Offender case management: Reducing the rate of reoffending by Māori

Abstract

In New Zealand, the number of offenders who continue to commit crime after leaving prison or completing community-based sentences is high, with the likelihood of reoffending much higher for Māori. The Police, Iwi (Māori tribe) and the Department of Corrections (the New Zealand Government agency responsible for prisons and correctional facilities, community probation, and parole services) have set clear goals to reduce the level of crime and the rate of reoffending. A decrease in reoffending will benefit society in terms of reduced costs to the justice system, less crime, safer communities and fewer victims. There is growing international evidence that offender case management is effective at reducing reoffending. The collaborative approach brings together representatives from the justice system, local authorities and other organisations to work alongside offenders who are due for release from prison. This article presents the results of Project Kete, a joint initiative between A3K (an organisation that provides support for Māori clients), the Police and the Department of Corrections. Sixteen high-risk Māori offenders nearing the end of their sentences received intensive support and supervision to help them reintegrate into the community. The results are encouraging. All 16 offenders remained out of prison as at December 2014 – a 100% reduction in the expected reimprisonment rate – and the 1-year reconviction rate was 33% versus a predicted rate of 48%.

Keywords

Crime Māori offender case management reintegrate reoffending

Introduction

In New Zealand, the indigenous people are Māori.¹ Their current socio-economic position as a substantial ethnic minority, with descendants of European migrants in the majority, is relatively poor. Compared with other New Zealand ethnic groups, Māori have lower life expectancies and are more likely to suffer health problems, be less educated and receive lower incomes than their counterparts (Marie et al. 2014). Māori are also significantly over-represented in criminal justice statistics. Although Māori comprise about 12.7% of the general population over the age of 15, more than 40% of all police apprehensions are Māori, more than 50% of the prison population are Māori (see Table 1), and Māori have the highest reimprisonment rate for both first time and recidivist offenders (Department of Corrections, 2013; New Zealand Police, 2012).

Table 1.

Ethnic composition of the prison population as at January 2014.

Ethnicity	Female		Male		Total
Ethnicity	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Māori	287	57.2	3918	50.1	4205	50.5
European	168	33.5	2646	33.8	2814	33.8
Pacific peoples	26	5.2	918	11.7	944	11.3
Asian	14	2.8	229	2.9	243	2.9
Other/unknown	7	1.4	117	1.5	124	1.5
Total	502	100	7828	100	8330	100

Source: Department of Corrections.

In 2012, Iwi and the New Zealand Police joined forces to address the high rates of offending, victimisation, and road fatalities and injuries among Māori. ‘The Turning of the Tide – a Whānau Ora Crime and Crash Prevention Strategy’ sets out the common goals Māori and Police want to achieve by 2018. One of the main goals is to achieve a 10% reduction in the proportion of repeat youth and adult offenders who are Māori.

The ‘Turning of the Tide’ strategy fits with the Police’s ‘Prevention First’ operating model, a proactive and preventive model focussing on the drivers of crime. The model encourages collaboration and cooperation amongst the criminal justice sector and other support agencies to meet a target of 13% reduction in reported crime by 2014/15 (New Zealand Police, 2011). The Department of Corrections also has a strong focus on reducing reoffending. As can be seen in Figure 1, the reconviction and reimprisonment rates 12 months’ post-release from prison have been consistently above 41% and 26%, respectively over the last decade. In line with the Government’s ‘Better Public Services’ programme, their goal is to reduce reoffending by 25% by 2017 (Lukkien & Johnston, 2013).

Figure 1.

Reconviction and reimprisonment rates within 12 months of release.

The growing emphasis on crime reduction is primarily driven by the substantial costs imposed on society as a result of crime. Crime has many victims – individuals, families, communities and the nation as a whole. The effects of crime are extensive and wide-ranging – death, physical and emotional abuse, living in fear, loss of property and income, the need for increased security, disintegration of families, lower productivity, increased judicial costs and more.

