Alongside opportunities for Māori offenders to develop a positive and secure cultural identity it is equally as important for Māori offenders to learn skills that are applicable to wider society that will help them to lead offence-free lives.
Progress to date
The Department has worked hard to address levels of re-offending and some of our most intensive programmes are showing positive results. We know that these programmes are as effective for Māori offenders, if not slightly more effective, as they are for non-Māori offenders.
For its part, the Department has evaluated and improved many of the programmes and services that provide rehabilitation opportunities.
Employment and education services have been improved to assist Māori prisoners to learn the skills they need to find employment on release. We have worked to enhance their reintegration into the community, adding resources to pre-release planning and supported accommodation, and refocusing partnerships to assist us to improve reintegration outcomes for Māori offenders.
Although some improvements have been made overall in Māori health, Māori health needs in the community are still high in comparison to other ethnicities. This situation is similar for Māori offenders. For example, 56 per cent of a sample of offenders identified with multiple and complex health and social needs were Māori, in comparison to the representation of Māori prisoners at 48 per cent and community-based offenders at 45 per cent.
New community-based sentences also provide more effective options for targeting rehabilitative opportunities for Māori offenders such as the development of work and living skills and drug and alcohol treatment.
Looking forward
We need to pay attention to the processes supporting rehabilitation initiatives, and the context in which they are delivered, to ensure Māori offenders are managed in a way that takes all factors leading to their offending into account.
We will work to improve the efficiency, integration and effectiveness of our rehabilitation systems, rules and processes – incorporating core programmes, education, employment, cultural, faith-based and reintegrative initiatives in an individually focused and whole-of-sentence manner.
Where Māori offenders have drug and alcohol additions or violent propensities that contribute to their offending, we will motivate them to participate in rehabilitation programmes and services to address these offending needs.
We will continue to provide quality health services to Māori offenders. We will work closely with our partners in the health sector to ensure that Māori offenders have access to good quality health services that address their needs.
Māori offenders must have basic literacy and numeracy skills to be able to meaningfully participate in rehabilitation and in wider society. We will assist Māori offenders to read and understand numbers better than before entering Corrections.
We will also provide Māori prisoners with increased employment opportunities and training that will help them gain skilled employment on release from prison.
Training and employment opportunities provided to Māori offenders will match those demanded by the labour market, increasing successful and sustainable employment.
“They (Māori offenders) need a balance of tikanga Māori values, together with relevant skills, such as literacy, numeracy and employment skills and an understanding of basic laws to effectively live a crime-free life in New Zealand.” - Corrections Inmate Employment staff member