regional
HIGHLIGHTS
Regional Highlights
Northern
+ Offenders at work on the Whare Ora Project.
OLD HOMES BECOME
WHARE ORA
L
ast year nine old state homes destined for landfill
in Auckland were relocated to Kaitaia. Now they’re
being turned into healthy affordable homes for those
in need, thanks to a partnership between Corrections
and He Korowai Trust. “The Whare Ora Project aims to move
up to 18 hard-to-reach families who are currently living
in third-world conditions in cow sheds, lean-tos and buses
into affordable housing,” says He Korowai Trust Chief
Executive Officer Ricky Houghton.
“Whare Ora is an affordable housing model which provides
not just home ownership, but also services such as training,
health, legal and social support services for around
$170 a week. Families will own their homes within
17 years,” he says.
Since November last year, carefully selected low-security
prisoners from Northland Region Corrections Facility
and offenders serving Community Work sentences have
been travelling with supervising Corrections staff to the
50 acre plot in Kaitaia where the homes await their hard
work. The houses will then be bought by new owners,
while the land will remain the property of the Trust.
The offenders help with painting, carpentry, building
fences and developing the land. So not only do whänau
in need get a decent house to live in, but the offenders
gain skills they can use to get a job.
“We have already seen several prisoners from the project
get work through the Release to Work programme,” says
Project Manager Offender Employment Ben Whitaker.
Ricky adds that the project connects offenders’ skills to
community needs in a meaningful and culturally appropriate
way. “It’s a way of reconnecting the offender’s umbilical cord
to their whänau, hapu, marae and community,” he says.
Nine homes are currently being refurbished for whänau
to live in; discussions around the next nine are in progress. ■
GARAGE MAKEOVER SUPPORTS REHABILITATION
S
taff and offenders at New Lynn
Service Centre in Auckland have
not let a little thing like not
having a suitable room get in
the way of running a Medium Intensity
Rehabilitation Programme.
Their regular programme room was
already in use by another rehabilitation
programme, so Manager Interventions
and Programmes Anna Winn and Service
Manger Raewyn Smith put their heads
together and decided the Community
Work garage could be made into a
suitable venue if it was given ‘a bit of a
do up’. The work was done by offenders,
under the supervision of Senior
Community Work Supervisor Stephen
D’Souza who sought donations of paint
12
and carpet, and brought plants from his
own garden. The tables, benches and
planter boxes were made by offenders
using broken office desks and donated
off-cuts of wood. One of the offenders
is a good artist and designed the mural.
The finished room is attractive and
inviting, attributes Raewyn says are
important to engage offenders and
encourage them to complete the
rehabilitation programme.
Acting Principal Facilitator Natalie
Cliff says the programme is now
half-way through, with seven
participants. “We have a place that
is warm and created with care. The
programmes team is very thankful
for the support of our colleagues
in the Community Work Team and the
whole New Lynn site.”
The room has proved such a success
that Raewyn and the team plan to keep it
to run more programmes in the future. ■
+ Raewyn Smith and Stephen D’Souza in the
converted garage.
DEPARTMENTS
WORK TOGETHER
FOR NATURE
AND NURTURE
C
orrections and the
Department of Conservation
(DOC) have signed
a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) that will
get more offenders improving
the Central Region’s natural
environment.
Central Regional Commissioner
Corrections Services Terry Buffery
says the five year agreement is
an ‘absolute win-win’ for both
Departments. “The partnership will
give better public value by enhancing
our beautiful region while providing
offenders with conservation
education, skill development and
qualifications,” he says.
Prisoners and community-based
offenders in the area already carry
out work for DOC, including growing
10,000 seedlings for Project
Tongariro, and helping in
Whakarewarewa Forest.
Brigitte Meier, Conservation
Partnerships Manager, Waikato
District, is also enthusiastic about
the agreement. “This is a really
innovative regional initiative, allowing
us to work together on existing
projects, as well as opportunities to
be identified in future work plans,”
says Brigitte.
