Download Corrections News July 2005 (pdf: 629KB)
Inside:
- Accommodation pilot launched in Auckland
- Services combine in new facility first
- Ohura Prison staff commended
CPS moves to Market Grove
The Community Probation Service (CPS) celebrated the opening of its new service centre in Market Grove, Lower Hutt, earlier this month.
The new purpose-built centre brings together all CPS Lower Hutt staff and gives offenders one site to report to for all CPS services. Around 22 permanent staff based at the service centre will manage sentences, prepare reports, service local courts, and organise Community Work projects.
An estimated 240 offenders are expected to visit the centre over a six-day week. The new service centre also provides space for Intervention Services staff to deliver rehabilitative programmes, and for visiting departmental psychologists. The Wellington CPS Area Office will also be housed there.
Chief Executive's Comment
Prison musters have been attracting considerable interest from politicians and the media over recent months, so I would like to briefly outline the way in which the Department is managing the situation.
Prisoner numbers currently exceed the number of beds available in the prison system. Corrections has been working closely with the Police and the Ministry of Justice to manage prisoner numbers. Corrections has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Police to use some of its cells to accommodate remand prisoners who can’t be accommodated at a local prison. We also have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Justice, allowing us to use court cells in some centres to accommodate sentenced prisoners under the supervision of experienced corrections officers.
Increased prisoner numbers have put considerable pressure on prison staff, with many working overtime to ensure our prisons continue to run smoothly. I would like to acknowledge the dedication and professionalism of all prison staff in managing the situation, and thank them for their efforts.
I expect the current pressure on the prison system to ease later in the year as the number of prison beds aligns with the forecast prisoner numbers. Construction of 493 additional prison beds approved last year by the Government is on track, with 140 of the beds to be available for use by the end of this month and another 203 due to come into service progressively before the end the year. The final 150 beds will be completed in April 2006.
These beds are additional to those already planned through the four new regional corrections facilities. The first of these, the 350-bed Northland Region Corrections Facility (NRCF), began accepting prisoners in April. We will be increasing the rate at which prisoners will be received into NRCF during July, and expect to have 240 of the 350 beds occupied by the end of the month. We are acutely aware of the need to use the NRCF beds as soon as is safely possible, and plans for building up the muster are under constant review.
In the meantime, Corrections will continue to meet with representatives of the Public Service Association and the Corrections Association of New Zealand to keep the lines of communication open and address any specific concerns they may have. It’s likely that media interest in prison musters will continue, so we will endeavour to keep staff and stakeholders informed about Corrections’ management of the situation, and report on progress with construction of the additional prison beds.
On a different note, a major milestone was reached earlier this month when the management of Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP) reverted back to Corrections after the contract with GEO NZ Ltd to manage the Prison expired. You can read more about ACRP on page 8.
Barry Matthews
Chief Executive
Canterbury prisoners graduate
Twenty-four prisoners were the first in the South Island to graduate with a National Certificate in Employment Skills (NCES), the final chapter in about two years of study needed to achieve the nationally recognised qualification.
NCES is one of the programmes offered to prisoners that tries to address educative or employment needs as part of the Department’s aim to reduce re-offending.
NCES focuses on improving prisoners’ educational level to help them to gain employment on release. Run in modules, it offers learning in a range of work-related skills such as oral and written communication, numeracy, teamwork and problem-solving, workplace safety, computer skills, and selfmanagement.
“The skills and knowledge prisoners learn through the NCES increase their chances of sucessfully reintegrating on release and gaining employment,” says acting Programme Manager South Island Prisons Katey Gibling.
Family and whanau were invited to the ceremony to watch the prisoners receive their framed certificate, as were the seven Canterbury area NCES teachers and representatives from programme managers Literacy Training Ltd.
The next step for the NCES graduates is to meet with Public Prisons Service education tutors and Career Services career consultants to discuss their future education and employment options on release.
Accommodation pilot launched in Auckland
A project to pilot supported accommodation for released prisoners kicked off in May, with the selection of Auckland Prisoners’ Aid and Rehabilitation Society (PARS) as the service provider.
Corrections is leading the Auckland based pilot, in partnership with Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC).
Policy Development’s Operational Policy Manager Richard Bargh says the supported accommodation pilot is in response to a review by Corrections, which identified that access to housing is a factor in the successful reintegration of offenders into the community.
