June 12, 2013
Whanau ora providers ideal for prison rehab
Rethinking Crime and Punishment is encouraging whanau ora providers to tender for the new Out of Gate prisoner reintegration programme.
Director Kim Workman says the Corrections Department programme addresses a need that has been unmet for many years.
It targets the 6000 prisoners released every year who serve two years or less, and so are often ineligible for rehabilitation programmes.
Mr Workman says prisoners often come from dysfunctional whanau, and finding social support is a challenge.
"You know it can come through groups like rugby league, kapa haka, church, to provide that alternate whanau as it were and hopefully in that process the whanau as well so it's a good programme for a whanau ora provider to commit to working with a whanau over time. You can’t do it instantaneously," he says.
Kim Workman says providing post-release support for offenders can often be the difference between whether or not they reoffend.