Post-correctional Housing
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan) — My adjournment matter is for the Honourable Steve Herbert in his role as Minister for Corrections, and the action I am seeking is regarding post-correctional housing. Last Friday I toured the Metropolitan Remand Centre and the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. Both of these maximum security facilities are run by incredible, hardworking individuals, and their dedication to supporting the inmates is really commendable. However, they are working with limited funding and overwhelmingly negative public sentiment at times, and they seem to be fighting an uphill battle. Seeing prisoners leaving and returning time and time again would wear most of us down.
The Sentencing Advisory Council noted in its 2011 report that:
… imprisonment has, at best, no effect on the rate of reoffending and often results in a greater rate of recidivism.
The report notes that prison can reinforce criminal identity, can diminish or sever social ties that encourage lawful behaviour and fails to address the underlying causes of criminality. Well, the prisoners I spoke to last week agreed with all of that.
The lack of funding for intensive programs inside, and the subsequent impacts of criminal convictions on the outside, facilitate the revolving door of the justice system. As one inmate told me, even if you did a drug treatment program inside a prison, you end up in a boarding house full of drugs outside, and that is obviously not conducive to people trying to recover. Losing one’s house while in prison and then having nowhere to go once released again is a recipe for reoffending. That is to say nothing of the detrimental impacts of a criminal conviction, which means that any subsequent employment is limited and low level at best. It seemed at Dame Phyllis Frost that barista training was the go-to option. How can we expect people to act as productive members of our society when so many doors are closed so tight? That is especially in regard to housing.
I call on the minister to fund or consider looking at ways to improve access to safe, supportive post-correctional housing situations for men and women when they are released from incarceration.
REPLY:
In my first two weeks as the Minister for Corrections I too have seen first-hand the hard work and dedication of staff at prisons including the Metropolitan Remand Centre and the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
In January 2015, Corrections Victoria implemented a new approach to providing prisoners with transitional support for their successful reintegration into the community upon release. Assessment and planning for a prisoner’s transition back into the community commences upon entry into prison, and transitional activities continue throughout a prisoner’s sentence.
Prisoners participate in Offending Behaviour Programs, education, training and prison-based employment, which help develop their skills and employability. Exiting prisoners receive relevant pre-release services that focus on practical information and strategies to support reintegration into the community, which include referrals to Centrelink, Drug and Alcohol services, financial support services and Legal Aid. Those prisoners with the greatest transitional need receive targeted, intensive pre-release assistance and individualised support post-release. As part of a prisoner’s transition needs assessment, where a post-release housing need is identified, appropriate referrals are made.
Since 2009, Corrections Victoria has administered two housing programs for exiting prisoners, in acknowledgement of the importance of stable, supported accommodation in the successful transition from prison to the community. These programs are the:
– Corrections Victoria Housing Program (CVHP)
– Corrections Housing Pathway Initiative (CHPI)
The CVHP provides additional accommodation options for exiting prisoners who have a history of homelessness or are at risk of being homeless upon release through the provision of 47 dedicated properties to exiting prisoners.
The CHPI is a joint Department of Justice and Regulation and Department of Health and Human Services initiative, established in 2002, which aims to reduce homelessness among people exiting prison by directly connecting prisoners with specialist housing services and support prior to release.
The CHPI provides specialist outreach workers in prison locations that assist prisoners find accommodation prior to exiting. The CHPI also provides access to 40 transitional housing properties managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Corrections Victoria continues to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to assist exiting prisoners with housing.