Faith-based prison scheme slashes re-offending rates

A prison unit housing inmates more interested in religion than re-offending is being hailed a success just a year after its inception.

The 60-bed He Korowai Whakapono unit, established at Wellington's Rimutaka Prison in October 2003, claims to have slashed re-offending rates among those released.

Nationally, one in four inmates re-offends within 12 months of leaving prison, but just 7 per cent from the faith-based unit - about one in 14 - have been back before the courts so far.

A 5 per cent cut in re-offending rates would mean 350 fewer inmates. At a cost of $60,000 a year to keep a prisoner behind bars, this reduction would save $21 million annually.

Two per cent of inmates in the faith unit have been found using drugs, compared with the national male prisoner average of 17 per cent.

The Rimutaka programme also runs the Operation Jericho scheme for released prisoners.

It is half-way through a two-year assessment, and is expected to take three years to become fully established. Prison Fellowship New Zealand's executive director, Kim Workman, said the results were "very promising", and the programme offered an alternative to the usual prison environment.

"One of the things we recognise and accept is that the [prison] system doesn't work very well for people who want to be rehabilitated. People are encouraged to stick to their own business and not trust people."

Mr Workman - the Corrections Department head of prisons from 1989 to 1993 - said many older inmates, concerned at the amount of time they had spent inside, decided to volunteer for the programme.

"Some have been in prison 15 to 20 years and get to a stage where they realise they don't want their kids to go through the same cycle."

He said inmates did not have to hold definite religious beliefs to enter the scheme, but needed to show a willingness "to explore spirituality and their relationship with God".

Corrections Minister Paul Swain said he was "very supportive" of the faith-based programme.

Reducing the reoffending rate for former inmates in their first year "potentially saves us a prison", he said.

"The good thing about the faith-based unit is that it gets people to confront their offending, but within a Christian values system.

"While that might not be everybody's cup of tea, they are life-changing things that happen."

But the unit has not been without its upsets. In April last year, convicted killer Rex Hooper was found murdered after a dispute with fellow inmate Emani Seu over a screwdriver.

Seu was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr Workman said Hooper's murder had many concerned that the unit would be closed, but it became clear soon after the killing that it was an "aberration".

"The whole thing just blew up out of nothing," he said.

The faith-based unit idea has also converted former Police Commissioner John Jamieson.

Mr Jamieson joined the Corrections Department after leaving the police force, becoming regional manager of prisons for the central North Island.

He travelled to South America and the United States during his tenure, investigating faith-based units.

"What I saw there convinced me that it was something very, very worthwhile."

Mr Jamieson believes the programme will take at least three years, and independent research, to prove its worth, but "early indicators" are good.

Cell life

* A quarter of male prisoners re-offend within a year of release.
* One in three will have re-offended within two years of release.
* 7 per cent of former faith unit inmates will re-offend within a year.
* 15-20 per cent will re-offend after two years.
* Nationally, 17 per cent of prisoners use drugs.
* 2 per cent of faith-based unit inmates are users.