Set out below are the Strategic Priority Areas and initiatives for prisoner employment for the period 2006 -2009. Increasing employment opportunities for Māori will be critical for the success of the strategy.
The timing for implementation of these initiatives are identified in Appendix 2.
Priority Area 1: Develop the operational effectiveness of prisoner employment
To achieve this, the Department will:
- ensure that the prisoner employment strategies and initiatives are developed through joint planning and regular communication within the Department and with other agencies;
- review governance arrangements and organisational structures within the Department to improve delivery of prisoner employment and employment related training;
- enhance Departmental capability using development plans for staff that improve capability to deliver training in a corrections environment;
- conduct research to validate the post-release results of employment related training and use the knowledge to continually improve training strategies;
- develop and implement a Management Information System that allows for effective monitoring and reporting of core employment activity. This will also enable more effective benchmarking against other similar activities;
- work to increase the effectiveness of the sentence planning model to maximise prisoner participation in employment related activities;
- develop individual prison site plans to provide employment to all available prisoners taking into account prisoner security classification and local labour market and environmental conditions;
- establish interfaces with industry to explore employment opportunities for prisoners, which are of mutual benefit to both parties; and
- continue to work with the Ministry of Social Development to develop and implement initiatives that support post-release reintegration.
Priority Area 2: Enhance existing and establish new employment re-integrative initiatives focusing on short serving prisoners, young prisoners and those nearing release
To achieve this, the Department will:
- review policy and practices to increase release to work participation, without compromising community safety;
- enhance employment support for prisoners 12 months prior to release to ensure a seamless transition to employment, or employment related training, on their release;
- develop and implement an operational strategy for the effective management of short serving prisoners, which includes improving prisoner access to Ministry of Social Development services; and
- further develop and implement employment and employment related training opportunities for young prisoners.
Priority Area 3: Enhance existing and establish new employment related training initiatives aligned with industry needs
To achieve this, the Department will:
- develop operational policy, practices and procedures to support employment related training initiatives, to ensure that initiatives are fully aligned and integrated with existing functional responsibilities;
- implement new employment related training initiatives at a level consistent with available funding, and initially target sites where employment related training is not readily available;
- develop a partnership approach with industry, Industry Training Organisations and other industry groups to ensure that training meets labour skill demand and that qualifications obtained by prisoners are relevant to the labour market; and
- assess regional skills demand, including working with the Ministry of Social Development, so that employment and employment related training activities at prisons are aligned with regional skills needs.
Priority Area 4: Establish the medium term financial sustainability of prisoner employment activities
To achieve this, the Department will:
- review the business models it uses for its employment activities to enhance rehabilitation outcomes and make the employment activities more responsive to market demand, and address industry concerns about competition; and
- develop sector specific strategic plans (including monitoring requirements) to identify new employment and employment related training opportunities, and to improve operating costs and productivity.
