Promoting Integration: The Provision of Prisoner Post-release Services

• NCJ Number: 203630
• Author(s): Maria Borzycki; Eileen Baldry
• Date Published: September 2003
• Length: 6 pages
• Corporate Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Australian Institute of Criminology Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, September 2003, No. 262.

Annotation

This paper examines issues linked to postrelease services to inmates in Australia, drawing on both international literature and a roundtable discussion held at the Australian Institute of Criminology in October 2002.

Abstract

Regardless of the effectiveness of in-prison rehabilitation programs, without sufficient resources and social support upon release, the cycle of release and rearrest is difficult to break, particularly since many inmates come from and return to disadvantaged communities. In this paper, "throughcare" refers to treatment and support that begins in custody and continues after release into the community. In the roundtable discussion, the development of interagency partnerships to deliver post-release services was a recurrent theme of the roundtable. Government-mandated and formalized assignment of a single agency to assume a leading role in the partnership was viewed as critical to the success of a cooperative approach. Collaborative service delivery can be even further improved with appropriate intra-agency information management systems. Important aspects of post-release service delivery identified in the roundtable include individually tailored case management based on risk-assessment and the inmate's input; case plan development that outlines programs and access to services as soon as possible following prison admission; brokerage of services from organizations best equipped to provide services; a demarcation of staff responsible for supervision and the staff responsible for social and other supports; and a genuine engagement by the case manager with the individual ex-inmate. Three areas are recommended for research: identification of the purpose for post-release programs; determination of the means of achieving these goals; and identifying how to work across organizations to attain the goals. Some practice-related issues discussed in this report are funding, evaluation, the coordination of agencies and activities, and the place of parole. 3 notes and 24 references