A large proportion of crime is committed by a relatively small number of persistent offenders (Garside 2004, State Services Commission, the Treasury and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2012). Identifying and addressing the main determinants of offending will contribute to a reduction in crime. The main predictors of recidivism relate to individual characteristics – such as age at first conviction, previous offending, personality traits, education, employment, mental health, and drug and alcohol use – and to an individual’s social environment including their relationships with family, friends, and community. In recent years much has been done to develop appropriate prevention and rehabilitation programmes that address these causes of crime (Gudjonsson & Young, 2011). An evidenced-based model developed by Andrews and Bonta (2010) – the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model – uses three ‘best practice’ principles to guide the development of rehabilitative programmes and interventions. The risk principle directs the more intensive treatment programmes to offenders who are at most risk of reoffending, the need principle targets the factors that lead to reoffending, and the responsivity principle ensures that the most effective programmes are put in place.

The RNR model is being used to guide correctional practice in New Zealand and a number of other countries (Lukkien & Johnston, 2013). Though Andrews and Bonta (2010) report that programmes that adhere to the RNR model can reduce offender recidivism by up to 35%, critics of the model suggest that the RNR model has a number of limitations (Ward, Yates, & Willis, 2012). In contrast to the RNR model which targets risk factors as the basis for interventions, the Good Lives Model (GLM) of offender rehabilitation developed by Ward and colleagues (Laws & Ward, 2011; Ward, 2002), uses a strengths-based rehabilitation approach which focuses on providing offenders with the skills to overcome the risk factors. Although these models approach rehabilitation from different angles, they both recognise the importance of identifying and addressing risk factors. The RNR model specifies the basic conditions that should be addressed (Polaschek, 2012) and the GLM enhances the rehabilitation framework by focussing on building offender strengths (Lukkien & Johnston, 2013).

Good quality release plans that address an offender’s basic needs in the community – employment, accommodation, making positive social connections, for instance – have been shown to reduce the rate of recidivism, particularly in the early days of release (Dickson, Polaschek & Casey, 2013, Dickson & Polaschek, 2014). Release plans typically require the input and cooperation of a number of Government and non-Government agencies. There is growing evidence that a collaborative inter-agency approach is effective at reducing reoffending and reimprisonment (Rezansoff, Moniruzzaman, & Somers, 2012, Dickson & Polashek, 2014).

Since 2008, the United Kingdom has followed an Offender Integrated Management (IOM) model where IOM teams have been established throughout the country to support existing Safer Neighbourhood policing, with the objective of reducing local crime, and in particular, reoffending. IOM is an overarching framework which brings together representatives from criminal justice agencies, local authorities, health services, the voluntary sector and any other relevant support agencies to identify, support and respond to the specific needs of offenders (especially those likely to reoffend) at the local level (British Home Office, 2013). This coordinated approach has led to some encouraging results. For example, in North West Wales, there has been a reported 71% reduction in arrests of IOM offenders, and in Cardiff, a 50% reduction in burglary offences involving IOM offenders (Wales Probation Trust, 2013).

In 2003, the Department of Police in the City of Savannah, United States, developed the Savannah Impact Program (SIP) to tackle the problem of escalating violent crime committed predominantly by repeat offenders on probation or parole. The Police recognised that to reduce recidivism, a coordinated approach needed to be adopted whereby the core problems of offenders were identified and addressed – poor education, lack of skills for employment, drug and alcohol problems and lack of community resources. The approach has been very successful. The reoffending rate for SIP offenders (i.e., offenders who are assessed as having a high risk of violent behaviour and/or have a history of drug usage) is much lower than the average reoffending rate for all parolees and offenders on probation, with 83% of all adults in the programme employed. Moreover, there has been a significant decrease in violent crime in Savannah.

In February 2008, the Government of British Columbia launched a Prolific Offender Management Project to test the effectiveness of using an integrated approach as a way to reduce crime. Though most prolific offending in British Columbia relates to property crime, the impact on the justice system and the wider community is substantial. Enforcement agencies including the Police and the Correctional Service, joined forces with health and social services to provide intensive supervision and support for a small group of identified prolific offenders in six communities. The results of the project, concluded in September 2012, indicate a significant decrease in recidivism among participants.

