Press Release
For Immediate Release

Containers a good temporary solution for Rimutaka Prison

Yesterday’s announcement by the Department of Corrections about a 60 bed trial unit for container based cells at Rimutaka Prison comes as no surprise, says Robin Gunston, National Director of Prison Fellowship, and is a practical lower cost solution to the growing prison population.

“What is good about this solution is that containerisation projects are designed to be relocatable”, says Mr Gunston, “ thus when we realise as a society that we have far too many people going to prison, and we start to find better ways of reducing re-offending, or even offending in the first place, these container units can be sold off or converted to much better use for example as temporary housing for ex-prisoners, something that there is a desperate need for in all our local communities.”

At Prison Fellowship’s 2008 Conference Baroness Stern, a prison reformer from UK, commented “The best prisons are those that have the least prisoners, and the most community interaction”. This is a philosophy that Prison Fellowship New Zealand is working to, says Mr Gunston, as all international research backs up the fact that one cannot effectively reintegrate prisoners from within a prison, it has to be done by and within the community.

Prison Fellowship’s Operation Jericho is a reintegration programme that takes prisoners from Rimutaka Prison’s faith based unit , which is operated jointly between Corrections and Prison Fellowship, and works with them over an 18 month period, prior to their release to prepare for eventual reintegration into the community. Each client is assigned a trained mentor, from a local church, some 8 months before planned release and they work within the transition plan to ensure that their re-entry to the community is as effective as possible.

“ We have to have more of this sort of scheme operating across all New Zealand prisons, and communities” said Mr Gunston, “so that when a prisoner is released they become socially adjusted into the rapidly changing NZ society in such a way that they do not re-offend. If we all were to do this well, we could radically reduce our prison population and cut the need for future additional container cells. This should be the focus of our Correctional system, as community safety is enhanced by truly effective reintegration processes owned and operated by the community.”

Over the next few years, Prison Fellowship, with the aid of a Ministry of Social Development grant, is establishing “Target Communities” around New Zealand where the proven “Circles of Support” processes used effectively in Canada and the UK will assist proper ex-prisoner reintegration.

ENDS

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