups and staff.
Invercargill Prison Site Manager Geoff Mills says that, with the completion of the new exercise yards, work will start on a new remand yard facility, followed by a single point of entry and a new visits facility. The upgrade project is due for completion late 2005.
There is absolutely no doubt the last two decades have seen a profound shift in attitudes towards rehabilitation, moving from the “nothing works” dogma of the 1970s to an optimism about rehabilitation which is supported by over 2,500 evaluations of correctional programmes.
Accepted modern thinking rests upon the wellgrounded theory of risk, needs and responsivity; holding that the best way to rehabilitate offenders is to direct intensive efforts at those at greatest risk of re-offending, target those factors within the individual associated with re-offending risk, such as skills deficits and substance abuse problems, and structure the type of therapeutic approach to be sympathetic to the learning styles and expectations of the recipients. This model has proved successful in modern corrections jurisdictions, and is supported by a steadily increasing body of evidence attesting to its effectiveness.
However, more recently Tony Ward(1) , Professor of Psychology at Victoria University, has taken issue with some of the accepted wisdom about effective treatment and has proposed that other factors may also be significant in the process of offender rehabilitation.
Ward and colleagues propose what they term the “Good Lives Model” of offender rehabilitation. While not challenging traditional thinking, and indeed acknowledging the positive results obtained to date, they argue current approaches are limited.
They suggest too much emphasis is placed on negative aspects of the offending process (ie, reducing risk factors), the question of what are the necessary preconditions for effective intervention is left open, and they doubt whether current approaches actually constitute a comprehensive theory of rehabilitation.
They argue the “Good Lives Model” of rehabilitation provides for a positive “strength based approach” to treating offenders, views criminogenic needs as an inappropriate attempt to achieve positive human ends, provides a conceptual structure necessary to engage offenders in treatment, and explicitly addresses the question of the practitioners’ attitudes towards the clients being treated.
While the above is a very brief and over simplified explanation of Ward’s approach, it is apparent that the “Good Lives Model” is not necessarily incompatible with established best practice; rather it may be seen as a potentially productive extension of current approaches. While empirical evidence supporting this thinking is largely lacking in the offender rehabilitation area, there is indirect corroboration from other social science domains. Additionally, this model is likely to continue to gain support among human service personnel as it emphasises the transition of offenders to (in the authors’ words) “a meaningful and richer life characterised by high levels of wellbeing”.
A new emphasis on offenders serving community-based sentences is part of the Department's latest drive to help stamp out drug and alcohol abuse among offenders.
The Strategy to Reduce Drug and Alcohol Use by Offenders 2005-2008 builds on two previous strategies, each published at three-year intervals.
Senior Policy Adviser Maree O'Regan says the stratgey includes a new focus of working with offenders serving community sentences such as home detention or release on conditions. This is in addition to the current focus on stopping illicit drugs from entering prison, and addressing offenders' drug dependencies.
"This is quite a fundamental change - we are more likely to be successful with a coordinated whole-of-Department approach," says Maree.
As such, three key objectives will guide the Department's work over the next three years of the Strategy:
Drugs lead to standover tactics, gand-related activities and general disruption to the running of prisons, says Maree, as well as being a significant cause of further offending.
The strategy is published on the Department's website and printed copies are available on request.
Browsing through outdated library books at Wellington Prison led prison chaplain Richard Clement to think about how he could get new and relevant books on the shelves.
“I sat down and wrote to 58 churches in the greater Wellington region asking if they were prepared to donate a book or three to the cause,” says Richard.
Project Good Book was born. Although the majority of books received have Christian themes or are self-help books, the purpose of Project Good Book is to educate the inmates.
Richard says he had underestimated how keen inmates were on reading, because previously books were seldom borrowed from the prison library.
“The books were written in the 1930s and 40s and just failed to connect with inmates. But once the new books started coming in, it kindled a desire in them to read.”
There is now a demand for the books and a broad spectrum of topics are available, such as books on marriage, child raising, surviving abuse and Christian views of the world.
Since Project Good Book began, over 200 books have been donated, with some of them coming from the Auckland and Canterbury regions. Richard has been overwhelmed and touched by people’s generosity.
“One elderly lady donated money out of her electricity rebate. A mother and son on a limited budget carefully chose a book together for the project.”
Any double-ups of books are sent to Wellington region’s two other prisons. A Lower Hutt women’s church group has taken up the cause for Arohata Women’s Prison and is asking for books to be donated that are specifically relevant to women.
Richard is keen to open up the project to all religions and says he has occasionally nipped off to the synagogue to get books for Jewish inmates.
“This is not a purely Christian thing. I want all faiths, Muslims, Jews and others to come on board and get books in there that start inmates thinking and challenging the way they live.”
1 Ward T & Brown M (2004), the Good Lives Model and Conceptual Issues in Offender Rehabilitation, Psychology, Crime, XIX pp 243-257
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ISSN 1178-8453