In New Zealand, the Waikato Police in collaboration with Community Probation are trialling a multi-agency approach to manage medium to high-risk recidivist offenders. The Integrated Offender Prevention and Support (IOPS) project commenced in July 2013 and will be evaluated throughout a 12-month period.

In this paper, we present the results of Project Kete, a joint initiative between the Police, A3Kaitiaki (A3K) an organisation that provides cultural support and training programmes for Māori clients, and the Department of Corrections. We find that an integrated collaborative approach to support newly released Māori prisoners reduces the expected rate of reoffending.

Background

“Told you so – he ain’t worth the effort.”

Commonly reported response

“Without Project Kete support, I’d be back in prison by now.”

Project Kete participant

“It’s not so much the offenders I’m working for but the victims.”

Project Kete member

Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) were established in New Zealand in 2010 to support the New Zealand Police’s Prevention First strategy. NPTs are small teams of police officers who are based in areas where the number of people affected by crimes and/or vehicle crashes is particularly high. An NPT’s primary focus is to protect and support victims of crime and by using a preventive policing approach, reduce the incidence and harm caused by crime and vehicle crashes in their communities (NZ Police). Key to this approach is the forming of partnerships within the community. The information and knowledge gathered from the community better equips NPTs to focus on known offenders, and appropriately direct resources to where they are needed the most. There are now 34 NPTs throughout New Zealand.

One of the NPTs is based in Dunedin, the principal city of the Otago region, located on the South East of the South Island. South Dunedin is home to approximately 2500 of Dunedin’s 126,000 inhabitants, a large number of whom are single-parent families or aged over 65. Compared with residents in other parts of Otago, South Dunedin residents are less educated, earn less and are less likely to be employed. In September 2012, the South Dunedin NPT was exploring different ways to support male offenders being released from the Otago Corrections Facility (OCF), a prison for male offenders located near Dunedin, into the South Dunedin community. At the same time, A3K, contracted by the Department of Corrections, was working with Māori men (hereafter referred to as Tane) due for release from the OCF, through their Tiaki Tangata programme. This programme provides intensive support for up to 12 Tane nine months’ pre-release and three months’ post-release from prison. It became apparent that the NPT and A3K had goals in common. The Tiaki Tangata programme supports the Police’s Prevention First strategy and the NPT concept of working alongside communities to better understand their needs, and provides a pathway for Police to work with Tane. With the support of the Department of Corrections, Project Kete, an extension of the Tiaki Tangata programme and designed to achieve long term outcomes for the wider community, commenced in December 2012.

The overarching objective of Project Kete is to foster a collaborative partnership between key agencies to ensure that Māori prisoners due for release receive the support they need to assist them in their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. Comprehensive prison release plans that identify and address an offender’s individual needs such as employment, accommodation and health services, are associated with a reduced rate of reoffending and accompanying reimprisonment (Dickson & Polaschek, 2014). The specific objectives of Project Kete are presented in Table 2.

Table 2.

Project Kete objectives.

1	Reduce the rate of reoffending in identified individuals.
2	Improve social outcomes for the offenders and their whānau (family).
3	Protect the community.
4	Reduce costs associated with the offending.
5	Improve inter-agency collaboration.

Method

Who is involved?

Tane are at the centre of the case management process and are primarily supported by A3K as the lead agency, the Police and the Department of Corrections. Police representatives include a member of the NPT, an Iwi liaison officer whose role is to provide cultural support and improve relationships between the Police and Māori, and a member from the Criminal Investigation Branch, a division of the Police that investigates serious crime. The team work with Housing New Zealand, and Work and Income (two Government organisations that assist people in finding homes and employment, and provide accommodation and income benefits), drug and alcohol services, health providers, mental health services, and other support agencies as required, to support the Tane. With the agreement of Tane (and their family, herein referred to as whānau) three whānau meetings are held (two while the Tane is in the OCF and one post-release) to re-establish and strengthen the relationship between a Tane and his whānau.

