Page 951 - Week 03 - Thursday, 23 March 2017
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their transition into the community, with the aim of reducing their risk of reoffending and thereby improving community safety. Its genesis was truly a whole-of-government collaboration, working in close consultation with a range of community service providers, to address what was clearly a lack in service provision at the time.
It is well evidenced that the first three to 12 months post release from custody are crucial in terms of outcomes for detainees and the broader community. Recidivist criminal behaviour, premature mortality through accidental drug overdose or suicide and breakdown of familial relationships are unfortunately common and have both financial and social costs to the territory. While services were available prior to the commencement of this pilot program, they were somewhat patchy and often only available for a short period post release.
While the concept of through care for detainees was familiar, with a version operating in the ACT and other jurisdictions, the ACT government took a bold step in expanding this concept by funding a three-year pilot program to provide support for up to a full 12 months post release from the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
The extended through-care model, which covers the period from release through to 12 months post release, includes the following elements: a single point of service coordination; client-centric case management; services responsive to offenders’ needs; established links with providers prior to release; and clear governance arrangements. The through-care unit is responsible for supporting the coordinated release of all sentenced detainees exiting the AMC. This includes both remand and sentenced female detainees.
The program is broken down into five key packages: basics, which provides intensive support for two weeks prior to release and six weeks after release for those requiring it; health services, which includes physical, mental, social and financial; housing, including transition, housing, home and maintenance; connections, be they cultural or with family and friends, and also transport; and employment or jobs, with assessment, development, maintenance and improvement.
Of interest, the basics component of this program was added after the pilot had commenced. I was advised that this was because the original design of the program had perhaps underestimated the disadvantage and barriers to reintegration some clients faced after their release. Many of our detainees, as is the case across the country, have very low literacy and numeracy skills, may have never worked a full-time job and may themselves be children of offenders or had a long history of contact not just with the legal system but with the care and protection system as vulnerable children.
Another innovation and challenge in the extended through-care approach was that ACT Corrective Services themselves took the lead as both case manager and brokerage agent with community sector partners. I mention this point specifically because there were some criticisms of this at the time, which I believe have been laid to rest in the success of the program. It was felt by some that former detainees would, perhaps understandably, not want anything to do with the organisation that had in
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