Service

We are establishing a housing and support service at 240 Rangiuru Road, Te Puke. The service will start with a small number of men, gradually scaling up to offer a maximum of 15 places to men who are ready and committed to their rehabilitation and living crime-free. Residents will receive 24-7 on-site support from service provider staff, who will work alongside probation officers and other local Community Corrections staff.

Every month men with a housing need are being released from corrections facilities into the Bay of Plenty. Without a service like this some men will find themselves homeless or in unsuitable accommodation, without any support. This creates conditions that can lead to reoffending.

Ultimately this service will contribute to safer communities as men are better supported to change their lives. We know that if we provide people with 24-7 support around employment, education, training and life skills, they will be more successful transitioning back into community life. This service will provide housing and navigational services for residents to develop the skills and access the services and employment needed to reintegrate into the Bay of Plenty community.

Most residents will live at the property between six to twelve months, but some may stay for up to eighteen months if they need further support to reintegrate into the community. Residents will be supported to move out earlier if they are ready and have found suitable long-term accommodation. They will continue to receive support after they have moved out, as they transition to life in the community.

Residents will be self-motivated to live at the property and will have to undertake a careful and robust assessment and selection process.

Manaaki Support Services will provide 24-7 wrap-around support and navigational services to each resident to assist them to successfully reintegrate into the community. The service provider will work with probation officers, community social service providers, Work and Income and other agencies to provide support to residents to:

• Find employment
• Ensure they have the clothing, equipment and transport options to remain employed
• Pursue further training and education
• Address health needs
• Develop life skills, such as parenting, budgeting, managing a household or getting a licence
• Build connections with whānau and the wider community
• Strengthen connections to whakapapa and Te Ao Māori
• Find suitable long-term accommodation in the Bay of Plenty.

No, this is not a prison or a corrections facility. This will be a housing and support  service.
Only people serving community sentences and orders will live at the property. Residents will not be detained by Ara Poutama Aotearoa or service provider staff and will be free to come and go, within the restrictions of the house rules and any conditions on their sentences or orders.

Residents will be responsible for daily shared living activities, such as cooking, shopping for groceries, washing clothes and house cleaning. Most residents will be either employed or in training while living at the property, and those that are not will be actively supported to do so.

There will be a space at the property for physical exercise and recreational activities, and these will be encouraged and will contribute to the overall wellbeing of residents. Residents will be supported into self-directed leisure activities, such as waiata, learning to play a musical instrument or whakairo.

There will be a community garden on the property and residents will be supported to participate in this and other ways to contribute to the local community.

Employment or training is an important support for people who are looking to transition into the community after being sentenced to a corrections facility or a community-based sentence.

Manaaki Support Services staff will work closely with Ara Poutama Aotearoa employment teams, local employers and government agencies, such as Ministry of Social Development to identify employment and training opportunities for residents to take up while living at the property.

Many of the residents will have recently left a corrections facility will have completed trade training or participated in a Release to Work programme while serving their sentence.

Residents will agree to follow house rules, including a curfew, restrictions around visitors and a ban on alcohol. They will need to abide by any conditions they have on their sentences and orders, such as electronic monitoring or directives to not associate with certain individuals or groups.

Visitors must be pre-approved and will have to apply to visit. They will only be able to visit at pre-arranged set times and must comply with the house rules while at the property. If visitors do not follow the house rules, it may result in them being banned from the property.

Residents will not have access to their own vehicles but may bike or walk outside the property.

The service provider will provide transport for residents to attend employment, education and other services in the community.

All residents will have an identified housing need. Without this service, some of the residents could find themselves homeless or in unsuitable accommodation, without any support. This creates conditions that can lead to re-offending.