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| Prisoners Aid closure 'a blow to prisoner welfare' |
| By voxy.co.nz |
| Published: 12/06/2013 |
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"The decision of the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Trust to stop trading, is a devastating blow for its 30 plus staff, dozens of volunteers, and in particular, prisoners and their families and whanau", says Kim Workman, of Rethinking Crime and Punishment. "But it also has the potential to make prisons less safe." "The Trust was established three years ago to tender for the Department of Corrections’ prisoner reintegration contract on behalf of its member PARS. The absence of any working capital and reserve funds, together with low margins between contract income and the costs of providing services, always made its survival questionable. It is however, pleasing to note that the Department of Corrections is now working with the individual societies, to see what can be salvaged. The first society was established in 1877, 136 years ago." "In this age of managerialism, we tend to focus on outputs, such as reducing reoffending. In doing so, we under-estimate the social value that groups like PART, its workers and volunteers bring to the mix. They visit prisoners, provide travel and support to their families, help with clothing, accommodation and employment - and they do so often without financial reward or public recognition. These services contribute to prisoner reintegration, but not in a way that can be directly connected to a departmental outputs." Read More. |
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