Page 1623 - Week 05 - Thursday, 15 May 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
following release from custody. I was involved in the initial stages and am pleased to learn that up-to-date information shows that this program is a success. Funding expires on 30 June 2014, and continuation will be a consideration in the next budget, I understand.
The pilot throughcare unit is an extension of the case management which ended at the completion of a sentence. The ACT government agreed to extend the model of throughcare at the AMC in December 2011 in the wake of the report Seeing it through: options for improving offender outcomes in the community. It argued that support needs of offenders do not end with their release; rather, their support needs are greatest at this time because their needs are multiple, complex and ongoing.
The program is based on human rights and social justice principles and aims to encourage independence, empowerment, inclusion, consent, self-direction and respect for the role of the family and other significant people in the community. Rather than an individual fitting in with a service, it places a person at the centre of decision-making with the service.
To achieve these principles, the throughcare unit is responsive to the offender’s individual needs, circumstances and lifestyle. Prior to release, links are established with providers of health services, housing, job assessment and development, and connections with cultural needs, family friends and transport. The throughcare unit also engages with the Women’s Services Network, a range of Aboriginal service providers and ACT Corrective Services staff working at the AMC and in the probation and parole unit.
These developments are integral to tackling problems faced by released prisoners. Many suffer poor physical and mental health, suffer substance abuse and lack financial resources, employment, educational qualifications and stable accommodation.
Throughcare participants are referred to an advisory group which assesses their primary risks, needs and issues. Representatives are drawn from a wide range of stakeholders, including non-government organisations, ACT Housing, the Department of Human Services, justice health, the Mental Health Community Coalition of the ACT and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body. The throughcare evaluation framework measures the program’s effectiveness and identifies improvements. Currently the ANU is completing an evaluation.
All sentenced offenders are offered the opportunity to take part in the initiative, and there has been almost a 100 per cent uptake. Preliminary results of the first nine months of post-release showed that there were 142 released offenders who took part. Of these, only 10 have returned to custody for breach of parole or good behaviour orders, and five have returned to custody for a new offence. This promises a marked decrease on the 47 per cent of offenders released from the AMC in 2010-11 who returned to jail within two years.
The successful reintegration of offenders in the community by throughcare not only optimises life chances for offenders and their families but benefits the whole ACT community.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video