Eligibility

At this stage all Dunedin-based Tane serving prison sentences in the OCF are eligible to participate in Project Kete regardless of the offence(s) they have committed, or their likelihood of reoffending (which is discussed in the next section). The Tane need to be Dunedin-based as the supervision provided post-release is only available in the Dunedin area.

Tane become aware of the programme through their prison case manager, word-of-mouth or A3K’s presence within the prison. Tane are either referred to the programme through their prison case manager or they can self-refer. Not all Tane wish to enter the programme and the Tane who are involved tend to be those who are most likely to reoffend.

Tane are eligible for one year’s support (nine months’ pre-release and three months’ post-release). Exactly how long a Tane is on the programme depends on when they are referred and their needs post-release. In some circumstances additional support may be required beyond the three months. Approximately, 12 Tane participate in Tiaki Tangata – Project Kete at any one time.

For the case management process to be successful a Tane has to be a willing participant who is prepared to accept help and is motivated to change. When offenders are ready to make positive changes to their lives, and are encouraged and supported to do so, their risk of reoffending is reduced (Day, Casey, Ward, Howells, & Vess, 2013).

The participants

Since Project Kete started in December 2012, 16 Tane have participated in the programme. In Table 3 the number of times each Tane has been imprisoned is presented alongside the total cost² associated with their imprisonment, their age, their RoCRoI score (i.e., a measure of an offender’s likelihood to reoffend which will be discussed shortly) and the date they were released from prison.

Table 3.

Project Kete participants.

Tane	Number of terms of imprisonment	Cost of imprisonment to date (NZ$)	Age	RoCRoI^a	Date of release
1	2	$279,468	34	0.6	7 May 2014
2	1	$72,324	25	0.4	15 May 2013
3	12	$648,900	44	0.6	19 December 2012
4	1	$268,380	24	0.6	10 November 2013
5	8	$472,752	34	0.6	18 July 2014
6	6	$590,436	53	0.6	2 March 2014
7	2	$60,228	23	0.5	31 March 2014
8	1	$131,544	21	0.6	20/10/2013
9	10	$992,376	36	0.8	27 March 2013
10	10	$490,392	57	0.4	11 December 2012
11	1	$57,708	31	0.4	26 February 2013
12	8	$744,912	33	0.8	29 October 2013
12	3	$158,760	24	0.7	05 January 2014
14	2	$52,668	23	0.6	21 January 2013
15	8	$654,444	32	0.7	09 February2014
16	4	$974,232	36	0.6	09 April 2014
Total cost		$6,649,524

Risk of reconviction × risk of reimprisonment (Department of Corrections).

The number of times a Tane has been imprisoned ranges from one to 12, with two of the Tane serving 10 prison terms and one Tane serving 12. The total cost of imprisonment for the 16 Tane is almost $6.65 million. Six of the Tane have incurred costs of over $500,000 with two Tane each incurring costs close to $1 million.

Every Tane is allocated a RoCRoI score by the Department of Corrections. A RoCRoI score is a measure that predicts an offender’s risk of reoffending and likelihood of reimprisonment (Bakker, O’Malley, & Riley, 1998). The score is calculated by multiplying the risk of reconviction by the risk of reimprisonment, and ranges between zero and one with scores closer to zero indicating a very small chance of reoffending, and scores closer to one indicating a very high chance of reoffending. Factors such as age at first conviction, time between offences, and the seriousness and type of previous offences are used to predict the likelihood of reoffending. The likelihood of reoffending for most of the Project Kete participants is relatively high with 12 of the 16 Tane scoring 0.6 or above.

The case management process

Nine months before leaving prison Tane have the option to join the Tiaki Tangata programme where they receive intensive support to assist them in re-joining the community. A reintegration plan is developed for each Tane, which includes a full assessment in terms of their likelihood to reoffend and the support required upon release. Approximately, four weeks’ pre-release a member of the NPT (usually the Sergeant) visits the Tane in prison. The purpose of this visit is to initiate a relationship between the Tane and the NPT member.

