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Hit and Miss: A Study of Post-Release Support Brendan Quinn and Amy Kirwan 23 rd June 2009

Hit and Miss: A Study of Post-Release Support Brendan Quinn and Amy Kirwan 23 rd June 2009. Overview. Background and context Study aims and methods Preliminary results. Imprisonment and crime statistics. Rates of imprisonment

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Hit and Miss: A Study of Post-Release Support Brendan Quinn and Amy Kirwan 23 rd June 2009

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  1. Hit and Miss: A Study of Post-Release SupportBrendan Quinn and Amy Kirwan23rd June 2009

  2. Overview • Background and context • Study aims and methods • Preliminary results

  3. Imprisonment and crime statistics • Rates of imprisonment • Total of 27,224 prisoners in 2007 with a 6% increase since the previous year’s census and 42% increase since 1997* • Prisoner demographics • Median age 33 years, 7% female and 24% Indigenous* • Existing incarceration history • 57% of prisoners have been previously incarcerated* * ABS, 2007

  4. Imprisonment and crime statistics • Crime • 10% of charges for those imprisoned are for illicit drugs offences* • 46.7% for property and drugs charges combined* • Length of sentence • 32% serving sentences less than 12 months* • 16% less than six months* *DOJ, 2005

  5. Health issues • General health and wellbeing • Self-reported health status of prisoners is low (Butler et al, 2004) • 95% of women prisoners and 78% of men prisoners have at least one chronic condition (Butler et al, 2001)

  6. Health issues • Mental health issues • 28% of participants reported high or very high psychological distress prior to incarceration (Kinner, 2006) • All psychiatric disorders combined have a 31% prevalence in the community and 80% prevalence in prison (White et al, 2006)

  7. Health issues • Injecting drug use • Of 160 QLD prisoners, 92% reported a history of illicit drug use and 64% a history of injecting (Kinner, 2006) • Of 642 Victorian prisoners, 68.6% reported ever injecting drugs (Hellard, Crofts and Hocking, 2002)

  8. Health issues • HCV transmission risk • No prison NSPs in Australia • Unsafe barbering and tattooing practices (ACPS, 2004) • 34% of prisoners HCV positive, 20% HBV positive, 1% HIV positive (Butler et al, 2007)

  9. Health issues • History of abuse • 60% of women prisoners and 37% of men report sexual abuse before age sixteen; 30% of women and 10% of men report sexual abuse before age ten (Butler et al, 2001) • Approximately 1/3 of women prisoners and 1/5 of men prisoners had been through the childhood care system (Butler et al, 2001)

  10. Risks • Overdose death risk following release • 60% of deaths of post release prisoners are drug related, with 25% of deaths occurring in the month following release (Graham, 2003) • 25% of all people dying from heroin related causes from 1990 to 2000 were ex-prisoners (Graham, 2003)

  11. Risks • Other mortality risks • Rates of death for post release prisoners from all causes combined were up to 17.8 times greater than the general population (Stewart et al, 2004) • Ex-prisoners are 10 times more likely to die an unnatural death than the general Victorian population (Graham, 2003) • Survival rates decrease with number of releases from prison that an individual has experienced (Graham, 2003)

  12. Risks • Lack of accommodation • Most don’t have stable accommodation beyond the short term (Baldry et al, 2002) • Low success in obtaining private rental accommodation (Baldry et al, 2002) • Reincarceration • Being highly transient (i.e. moving 2-3 times between interviews) and increasing problematic use of heroin were found to be a predictor of re-incarceration (Baldry et al, 2003)

  13. Supports • Parole vs. straight release • Of 30,000 people released each year, only 8400 are on supervision orders of any kind (Borzycki and Baldry, 2002) • Corrections staff may not be skilled to deal with AOD or mental health issues (Biles et al, 1999) • Other programs

  14. Hit and Miss: A Study of Post-Release Support Aims: • Examine barriers/enablers linking people to health & support services post-release • Examine risk behaviours in post-release prisoners with IDU history • Identify gaps where service system does not meet actual/perceived post-release needs • Map Melbourne services available to post-release individuals

  15. Hit and Miss: A Study of Post-Release Support Methods: • Cohort of 150 recently released* ex-prisoners with IDU history, interviewed x3 over 6 months • Family/key expert interviews • Literature review *Recruited within one month of release

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