“Released prisoners face a range of barriers to reintegration. The supported accommodation pilot aims to help released prisoners with their immediate accommodation needs and provide them with an opportunity to increase their level of selfreliance and practice pro-social behaviour.”
Auckland PARS has been contracted to provide reintegrative support to offenders participating in the pilot, as well as managing their tenancies. PARS will lease the accommodation from HNZC, which has provided eight houses for the pilot, and then sub-let them to the offenders.
The units provided by HNZC will generally be single unit dwellings (bed-sit style accommodation) and will be in different locations throughout Auckland.
Richard says PARS is very experienced in working with offenders and providing reintegrative support.
The pilot runs from June 2005 through to December 2005 and targets offenders subject to parole or release conditions who have no suitable accommodation options available on their release from prison.
Its main goal is for offenders to move into more permanent accommodation within three months and to address any other reintegrative needs they may have.
Offenders due for release from prisons around Auckland will initially be selected as part of the pre-release process. Offenders who have an identified reintegrative need for accommodation support and present other reintegrative needs will be referred to PARS.
The pilot will be evaluated by June 2006 and, if it is deemed successful, will be implemented in other locations in 2006/07.
CPS senior managers meet
Community Probation Service Senior Managers gathered in Wellington earlier this year for their annual conference. The conference was an opportunity for senior managers to catch up and for new managers to meet face to face.
Services combine in new facility first
The opening of the Probation and Offender Services centre in Kaikohe was as significant for Corrections as the opening of the nearby Northland Region Corrections Facility, says Chief Executive Barry Matthews.
Mr Matthews told those gathered for the formal opening that the two facilities would support each other in their respective roles.
The centre in Station Road houses about 25 staff from the Community Probation Service (CPS), Psychological Service (PS) and Intervention Services (IS) under one roof.
It is the first permanent presence of IS and PS in Northland and the first time the three services have been located together.
Together they will service communitybased offenders and prisoners alike. It’s estimated CPS staff based in Kaikohe will manage 470 Community Work sentences in this financial year, and oversee 220 offenders on other community-based sentences and orders.
Despite heavy rain on the morning of the opening, about 40 guests attended, including Mr Matthews, Probation and Offender Services General Manager Katrina Casey, IS Manager Eve McMahon, PS Director David Riley and Senior Cultural Advisor Harris Shortland, along with local dignitaries and members of the community. Local iwi played an important role in the occasion and kaumatua provided a Maori name for the building, Te Herenga o te Aroha, referring to the historical significance of the site.
Carved pou for new service centre
A carved pou (post) gifted to Corrections by former prisoners had a homecoming at the opening of the new CPS Wellington service centre.
The new centre on Adelaide Road was formally opened by Minister of Corrections Hon Paul Swain in a ceremony attended by former Governor General Sir Paul Reeves and Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast.
The two-metre carving was originally made for the old Wellington service centre on Thorndon Quay but had been stored at Head Office in recent years.
The pou, which has attracted much comment from visitors, was first blessed and dedicated by Sir Paul when he was Governor General (1985-1990). Sir Paul was especially delighted to see the pou return to its rightful place at “the coal face”.
Service Manager Justin Hills was pleased to finally see the pou in place at the new centre. “It has been one of my dreams to see the pou returned to a service centre, so I am very happy to see this realised.”
The refitted two-storey building replaces two separate sites in Newtown. It houses a Community Work Centre where offenders will report for duty and see their probation officers, a Sentence Management Team of staff who manage offenders on communitybased sentences, and a Court Servicing Team providing information to help judges decide sentencing options.
Carvers’ taonga unveiled
A carving created by Rimutaka Prison master tutor Dave Te Hira and 15 Maori Focus Unit prisoners has been unveiled in the council chambers of the Upper Hutt City Council.
A year ago, Mayor Wayne Guppy asked Dave to help create something unique that would set the room apart from any other council chamber.
The resulting taonga (treasure) was unveiled in front of a group that included the Minister of Corrections and local MP Hon Paul Swain, Mayor Guppy, Dave, Corrections staff, and kaumatua and representatives of the local Orongomai Marae.
“There has been a close link between our three groups - the Prison, Council and Marae - for a number of years now and this is so important to us all,” says Dave.