Applying a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to case management is largely ineffective, especially when the cultural needs of Māori are ignored (Nakhid & Shorter, 2014). A reintegration plan needs to be tailored to a Tane’s specific needs with a strong emphasis on improving the social outcomes for Tane and their whānau, and protecting the community from further crime. To this end, reintegration plans are solution-focussed. As access to services from within prison can be problematic – for example, arranging housing, seeking employment, contacting health professionals – A3K work with, and advocate on behalf of, the Tane to ensure that barriers to services are eliminated. For instance, although there is evidence that employment reduces the likelihood of reoffending, there are often significant barriers for newly released prisoners to find and to stay in work (UK Ministry of Justice, 2013).

Developing strong relationships between a Tane, his whānau and appropriate support agencies is a crucial part of the case management process. Strengthening a Tane’s connection with their whānau and the community will help to produce long term sustainable changes that enable a Tane to positively contribute to their own whānau and community (Department of Corrections, 2014; Te Puni Kōriri 2008, 2011).

Typically a reintegration plan will include the following components: income/financial support, accommodation, relationship building between Tane and their whānau, support from specialised Kaupapa Māori organisations, and other employment, training and education organisations (e.g., Work and Income New Zealand, Otago Polytechnic Māori Trades Training, and work brokers), health care provision (including mental health services) and recommended courses to address anti-social behaviour. In addition, there may be conditions imposed by the Parole or Probation service where a Tane is required to attend programmes such as “Stopping Violence”, “Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme”, and specific drug and alcohol programmes.

Intensive support and supervision is required just prior to and during the first few days of a Tane’s release. Figure 2 is an example of a typical release plan. The Project Kete team (NPT, A3K and the Community Probation Service) maintains daily contact with a Tane to ensure that he is meeting his responsibilities in terms of his reintegration plan and community-based sentence (if applicable). This level of support is vital if the Tane is to successfully reintegrate into the community.

Figure 2.

Example of a Tane’s release plan for the first two days’ post-release.

The Project Kete team meet fortnightly to monitor and discuss each Tane’s progress. In addition to the team members directly involved with the offenders, other representatives from the Police and Corrections occasionally attend the meetings. The data collected by the team are used to ‘life map’ a Tane’s progress. The team focusses on when life is ‘good’ and when it is ‘bad’ for a Tane and tries to identify what is going on in their life at that time. When things go wrong for a Tane it is often partner- or employment-related. The team continues to provide ongoing support and mentoring as required.

Monthly reports are compiled for each Tane using the data from the fortnightly meetings and other information from the Project Kete members. As part of the final progress report an exit interview is conducted with the Tane and he is acknowledged for his successes to date. (‘Success’ in this instance is measured according to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by the Department of Corrections and relate to components of the reintegration plan, for example employment, attending recommended programmes, appropriate accommodation, etc.).

Results

In terms of meeting the specific objectives of Project Kete (refer to Table 2) the results are discussed below.

Reduce the rate of reoffending in identified individuals

One of the Government’s ‘Better Public Services’ targets is to reduce the reoffending rate by 25%. The Department of Corrections estimates that 30.1% of Māori offenders will be reimprisoned within 12 months of release and 48.4% will be reconvicted. (Over 24 months the reimprisonment rate for Māori is 41.8% and the reconviction rate is 63.5%). Since Project Kete started in December 2012, 16 Tane have been released from prison and all remain out of prison. Nine Tane have remained out of prison for over a year and two Tane have been remained out of prison for just on two years reflecting a 100% reduction in terms of the expected imprisonment rates. Three Tane have been reconvicted within the first year of release – one Tane was reconvicted within seven days of release, one Tane was reconvicted within 11 months, and one Tane was convicted for not adhering to his parole conditions by failing to meet with his Parole Officer. One Tane was reconvicted in his second year of release. However, the reconviction rates over one year (33%) and two years (50%) are still less than the predicted reconviction rates of 48.4% over one year and 63.5% over two years.

