NZ Parole Changes Go Into Effect
Prisoner release teams aimed at helping prisoners reintegrate into New Zealand society were launched today following condemnation of the parole process by the Auditor-General. Report by NZPA.
The teams will improve the safety of parole and make the process more robust, Corrections Minister Judith Collins said at the launch in Manurewa, South Auckland, today. The initiative was announced in April to help address concerns raised in a report by the Auditor-General about probation staff not following processes in the management of high-risk prisoners …
The new teams will give dedicated staff the role of managing home detention, community work, parolees, other offenders released from prison and high-risk child sex offenders on extended supervision orders, Ms Collins said. That would allow them to gain a depth of experience in safely managing prisoners on parole, she said. The teams will also provide information for Parole Board reports …
Corrections Chief Barry Matthews said staff on the new teams would be specially trained to manage “all activities, sentences and orders relating to offenders who are released from prison”. He said they would comment “solely on the needs of those offenders”. “Offenders who are released from prison present special challenges to probation officers and require a more intensive management approach than offenders serving a sentence wholly in the community. These teams will improve the standard of management and boost the level of knowledge about the operational requirements for this group of offenders and ensure they are better held to account when they do not comply with the requirements of their sentences.”
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