HOME   >   THEMES   >   FAMILIES YOUNG AND OLD   >   SPEECHES

 

Tena Katou katoa.

I would like to specially acknowledge the local kaumatua and kuia, and the support given to this site by Ngati Naho. A warm welcome to Councillor George Vickers, who is here on behalf of the Mayor, and Barry Matthew, the chief executive of Corrections.

Welcome to chairman Roger Miller and chief executive Tim Harding of representatives from Care NZ, Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society, De Lisle Architects, ESN Building Contractors and officials from the Department of Corrections.

Kapa haka group from the Special Treatment Unit - you are what this programme is about.

I am pleased to be back here today for the third time, to celebrate the launch of two Government Effective Interventions initiatives aimed at reducing re-offending and making our communities safer.

We are here to open a facility, called Puna Tatari - a Community of Change, which combines a Special Treatment Unit for repeat offenders and a drug and alcohol treatment unit.

The Special Treatment Unit will address the behaviour and attitudes of repeat offenders by providing them with the skills to live without crime when they are released from prison. This unit will treat prisoners who are at a high risk of re-offending and are close to their release date.

The purpose of the drug and alcohol unit is to provide treatment to a separate group of prisoners whose alcohol and drug abuse has directly related to their offending.

Over the last nine years, the Government has invested more than $1 billion in building four new prisons, including here at Spring Hill, and in increasing the bed capacity at existing sites. This has provided more than 2,370 additional beds. In May I announced the replacement of 120 year old Mt Eden Prison to ensure our facilities are safe, secure and meet the needs of a modern corrections system.

While this represents a lot of money, the need to increase prison capacity and replace creaking prison infrastructure was essential. The primary role of our prison system is to securely contain serious offenders who pose a risk to the community. Prison numbers have gone up 71 per cent in the past 10 years and the escape rate has gone down 84 per cent, to a sixth of its level a decade ago.

But the role of Corrections goes beyond simply locking prisoners away. Corrections, its staff and partners must also work towards rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders to promote the prospects of their living crime free lives post release. At present 27 per cent of inmates are re-imprisoned 12 months after their release. To achieve safer communities we need to do better than that.

The goal of this unit is to reduce re-offending. To do that, we need smart, well-designed and well-implemented interventions directed at those most at risk of re-offending.

The Department has an established, evidence-based framework of rehabilitative interventions to reduce re-offending and re-imprisonment. Programmes target alcohol and drug use, violence, sexual offending, education, employment skills and cultural issues.

The Government and the Department have shown their commitment to such programmes by targeting funding for units such as Puna Tatari.

Over 60 per cent of offenders are affected by alcohol or other drugs at the time of their offending and a staggering 83 per cent have abused alcohol or drugs some time. Well-designed, intensive drug and alcohol treatment programmes are vital to addressing this problem. The other side of this equation is the motivation of offenders to take advantage of them.

Over the past two years we have opened four new units, bringing the total now to six. I acknowledge my predecessor Hon Damien O'Connor for his role in this. They are at Rimutaka, Hawke's Bay, Christchurch Men's, Arohata, Waikeria, and of course, here. The result is: more than 500 places for prisoners on the programme every year, compared with just 40 at the end of the 1990s.

The programme involves intensive, six-month treatment, which includes behavioural therapy, education on addiction and change, building new skills, group therapy and one-to-one therapy.

Eligibility rules for the unit are strict. To be admitted to a Drug Treatment Unit, prisoners must be assessed as alcohol and/or drug dependent and as having a high risk of re-offending. They must also acknowledge and accept the need to do something about it.

The programme itself is not an easy option. Confronting one's addictions can be a huge task. Prisoners must adhere to the contract they signed upon entry into the Unit - including a stipulation to be drug and alcohol free. They must complete the required number of programme hours and agree to attend other activities and work education programmes when not participating in the DTU programme. They must also submit to drug tests when required.

Despite the high bar that has been set, results to date are very encouraging. Reconviction rates for prisoners who have been through a drug treatment unit are 13 per cent lower than for untreated prisoners. Which is a good result we want to build upon.

The setting up of special treatment units for high-risk offenders is the other intervention the Government is investing on this site in to reduce re-offending.

The new special treatment units operate an intensive programme for offenders who have committed a range of crimes and are at a high-risk of re-offending. Prisoners are required to confront and tackle the causes of their offending.

International research and New Zealand studies show that providing longer, intensive and targeted special treatment programmes to high-risk offenders works best in reducing re-offending.

By next year there will be three such units, Puna Tatari here at Spring Hill, Te Karaka, which opened at Waikeria earlier this year and a third which is scheduled to open at Christchurch Men's Prison next year. We also have the Violence Prevention Unit at Rimutaka Prison.

The Karaka Special Treatment Unit at Waikeria has completed a pilot programme with all ten prisoners who took part successfully graduating from the programme. We are now onto our second round of prisoners undergoing the nine month programme.

These units are not cheap to run, but there are no shortcuts to reducing re-offending. For every prisoner who receives the right intervention and is successfully steered away from a life of crime the community will be safer, with fewer victims and the offender can build a better and more positive life. We need to stop prison being a revolving door.

The Kia Marama and Te Piriti programmes for child sex offenders, which are achieving some of the best treatment outcomes in the world, is a good example of what can be achieved. The rate of reconviction for prisoners who go through the course is five per cent after 24 months, compared with 15 per cent for untreated offenders.

These results, similar for those for the drug and alcohol treatment units, are excellent, and we hope they can be repeated for the around 140 prisoners who will receive specialist addiction treatment and the intensive rehabilitation programme each year at Puna Tatari.

It is now my pleasure to officially declare the Puna Tatari combined Drug and Special Treatment Unit open.

 

• OUR MPs | 
• FEATURES | 
• LATEST NEWS | 
• SPEECHES | 
• PORTFOLIOS | 
• POLICY | 
• MULTIMEDIA | 
• SEARCH | 
• CONTACT US