Prisoner reintegration postrelease Presentation for PNI workshop: 16th UN Crime Commission, Vienna,

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Prisoner reintegration post-releasePresentation
for PNI workshop 16th UN Crime Commission,
Vienna, 23-27 April

• Toni Makkai
• Director
• Australian Institute of Criminology

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Why reintegrate prisoners?

• Increasing prison numbers
• The costs when prisoners re-offend
• The challenges facing returning prisoners

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Increasing imprisonment rates (rate per 100,000)
Source World prison population list 2007 World
prison brief online
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The costs when prisoners offend

• Direct justice system costs of crime
• police, courts and corrections cost Australia
  AUD9.1 billion in 2005-06
• Costs to victims and costs to social services
• intangible costs of crime estimated to be least
  at AUD19 billion
• Collateral consequences of imprisonment on the
  community lost social and economic capacity

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The challenges facing returning prisoners

• Social and economic disadvantages
• poor education and employment history
• poor physical and mental health, including
  alcohol and other drug issues
• poor cognitive skills and everyday life skills
• Impacts of imprisonment
• at release ID documents, funds for immediate
  needs, institutionalisation, risk of death and
  injury
• longer term gaining adequate housing and
  employment

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Reentry a point in time
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Reentry a process
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Continuum of care and throughcare
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Transitional care
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Aftercare and post-release services
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Resettlement and reintegration
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Better practice for returning prisoners

• Principles of effective correctional programming
• Practices in post-release service delivery

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Principles of effective correctional programming

• Risks and needs
• systematically assessing static (unchangeable)
  and dynamic risks (changeable, like attitudes)
  and needs
• Responsivity
• matching programs to assessed risks and needs
  being responsive to individuals abilities and
  cultures
• Integrity
• appropriately trained staff, ensuring programs
  are delivered consistently
• Evaluation
• to add to knowledge, to track clients progress
  and to ensure integrity

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Practices in post-release service delivery

• Three key concepts
• throughcare
• continuing programs from prison to the community
• reinforcement of prison-gained skills in the
  community
• interagency working
• multiple agencies (such as health, housing,
  education and corrections) working together in
  formal partnerships
• enhances information exchange, stops duplication
• case management
• single point of contact for service delivery to
  prisoners

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The ongoing challenge for corrections

• Reintegrating in an environment tough on law and
  order
• Understanding and demonstrating what works