Listen Now: 
The Corrections Department is to allow family members to spend more time with inmates in the Māori focus unit.
Uarnie More, the department's acting director for Māori, says it’s one of a package of strategies aimed at making the units more effective.
The aim is to cut reoffending by 30 percent by 2017.
Other elements include a Māori Therapeutic Programme where prisoners front up to their families about their offending and the development of whānau plans to help the inmate chart a crime-free path.
Ms More says to achieve change across the whānau, it makes sense to have wives and partners come in to programmes like financial literacy and parenting.
"We’ve also got some fairly chunky rehab programmes in those units at the moment and without the partners fully understanding the strategies he is putting in place to avoid future reoffending situations, she, inadvertently, could make things worse. So the whole idea is to bring whānau in for those sessions," she says.
Corrections is also partnering with tertiary institutions to provide programmes which can continue after inmates are released, as well as linking te reo and tikanga classes to the qualifications framework.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
RELATED NEWS