Improve social outcomes for the offenders and their whānau

Reconnecting with whānau is an important part of the Tiaki Tangata – Project Kete programme. Positively engaging with whānau helps Tane to successfully reintegrate into the community and contributes to a reduction in intergenerational offending. Many of the Tane who participated in Project Kete were disconnected from their whānau. For example, one Tane had not seen his whānau for 10 years, one Tane who had seven siblings had not seen his whānau for over 30 years, another Tane had not seen his father since he was a small boy 30 years ago, and one Tane was imprisoned because his Uncle had reported him to the Police and they were now estranged. For these four Tane, and for others, relationships with their whānau have been re-established as a result of Project Kete. This has led to Tane taking more responsibility for their actions, building positive relationships with their children and whānau and for some, taking an active role on the marae (a communal meeting house which is the basis of traditional Māori community life).

In addition, there has been a 100% increase in the number of Tane who are now in employment. Prior to imprisonment four of the 16 Tane had jobs; after taking part in the Tiaki Tangata – Project Kete programme, eight Tane had jobs.

Protect the community

Helping Tane to find employment (or education/training), to re-establish and strengthen relationships with whānau and to address behaviours that have led to their offending, provides Tane with the skills to successfully reintegrate into the community thereby reducing the likelihood of their reoffending and leading to safer communities. Four of the Tane involved in Project Kete had 40 terms of imprisonment between them (which does not include additional convictions) when they were released from prison. The likelihood of their reoffending was high with two Tane having RoCRoI scores of 0.8. All four main out of prison – two of them for just on two years.

Project Kete is funded to provide support for three months’ post-release. However, support often extends beyond this period. Because Tane have grown to trust the members of Project Kete, particularly within A3K, Tane continue to contact Project Kete members, particularly when they are faltering in their new lives and are tempted to fall back into old habits. For example, one Tane with a domestic violence history was grappling with an alcohol issue. To get help he would need to see his doctor and be referred to alcohol counselling. Instead he made contact with A3K and with their support he was able to keep away from alcohol, the trigger to his offending.

In written feedback received by Tane at the end of the programme, it is evident that Tane appreciate and recognise the support of Project Kete. For example,

“It’s [Project Kete] helped me in ways where I thought that when getting out of prison, it would have been like climbing a wall without anything to hold. This programme has given me the option to get to the top.”

In reply to being asked what other support is needed in future to not reoffend:

“Having someone to talk to if times are stressful, love from family, connections with them regularly.”

Reduce costs associated with the offending

From both a fiscal and a social perspective, a reduction in reoffending has a significant impact. For example, the costs incurred by the Project Kete Tane, reported in Table 3, are solely in terms of the cost of imprisonment. Based on an expected reimprisonment rate of 30.1% within one year of release, three of the nine Tane who have been out of prison for one year, would be reimprisoned. Given all nine have remained out of prison $291,270 has been saved in prison costs alone. These costs do not include judicial costs such as the cost of apprehension, investigation and court hearings. They also do not include other costs associated with crime such as the loss of property, income and productivity, and the financial and emotional impact on victims, whānau and the wider community.

Improve inter-agency collaboration

The collaborative working relationship developed between the key agencies has been a major contributor to the success of Project Kete. Prior to Project Kete there was minimal and ad hoc collaboration between the various Government and non-Government agencies involved with the reintegration of Tane leaving prison. For example, the Probation Service worked with some non-Government organisations such as A3K, but did not have established working ties with the Police or Work and Income, who similarly did not have strong working relationships with non-Government organisations in the community. The implementation of an offender case management approach has facilitated the sharing of information between all the agencies involved in reintegrating Tane into the community leading to effective working relationships being established between Project Kete’s three partner agencies and with other non-Government community organisations. The strengthening of relationships between the key players has enabled a proactive rather than a reactive approach to be adopted, resulting in enhanced, coordinated support for Tane.

Discussion

The Department of Corrections is guided by the RNR model in their rehabilitation and reintegration approach. Their focus is on education, employment, tackling alcohol and drug abuse, and working with Iwi and community groups. A3K follows a more GLM approach whereby they address the underlying issues that have led to offending and place emphasis on instilling a sense of responsibility in a Tane, strengthening whānau relationships, and building the life skills necessary to live a life without crime. The strength of a collaborative approach to manage the reintegration of offenders is that the different approaches are complementary and support each other which enhances rather than replaces traditional programmes (Lukkien & Johnston, 2013).

