Reducing re-offending occurs when offenders previously under the control or supervision of the Department go on to live an offence-free life.
We will see a reduction in the number and impact of overall offences in society and fewer people coming back into the corrections system. We will also see a reduction in the number of victims of crime in society.
In particular, we will see Māori re-offending rates reducing. Māori continue to make up a disproportionately large proportion of the offender population and it is imperative that we find a way to do better for Māori offenders and communities.
We are effective in reducing re-offending when we help offenders to recognise and address rehabilitative opportunities. We will help offenders by giving them skills to:
We will ensure day-to-day interactions with offenders are used as opportunities to have a positive influence, and build their abilities to stop offending. We will also provide these skills in structured ways through programmes and services.
However, we cannot reduce re-offending on our own. It is essential that we work collaboratively with our partners in the community to keep offenders offence-free.
What progress will look like
We know we are successful when we see rates and seriousness of recidivism and reconvictions reducing, generally, and for Māori in particular.
Progress to date
We have worked hard to address levels of re-offending and some of our most intensive programmes are showing positive results. However, overall, recidivism rates need to be reduced. In particular, re-offending by Māori offenders remains much higher when compared with non-Māori offenders.
Many factors and agencies influence offending and recidivism rates. For its part, the Department has evaluated and improved many of the programmes and services that provide rehabilitative opportunities. Employment and education services have been improved to assist prisoners to learn the skills they need to find employment on release. We have worked to enhance prisoner reintegration into the community, adding resources to pre-release planning and supported accommodation, and refocusing our contract with the New Zealand Prisoners’ Aid and Rehabilitation Society (NZPARS), our major reintegration partner.
New prisons have been designed and built, and are being managed, according to a new operating philosophy, which better supports prisoner rehabilitation.
New community-based sentences also provide more effective options for targeting rehabilitative opportunities for offenders.
Looking forward
Re-offending rates remain a target that we are determined to reduce. We have the responsibility to enforce sentences and orders. The positive purpose of our work is to motivate offenders to turn their lives around in order to create a safer society and help offenders avoid the waste of their lives and potential which imprisonment represents.
We will offer motivated offenders rehabilitation opportunities to address the key issues related to their offending. We will continue to evaluate all our rehabilitation efforts to ensure they contribute to reducing re-offending, and will change them if they do not. Effectiveness for Māori remains a key area of focus if we are to significantly reduce re-offending.
We will work together better with our partners - including the NZ Police, the Parole Board, Ministry of Social Development, district health boards, NZPARS, the Prison Fellowship of New Zealand, prison chaplains, families, whānau, hapū and iwi, to deliver services and establish relationships that support offenders to live offence-free in their communities.
We will provide prisoners with increased employment opportunities and training that will help them gain skilled employment on release from prison. Training and employment opportunities provided to offenders will match those demanded by the labour market, increasing successful and sustainable employment.
Drug and alcohol dependency and mental health issues are significant drivers of offending behaviour. We will work closely with our partners in the health sector to ensure that offenders have access to good quality health services that address these needs.
We need to pay attention to the processes supporting rehabilitation initiatives, and the context in which they are delivered, to ensure offenders are managed in a way that takes all factors which lead 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.