“There is a proverb that describes that link and our values, which are represented by this taonga - ‘He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maku e ki atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata’.
“This translates as: ‘What is the greatest thing in the world? I will say it is people, it is people, it is people’.”
A core group of around six carvers worked on the taonga, which was made from three pieces of totara, with a paua shell and bone inlay.
The three metre-tall taonga, mounted on a wall facing the entrance to the council chamber, is the first thing visitors see as they enter. It frames the flags of New Zealand and Upper Hutt, along with photos of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.
Dave, who has worked at Rimutaka Prison for 10 years, designed the taonga to help modernise the imagery in the chamber.
The central figure is God flanked by four Maori signatories and four Pakeha signatories, recalling the Treaty of Waitangi and Members of Parliament.
Iwi, maunga (the Rimutaka Ranges), awa (the Hutt River), the Council and even migrants are represented - the last because theycan formally receive citizenship in the chambers.
Master carver Jock McEwen was among those who attended the unveiling. “Jock’s work really started all this off,” says Dave.
“Projects like the taonga affirm the carvers’ identities as Maori and allow them to give something back to society and the local community.
“Some of these carvers are very talented and have shown they could one day make a living from their art.”
Ohura Prison staff commended
Staff who responded to a recent medical emergency at Ohura Prison drew glowing commendations from local medical services and former Prison Manager Peter Madsen.
The Prison’s remoteness and small size demand that staff are able to expertly manage medical issues without the support other prisons can access.
Peter’s staff receive regular ‘refresher training’ from Taumaranui St John’s Ambulance to ensure they have the skills needed to respond to medical emergencies.
So when a group of prisoners threw boiling water over another prisoner’s head and shoulders, those well practiced skills and procedures swung into action.
Corrections Officer Rachel Cooke responded to the cell alarm and unit staff and nurse Joan Gilbert provided immediate first aid to the harmed prisoner, while other staff covered business as usual prison duties.
“Every little thing was done well,” says Peter. “For instance, as Unit Manager Zak Peacock ran to the incident he turned on the cold water in the staff showers so that the prisoner could have his burns cooled just that bit sooner.”
“We provided the appropriate medical care, maintained the precautionary treatment and, because the ambulance is 45 minutes away, arranged to meet it half way.
“I am just blown away by how well the staff responded, used their professional training and backed each other up,” he says. ”It’s what this job is all about.”
St John’s Ambulance sent Peter a letter congratulating his staff on their work. “Medical opinion is that our action most likely stopped permanent scarring,” says Peter.
“That is a big achievement, especially since the prisoner is relatively young and has a lot of his life ahead of him.”
Peter noted the excellent work of staff members Rachel Cooke, Trev McKenzie, Vern Ward and Wally Herman.
Art in prisons attracts Springboks
A Zulu war dance inspired prisoners in the Youth Unit of Waikeria Prison recently when Fidel Hadebe, Deputy Director Arts and Social Development in the South African Department of Arts and Culture, visited the Prison as part of a trip looking at how New Zealand prisons implement art programmes.
Mr Hadebe’s itinerary included visits to the Northland Region Corrections Facility, arts programmes at Auckland Prison and Youth and Maori Focus Units at Waikeria Prison. The prisoners at Waikeria’s Youth Unit responded to the Zulu dance with a rousing haka as part of the welcoming session.
“I will take back to South Africa the philosophy of the community being so involved in the local prison as in Northland,” says Mr Hadebe.
“I was also really impressed at the way prisoners can practice their own culture as I saw in the Maori Focus Unit - that was fantastic.
“Art in prison forms part of a broader concept of social inclusion. Often people in prison have been left on the fringes of society and art is a wonderful healer and way of making them feel good about themselves.
More than that, art programmes in South Africa need to serve as an educational tool, and need to potentially lead to income generation for the time when our prisoners are released.”
The trip to New Zealand was organised by Penny Eames, who has a strong association with the arts in New Zealand.
Penny was formerly the Executive Director of Arts Access Aotearoa, a charitable trust working with the social service sector and people with limited access to the arts to stimulate them to become involved in arts projects.
Penny recommended Mr Hadebe visit New Zealand as she believed he could learn a lot from practices here that can be incorporated in South Africa’s new art against crime and art in prisons programmes.
