Hon Anne Tolley
Minister of Corrections

23 September 2013

Congratulations for 25 years of support

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has acknowledged the support given to the children of prisoners by the charity Pillars, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Pillars provides support for prisoners’ families and mentoring programmes for children, to try and ensure that they don’t end up in prison themselves.

Over 20,000 children have a parent inside the wire, and research shows they are at greater risk of going to prison in later life.

“Pillars makes a valuable contribution to society, and I thanked its founder and Chief Executive, Verna McFelin, for all of the hard work over the last twenty five years when we met in Wellington this afternoon,” says Mrs Tolley.

“Children aren’t responsible for the crimes of their parents, and both Pillars and Corrections don’t want the cycle of offending to continue.

“We are committed to reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017, and are aware of the importance of keeping families connected while a parent is in prison.

“Our increased focus on education opportunities for prisoners, skills training, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation can be enhanced with family support. Corrections is looking at how we can make our prisons more family friendly, and less traumatic for children, so that family ties can be developed and maintained.

“We are giving prisoners the opportunity to turn their lives around, so they can make a valuable contribution to society and support their families, which will also result in thousands fewer victims of crime.”

ENDS

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