Central
Lower North
Southern
ALCOHOL ALERT
FOR OFFENDERS
IN ROTORUA
D
rink driving offenders
in Rotorua are hearing about
the devastating effects of
alcohol-related car crashes
from funeral directors and emergency
services as part of a road safety
education programme.
The Alcohol Impairment
Education Programme helps offenders
understand and accept the harmful
effect that any level of alcohol or drug
use has on safe driving, as well as
the effects of alcohol and drug use
on the body. Programme content
highlights the consequences of poor
decision-making on the community.
“Because it’s an education
programme we can send community
work offenders as part of their Work
and Living Skills (see article on
page 4),” says Central District
Manager Raema McKay.
The programme is delivered
by several groups who share a
common goal of reducing repeated
alcohol-related harm on our roads.
Stakeholders include Corrections,
Police, Rotorua District Council,
Te Utuhine Manaakitanga Trust,
St John’s Ambulance and local
funeral directors. The programme
is funded by Rotorua District Council.
Rotorua Senior Sergeant and
Road Policing Manager Brendon
Keenan approached Rotorua
Community Corrections to invite
offenders to take part in the
programme. All participants are
offenders serving a community
sentence for lower level drink driving
offences. “We all want safer roads,”
says Brendon. ■
+ Conservation and Corrections staff
visit Whakarewarewa Forest to
see some of the work already being
completed by offenders.
DE PAR TME N T O F CO R R E CTI O N S
CORRECTIONS WORKS
13
Regional Highlights
Central
Northern
Regional Highlights
Lower North
regional
H IG H L IG H TS
TE TIROHANGA
LAUNCHED AT
WHANGANUI
PRISON
O
n 14 April a stirring powhiri
welcomed manuhiri (visitors)
into Te Whare Whaanui
at Whanganui Prison for
the launch of Te Tirohanga. National
Commissioner Jeremy Lightfoot, iwi
representatives, Corrections staff,
CareNZ representatives and five
prisoners from Tongariro/Rangipo
Prison (Te Hikoinga) attended the event.
Te Tirohanga is the national programme
Corrections has introduced to improve
the outcomes for men coming through
the five whare (Mäori Focus Units).
Te Tirohanga is also the new collective
name for the Mäori Focus Units.
Te Tirohanga has been operating
at whare in Waikeria, Tongariro/Rangipo
and Hawkes Bay prisons since October
2013 and since January in Rimutaka Prison.
While the wider Department has a goal
of reducing re-offending by 25 percent
by 2017 – the Te Tirohanga programme
is aiming higher with a goal of 30 percent.
The programme is based on a kaupapa
Mäori approach. Prisoners enter the
programme in groups of 10 on a quarterly
basis. Groups progress through the six
phases, each of three months' duration,
with a total programme duration
of 18 months.
Each phase meets prisoners'
rehabilitation and reintegration needs
including literacy and numeracy, career
pathways, alcohol and drug treatment,
restorative justice and skills to enhance
the wellbeing of their whänau. In
particular, Te Tirohanga will offer a range
of training options and opportunities for
employment. The programme will also
Corrections Officer Manson Hiri (representing Whanganui
+Prison
Manager Reti Pearse) speaking at the launch of
Te Tirohanga at Whanganui Prison’s Te Whare Whaanui.
POOKS HELPS PRISONER LITERACY
T
he story of ‘Pooks the Pukeko’
is one of the results of the
New Zealand Howard League
For Penal Reform’s Literacy
Programme in prisons. The Howard
League recruits mainly retired teachers
as volunteers to tutor prisoners
to increase their literacy levels
and everyday communication skills.
Tom*, who has since been released
from prison, spent 10 weeks working
with a Howard League volunteer
at Rimutaka Prison. Tom wanted to
write something he could read to his
young children. With the help of the
tutor, Tom wrote and illustrated a
book about Pooks, a plucky pukeko
who goes looking for a home.
Rimutaka’s Volunteer Co-ordinator
Julie Clifton says Tom benefited greatly
14
make sure the men and their whänau
are prepared for their release into the
community. The launch of the programme
at Whanganui Prison also signified the
first intake for the CareNZ drug and
alcohol treatment programme as phase
three of Te Tirohanga.
