Source: Radio New Zealand
Prisoners can’t seek help from Ministry of Social Development until they have left prison. 123RF
The Salvation Army says prisoners deserve more help planning for their release to ensure they’re not out on the streets.
An Auditor-General’s report revealed Corrections did not know how many people leave prison with nowhere to live.
Corrections said it did not need to know – aside from those released on parole or with conditions – and prisoners weren’t obliged to tell them, but the report said that information was crucial to informing social services who could help those people, preventing homelessness and reducing the risk of re-offending.
It also found remand prisoners, often released at short notice, were more at risk of leaving prison without a plan.
Salvation Army supportive accommodation and re-integration services manager Glen Buckner said many factors made housing former prisoners difficult, but more could be done to help them prepare.
“Everybody who’s in prison… at some stage is going to be released,” he said. “Very, very few people will be in prison forever, so we do have the opportunity, while they’re inside, to be making really, really clear plans with the individuals around what might be available.”
Corrections contracts the Salvation Army and others to help prisoners into housing.
The department and social service agencies had a shared responsibility to transition people from prison into stable housing, Buckner said. That was particularly difficult for remand prisoners.
“For you to be able to secure a property before you leave prison, you have to also have a date that you’re leaving prison.
“Landlords won’t keep property, if there’s no guarantees if somebody’s being released.”
Prisoners also need to wait until they’re out of prison to get help from the Ministry of Social Development, like applying for emergency housing or money for a bond, Buckner said.
‘I didn’t have any plan’ – former prisoner
A former Hawke’s Bay prisoner, whom RNZ agreed not to name, said he could have been on the street, if not for Salvation Army helping him find a home.
The man was released on parole last month, after serving just under three years in prison.
He was denied parole previously, because he didn’t have anywhere to live, but his Corrections case manager referred him to Salvation Army, which it contracts to help prisoners into housing.
The man said, otherwise, he would have been “winging it”.
“I didn’t have any plan, I kind of just… I wouldn’t… I don’t even know,” he said.
He needed to stay locally to reconnect with his kids as part of his re-integration plan and he now sees them every couple of days.
“You can’t beat it,” he said. “I feel like I’m on a nice positive pathway now.”
The simple two-bedroom flat was a safe space away from his pre-prison friendships, which were centred around drug use, the man said.
“I’ve been able to just stay in my own lane. I haven’t caught up with any of them, because I don’t need to.
“I’m either at home with my kids or at the gym, and it’s just allowed me just to do my own thing. It’s made it a lot easier having somewhere to go, a safe space, somewhere that’s a good little foundation… so I can rebuild my life.”
The man will live there for 13 weeks, while he and Salvation Army look for somewhere more permanent.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