For offender case management to be effective, trust needs to be established between a Tane and the management team, and key agencies need to be able to work together. According to McNeill, Batchelor, Burnett, and Knox (2005) a significant part of successful reintegration relies on strength of the relationships between offenders and those who are there to help them. It is therefore important that management team members are carefully selected and given appropriate training. It is also imperative that the ‘right’ people are included in the management team. Participants need to have the same goal in mind – to actively assist in the reintegration of Tane into the community – and to have some knowledge and experience of what is involved in achieving this. For instance, probation staff from the Department of Corrections are better placed than prison staff to be on the team as they have practical experience in reintegrating prisoners into the community. As the needs of Tane are complex, flexibility is required in terms of what support is provided and for how long. As Project Kete progressed, some gaps were identified in terms of the support required by Tane. This led to the forming of working relationships with agencies such as Work and Income, and Housing New Zealand.

Project Kete members recognise that the changes required to stop reoffending necessitate a significant change in lifestyle and for even the most motivated Tane, this can be overwhelming and very challenging. For some Tane this results in reoffending and possibly reimprisonment. To ensure a smooth transition of Tane back into the community it is crucial that a comprehensive reintegration plan is in place prior to release and that intensive supervision involving daily contact, is provided in the first week post-release. The Project Kete team has found that it is in the first seven days’ post-release that Tane are at their most vulnerable and are likely to reoffend. For example, the Tane who reoffended within seven days of release had just finished serving his 10th sentence, had minimal whānau support and was under a lot of pressure to re-establish a life without slipping into old habits.

Crime is costly. In the latest figures available, the New Zealand Treasury estimates the overall cost of crime in New Zealand in 2004 at $9.1 billion, $7 billion of which falls on the private sector and the general public (Roper & Thompson, 2006). This figure includes preventative costs (e.g., security systems), property, income and productivity losses, and also intangible costs such as the physical and emotional harm resulting from crime. Given there has been little change in the reconviction and reimprisonment rates in the last decade the cost to society of criminal offending remains high.

Supporting recidivist offenders to lead a life without crime will reduce the overall rate of reoffending and will have a significant effect on the costs associated with crime. For example, in Table 4 the potential annual savings (in terms of reduced prison costs) resulting from Tiaki Tangata – Project Kete are presented.

Table 4.

Estimated annual cost-savings from a reduction in the rate of reimprisonment (NZ$ valued in 2014).

Expected annual cost of reimprisonment for 7 (i.e., 60%) of released Tane	$679,630	$679,630	$679,630
Actual number of Tane reimprisoned within one year	0 Tane	2 Tane	4 Tane
Cost of reimprisonment	$0	$194,180	$388,360
Prison costs averted	$679,630	$485,450	$291,270
Cost of Tiaki Tangata programme	$246,000	$246,000	$246,000
Total annual cost-savings	$433,630	$239,450	$45,270

The estimated annual cost-savings are based on a referral rate to Project Kete of 12 Tane each year. The average reimprisonment rate for Project Kete participants is estimated at 60% (i.e., seven of the 12 Tane are likely to be reimprisoned within one year). This estimate is based on the RoCRoI scores of the participants and information gathered by the Project Kete team. Although the average reimprisonment rate for Māori is less than this (30.1% one year post-release and 41.8% two years’ post-release), the Tane who participate in Project Kete are considered to be high-risk offenders and as such 60% is considered a conservative estimate.

The cost of imprisonment is $97,090 per prisoner per year. If all 12 Tane remain out of prison $679,630 will be averted in prison costs (i.e., the seven Tane who were expected to return to prison in the first year, will remain out of prison). Acknowledging that a success rate of 100% is unlikely to be sustainable, if two of the seven Tane return to prison within 12 months (i.e., a success rate of approximately 70%), $485,450 will be averted in prison costs and if four of the seven return to prison within 12 months (i.e., a success rate of approximately 43%), $291,270 will be averted in prison costs.

