Community Restorative Centre

2. Community Restorative Centre CRC is the largest community organisation in NSW dedicated to supporting prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families and friends. Staff in Sydney and Newcastle offer personal and practical assistance such as casework, counselling, accommodation, referral, a subsidised transport service, court support, and outreach to jails.

3. Accommodation Service CRC offers an accommodation assessment and referral service to address short, medium and long-term needs: • An 8 bed, 24 hour intensive supported house for males immediately upon release up to 3 months stay. • 3 outreach shared accommodation with support, up to a 12 month stay. • Over 40 properties through partnerships with numerous Community Tenancy Schemes. • An accommodation service and female transition position which provides tenancies for women and accompanying children. At the end of 2000 we tracked the clients that resided in our service in the previous 3½ years and found that more than 62% of residents had not returned to prison, a recidivism rate of just 37%.

4. Transitional Support Preparation for release is widely acknowledged as essential for inmates to make a smooth transition into the community. Most re-offending occurs within the first few weeks of release. CRC staff conduct pre-release talks/programs within correctional centres and provide a range of information about transitional issues, our service and other relevant services. Targets inmates with a prior sentence, short sentence and with minimum or no parole period.We access clients 3 months prior to release with up to 12 months outreach support. CRC works in partnership with community housing schemes to assist in securing long-term housing for clients.

5. Family Support Families present with issues including: accommodation, financial crisis, relationships, child support, grief, and isolation. Families of prisoners face many difficulties and have few support systems available. Family support for an inmate is beneficial whilst in custody & in the transition back to the community. CRC assists families through casework support, advice, counselling, subsidised transport, information about visits and jail procedures, and material aid.

6. Jailbreak Health Project • Jailbreak is a radio program broadcast on 2SER which: • Gives a voice to inmates and their families through showcasing their music, poetry, and stories. • Discusses issues around the criminal justice system, imprisonment, families, and health. • Runs health promotion courses within correctional centres. • Produces resources including the Jailbreak Families CD, an audio resource for families.

7. Transport Service CRC recognises the importance of maintaining relationships between prisoners and their families and community. CRC provides a low cost bus service for visits to in Berrima, Goulburn, Cessnock, Oberon, Junee, Bathurst, Lithgow, Kirkconnell and St Heliers correctional centres.

8. Prison and Debt Project Prisoners and family members suffer unnecessary and preventable financial hardship due to imprisonment. Research shows the majority of family members are unaware of their rights and are particularly vulnerable to unlawful or unprincipled debt collection practices. The project conducted a pilot of a Notification Kit within Mulawa and produced operational plan ‘Money Matters’ for the DCS. Also produced a resource of a quasi credit card for families with the Credit Helpline number. 49% of the inmates surveyed said that they had committed a crime to repay a debt.

9. Court Support Scheme Going to court can be traumatic and confusing, whether appearing as a victim, a witness or a defendant. Volunteers in local courts and the Family court in Parramatta provide information, referral, and personal support. Court Support Volunteers were awarded the 2003 Award for Volunteers by the Law and Justice Foundation for improving access to justice in NSW.

10. Intake Service Ex-prisoners in need of crisis and ongoing support continue to fall through the gaps of government funding. Recidivism rates reflect the difficulties many ex-prisoners encounter for months and sometimes years, following their release. CRC provides a crisis telephone/drop-in service, offering information, referral and support between 11am and 4pm, Mon-Fri. Clients present with issues including: accommodation; debt and financial crisis; health, mental health, and drug and alcohol issues; assistance in dealing with government agencies eg.Centrelink and the Department of Housing.

11. Emergency Relief Program ERP aims to assist people in financial crisis to deal with their immediate crisis situation in a way that maintains the dignity of the individual & encourages self-reliance. CRC’s client group are often overlooked by, or have issues dealing with, other agencies. CRC participates in the program to provide financial assistance specifically for ex-inmates and families of inmates, on an inner city and state wide basis.

12. The need for services Dramatic increase in the number of persons being imprisoned in past decade. In 2002 there were 20,000 full time prisoners on any one day in Australia. For each individual a further 4-5 people are affected. In 2001, 14,500 children experienced parental incarceration. More than 60’000 children had experienced parental incarceration at some point of their lives: 43% of all children and 20.1% of indigenous children in NSW. Ex-inmates are cumulatively disadvantaged. They come from backgrounds of unemployment, poor housing, alcohol & drug issues, lack of education & living skills.

13. Many inmates have histories of physical & mental health issues and/or disabilities, including: • Over 80% have AOD issues • 64% women & 40% men have Hep C (IHS 2001) • 39% women & 45% men in prison have sustained a head injury causing unconsciousness – 41% of these women & 23% men reported unresolved side effects (IHS 2001). • (1996 Inmate Health Survey reported over 40% men had an acquired brain injury). • 18% women & 27% men scored below the pass rate on an ID screener (IHS 2001). • 60% women & 37% men had been sexually abused before the age of 16.

14. Hamlyn & Lewis (2000) found 90% of women post release experienced barriers to inclusion to the community: lack of accommodation and money, social isolation & depression. Of the 25% in employment only 1/10 were able to get work related to skills they developed in prison. Approx 2/3 of all offenders receive sentences of under 2 years & a significant percentage receive sentences of 6 months or less. Over half of those released will re-offend within two years. Indigenous Australians are massively over-represented in the criminal justice system. Nationally, the indigenous rate of imprisonment was 15 times the non-indigenous rate in 2000. Aboriginal women are proportionately the fastest growing group of prisoners in Australia.

15. Changing Lives, Reducing Crime Prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families are a diverse group with complex needs. Incarceration can compound existing difficulties, causing more acutely disadvantaged circumstances post release. CRC provides a holistic service to address the complex nature of issues facing this group. We provide a continuum of support with the aim of developing skills for independence.