“My first trip to New Zealand has been a real eye-opener from the point of view of what prisoners are doing. I was also really impressed by the enthusiasm and energy of staff working with prisoners,” Mr Hadebe notes.
“South Africa is a unique situation and we need to find a method of implementing arts in prisons that suits its huge prison population and diverse culture. However, some negative attitudes of our prison officers need changing for this to be effective.”
South African Correctional Services launched its art in prisons programme in March this year and is running a pilot in four prisons.
Corrections farewells Geoff Mills
Long time Invercargill Prison Site Manager Geoff Mills died in an accident in early June.
Geoff had a long and distinguished career with the Public Prisons Service, joining in 1972 as a Prison Officer Cadet and winning the Minister’s prize for topping his cadet class. He began his career at Wellington Prison (then Mt Crawford) and worked at Waipiata youth centre and Christchurch and Dunedin prisons, before moving to Invercargill in 1987.
Geoff joined Invercargill Prison as first officer before becoming custody manager and then site manager, a position he held for around 18 years.
He was a manager well respected by his colleagues and by prisoners, some of whom, on hearing of his death, wrote sympathy notes to his family. The large number of people who attended Geoff’s funeral from many different organisations and backgrounds showed just how much Geoff was respected.
“Geoff was an extremely capable Site Manager who ensured that prisoners were fairly treated and all staff knew what to do and were supported in their roles,” says Regional Manager Paul Monk. “Invercargill Prison has consistently performed at a very high level, as evidenced by peer reviews, audits, low levels of incidents and feedback from stakeholders.
“On a personal level, Geoff was a man of great integrity combined with a ready wit. Despite ongoing health issues, he remained positive, and would often use humour to defuse a difficult situation or to present an argument in another way.”
This sense of humour could be summed up by the song played at Geoff’s funeral, Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
If life seems jolly rotten there's something you've
forgotten
and that's to laugh and smile and dance
and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps don't
be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle -
that's the thing
And always look on the bright side of life
Come on always look on the
bright side of life.
Geoff was 50. He is survived by wife Sandra and children Brendon and Tracey.
Prison practises crisis preparedness
Christchurch Prison’s recent mock crisis exercise was so realistic that journalists called up wanting to know what was going on.
The exercise involved 10 ‘prisoners’ taking over a Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) timber processing site.
Organised by Corrections head office staff and Senior Advisor Business Continuity Planning Bruce Gaskin, the exercise involved staff from the Police, the Fire Service, and St John’s Ambulance, along with staff from Assets and Property, CIE and the Public Prisons Service (PPS).
As part of the exercise, participants acting as prisoners created a barrier to block Prison staff from the site and, under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, seriously assaulted two prisoners in the work area. To top it all off, they then started a fire that put the injured prisoners at risk.
Mock exercises are regularly run in prisons as part of PPS's testing and ongoing development of serious incident response capability.
“The exercise tested our capabilities in several areas, and we were fortunate to have a number of 'observers' to help us out,” says Christchurch Prison Manager Paul Rushton.
“The exercise started at level two for the serious incident response team and quickly developed into level three, which meant the need to involve the regional advanced control and restraint team. This was really helpful in testing our coordinated incident management capabilities,” says Paul.
“Setting up the command centre and structure and working in with the other agencies was a huge benefit for all involved. We hope the need to use the skills learnt will be minimal but, given the nature of prisons, we do need to be prepared.”
ACRP joins Corrections ranks
Management of Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP) reverted back to Corrections on July 13, following the expiry of the Department’s contract with GEO NZ Ltd to manage the Prison.
General Manager Corporate Management Bob Calland says the Corrections Act 2004 brought an end to the use of private providers to manage prisons.
“The Corrections Act, which came into force on 1 June 2005, was written with clauses preventing the Department entering into, or extending, private management contracts for the management of New Zealand prisons,” says Bob.
“The Department has worked closely with GEO NZ Ltd, unions and others to ensure the management transfer caused minimum disruption.”
ACRP, sited next to Mt Eden Prison, has been managed by GEO NZ Ltd (formerly ACM) since it opened five years ago. The Prison is New Zealand’s only specialist remand prison and is the main reception prison for newly remanded prisoners from the Auckland region. ACRP is now one of five prisons that make up the Public Prisons Service’s Northern Region.