The cost of the Tiaki Tangata programme (supervision and support provided nine months’ pre-release and three month’s post release) is $246,000. (Additional administration costs of approximately $2200 for Project Kete are shared between A3K, the Police and the Department of Corrections). Given the success of the Project Kete pilot, potential savings in terms of averted prison costs could be substantial. For example, at a success rate of 100%, $433,630 could be saved annually or at the lower end of the scale, at a success rate of 43%, $45,270 could be saved. If the average reimprisonment rate is more than 60% (which is probable given the repeat offenders entering Project Kete) the savings are even greater. In addition, Project Kete has demonstrated that an offender case management approach can also reduce the rate of reconviction. This too generates savings in terms of reduced judicial costs. However, to assess the longer-term effectiveness of the programme, the progress of Tane would need to be monitored over the next few years.

Of course, judicial cost is just one component of the total cost of crime. Although difficult to quantify, a reduction in reimprisonment and reconviction also produces substantial benefits in terms of increased productivity, less victimisation and safer communities.

The collaborative nature of offender case management is shown to be effective at reducing reoffending. However, what makes Project Kete stand apart from similar models, is having an organisation (A3K) that supports and works with Māori clients at the centre of the case management process. A3K staff work with Tane throughout the programme to ensure that trust is created, nurtured and maintained between Tane and the Project Kete team. Delivering the programme within the world of tikanga (i.e., acknowledging the culture, customs and traditions of Māori), enables Tane to recognise the core issues that have led to their offending and to build the skills they need to address these problems, through Kaupapa Māori (a framework expressing Māori aspirations, values and principles). The traditional rehabilitation and reintegration models, are mostly needs-based where symptoms are treated rather than the core issues. Focussing on risk management and on problems that are seen to be causally related to offending, such as drug addiction, is ignoring the core issues. Curing addiction, providing accommodation and finding employment will certainly help an offender, but it does not address the core issues that have led offending (Workman, 2012). A strengths-based programme focussing on values and whānau-supported reintegration is key to the successful reintegration of Māori offenders.

Conclusion

The New Zealand Police, Iwi and the Department of Corrections have similar goals – to reduce crime and to address the high rate of reoffending in New Zealand, particularly amongst Māori who are over-represented in the criminal justice system. The primary motivator for this focus is the substantial cost of crime to society.

In late 2012, Project Kete was established to trial an offender case management approach with a view to reduce reoffending by Māori. A3K, an organisation that supports Māori, the South Dunedin Neighbourhood Policing Team and representatives from the Department of Corrections, joined together to mentor and support Māori offenders being released from prison. Of the 16 Tane who took part in the project over the last two years, no Tane have been reimprisoned. Although four Tane have been reconvicted, the reconviction rate is much lower than predicted.

The results show that a collaborative offender case management approach, as piloted by Project Kete, is effective at reducing the rate of reoffending by Māori. Providing coordinated reintegration support within a Kaupapa Māori framework, which identifies and addresses the core issues leading to reoffending, is central to this success.”

Glossary

Iwi

A set of people bound together by descent from a common ancestor or ancestors.

Kaupapa

‘Kaupapa Māori’ is broadly defined as a particular plan of action created by Māori, expressing Māori aspirations and expressing certain Māori values and principles.

Māori

Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.

Marae

A marae is a communal meeting house which is the basis of traditional Māori community life.

Tane (a male Māori)

The male Māori prisoners participating in Project Kete are referred to as Tane.

Tiaki Tangata

Tiaki Tangata is a programme delivered by A3K that provides intensive support for up to 12 Tane nine months’ pre-release and three months’ post release from prison. Project Kete is an extension of the Tiaki Tangata programme.

Tikanga

Tikanga refers to the culture, customs and traditions of Māori. Tikanga based on experience and learning that is often passed down through generations.

Whānau

An extended family or community of related families

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank everyone involved in Project Kete – the Tane, their whānau, support agencies and the Department of Corrections.

Declaration of conflicting interest

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/ or publication of this article: This research received no specific grant but was supported by The Department of Corrections, A3Kaitiaki and the New Zealand Police.

Notes

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