Corrections launched two new programmes last month to address the rehabilitation needs of prisoners and help reduce the rate of re-offending - the latest developments in a line of changes to have taken place over the past 18 months aimed at improving rehabilitation programmes.
They build on the expansion of Corrections' prison-based drug and alcohol treatment programmes, to more than 500 available places a year across six sites - a critically important push given that around 80 per cent of all inmates have been alcohol or drug abusers.
The first new development was the official opening of the Karaka Special Treatment Unit for high risk offenders at Waikeria Prison. The opening coincided with the end of a pilot programme for high-risk offenders, which has run at the unit since August 2007.
The cognitive-behavioural programme is aimed at high risk and violent offenders who have abused drugs or alcohol and who have a high probability of reoffending. It is based on research which shows what works best for these offenders is higher intensity treatment particularly in a special treatment unit setting.
The programme which involves 100 three hour group sessions is run by a team of psychologists. It forces prisoners to look at the causes and consequences of their own offending. It questions the way they think, tackles their substance abuse and addresses the way they manage their behaviour and relationships. Offenders on the programme live separately from the main prison population in a special-purpose treatment unit within the prison.
The programme will be subject to an evaluation process but early indicators are positive. The programme will be expanded this year to run out of two further special treatment units being developed at Spring Hill and Christchurch prisons. The new units add to the highly successful Kia Marama and Te Piriti units for sex offenders, the specialist violence prevention unit at Rimutaka Prison, and Rimutaka's reintegration unit which was opened last year.
The second of the new developments is a programme called First Steps. Specialist teams will be based at each of the four Auckland prisons and will work alongside DHB professionals to provide mental health and alcohol and drug treatment for prisoners about to re-enter the community. While providing intensive treatment in prisons has been shown to deliver results, continuity of care is important. The return on this investment will be increased if treatment is seamless and continues on release, when the prospect of relapse is much higher.
These projects further demonstrate progress which is being made to address reoffending that is underway in our justice and corrections systems. It is well known that by the time anti-social and criminal behaviour has become entrenched to the extent that an offender is imprisoned, it is hard to change that behaviour and the risk of reoffending is high. That's why Government is strongly promoting early intervention programmes starting at a very young age when a child shows symptoms of going down the track to offending.
Nevertheless commitment to rehabilitation in prison is necessary because it can make a difference to the safety of our communities. Protecting people from becoming victims and addressing the cost and wastage of life of those for whom prison is a revolving door is an important responsibility for the Corrections system. The two new programmes demonstrate the commitment which is being made in this area.
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ISSN 1178-8453