Government launches plan to cut reoffending by 10 per cent by 2020 to reduce crowded prison numbers
A PLAN to cut the rate of reoffending must offer participants tangible help, writes Lauren Novak.
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ABBEY* has been in and out of jail since her teens.
She’s on the outside for now but admits she often thinks about breaking the law to get back in because it’s the only real social network she knows.
Three-quarters of people behind bars in South Australia today have, like Abbey, been there at least once before.
The disturbingly high figure was the catalyst for a State Government plan to break the cycle and cut the rate of reoffending by an ambitious 10 per cent by the end of the decade.
Released this week, it proposes changes to the law and allocates almost $30 million to new programs to help ex-offenders find housing and jobs before they slip into old habits that could send them straight back to a cell.
Abbey’s story made a particular impression on Correctional Services Minister Peter Malinauskas when they met at an ex-offender support group one sunny afternoon in the seaside suburb of Semaphore.
After hearing how she had to “actively” stop herself “on an almost daily basis” from committing a crime to re-enter custody, Mr Malinauskas asked the young woman: “Why don’t you go down to the beach and have an ice cream and sit in the sun? Wouldn’t that be more enjoyable than going back to prison?” Her response was “But who would I have the ice cream with?”
“It was a genuine light bulb moment,” he said.
It convinced the minister that ensuring offenders have support in place when they leave prison is crucial to stopping them from reoffending.
“There are too many examples of people making a conscious decision to reoffend to get access to a roof over their head,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“We hear of drug dealers being in contact with homeless offenders within 24 hours of their release.
“It’s startling that someone would think that way but it occurs.”
Take the case of Mt Gambier man Daniel Peter Marwick earlier this year. The 42-year-old was returned to jail just a day after being released because he used his first few hours of freedom to steal a bottle of spirits.
On release from Mt Gambier Prison he was put on a bus headed for a rehab program in Adelaide.
Instead, he got off at Naracoorte and was soon arrested for theft.
Marwick reportedly told police he “just wanted to go back to jail”.
To give people like him and Abbey a better chance at success, a key plank of the Government’s new strategy will legally require that every prisoner be covered by a support plan — addressing factors such as education, training, health care and future housing and employment prospects — from the time they enter prison to up to six months after their release.
More effort will also be made to help inmates maintain connections with family and friends on the outside.
“They need to have a degree of clarity and certainty around working towards their release,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“We can’t start the rehabilitation process five minutes to midnight ... it needs to be ongoing. It has to extend beyond the prison gate.”
Opposition corrections spokesman Stephan Knoll said prevention of criminal behaviour, by providing education and employment opportunities, was also key.
“Prisoners need to choose a better life for themselves but if they are willing to do that we should be there to help them,” he said.
“We cannot be blind to the fact that unless we lock people away for life they are going to come back into the community and we need to help them not to reoffend in the interest of community safety.”
* Not her real name