Five prisoners from Tongariro/Rangipo
who transferred to the unit for phase 3 of
the programme were welcomed on to the
site as part of the formal launch.
Te Tirohanga means ‘the focus’.
It also refers to the last point from
which a person can turn to look back on
their old life, before turning to the new. ■
from the tutor’s help. “The tutor helped
Tom to storyboard and plan his book and
use words suitable for children. It has
boosted his confidence and been a great
accomplishment for him,” says Julie.
Howard League For Penal Reform Chief
Executive Mike Williams says it’s a good
example of how literacy programmes in
prison can make a difference to more
than one person’s life. “Not only did Tom
get some great skills, his children benefit
through a uniquely authored and
illustrated children’s story.” Since it
began in early 2012, around 60 prisoners
have graduated from the Howard
League’s literacy programme.
Research shows that 71 percent
of prisoners lack the literacy skills to
successfully manage in a modern
society. Corrections is committed to
increasing the literacy and numeracy
levels of prisoners so they are more likely
to succeed in education and in finding a
job on release. Programmes such as
those delivered by the Howard League
can contribute to the Department’s goal
of reducing re-offending by 25 percent by
2017. *not his real name. ■
from a book written by a prisoner
+forA page
his children as part of a Howard
League literacy programme.
Regional Highlights
Southern
THANKS OLLIE!
A
fter eight human years
on the job, Correction’s
award-winning detection
dog Ollie (formally Olesia)
has retired. Ollie is leaving at the
top of her game. In 2013, she was
recognised as the country's top drug
detection dog, out-sniffing the best
from Corrections, Police and Customs
Services to bring home the National
Narcotic Detector Dog competition
cup. Ollie and her handler Barry
Nelsen are well known across
Correction sites in the South Island
and have made a significant dent in
stamping drugs out of prisons.
Across the country, Corrections
has 18 detector dogs, who, along with
their handlers, search prison visitors’
cars, incoming mail, property dropped
off for prisoners, and prisoners’ cells,
among other places.
Ollie will spend her well-deserved
retirement at home with Barry and
his family. ■
+ Ollie enjoys her peanut butter
and duck fat retirement cake.
D’URVILLE ISLAND EXPERIENCE
E
ight young offenders from
the Nelson region have had
a unique opportunity to
complete 40 hours of their
community work sentences while
staying on D’Urville Island in the
Marlborough Sounds.
Nelson Service Centre was piloting
the idea of a 40-hour community
work week. Run in partnership with
Parikarangaranga Trust, the project
prioritised unemployed Mäori offenders
– and focussed on getting them to
do their hours while motivating them
towards long-term employment.
Probation Officer Tania Poharama
and Trust Member Pene Gieger
supervised the offenders as they lived
and worked on the island. They dug
trenches, cut scrub, and did other
maintenance work on the Trust’s
property on the island.
“It was rewarding to see them
in a different environment, where they
appreciated the mauri (vital essence)
of the place and how that influenced
them to take pride in their work. They
reflected on how they can contribute
to community spirit in their everyday
lives,” says Tania.
Nelson Service Manager Caroline
Webber agrees that the isolation
and mauri of the place gave the
offenders the chance to reflect
away from the usual distractions.
“I’ve seen many times how
connecting people with the whenua
(land) can have such an effect on
the wairua (spirit) of an individual.
We cannot under-estimate the impact
of a change in wairua, and how that can
influence an individual’s future choices,”
she says.
Caroline’s comments are borne out
by the words of the young offenders:
“The project helped me come to
a point where I realised that change
has to happen. It has helped me in
so many ways, mind, body and soul.”
“This programme has been an
excellent time to not only knock out
some hours, but to have time and
space away from the hustle and bustle
of everyday life and reflect on life
in general.”
Since completing the community
work week, three of the offenders have
gone on to attend a tikanga programme
at Whakatu Marae, and one has now
completed his community work hours. ■
DE PAR TME N T O F CO R R E CTI O N S
CORRECTIONS WORKS
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