Finding suitable housing for those coming out of prison is paramount, a criminologist says. Photo: 123RF
The lack of empathy from Work and Income case managers is sending people back to jail, an Auckland criminologist says.
RNZ has revealed former prisoner Sajay Singh was shouted at by his Work and Income case manager and asked if he wanted to go back to prison when he requested housing support.
The Ministry of Social Development has since apologised to him and said they were working with him to solve his needs.
University of Auckland criminology lecturer Emmy Rākete said the lack of sympathy with former prisoners was not uncommon.
"The fact that [the man] was verbally abused by his case manager is a pretty extreme example of the kind of denigrating treatment that people face, but I think all of us who have had to deal with WINZ in our lives and know that this is far from uncommon.
"What it shows is that incarcerated people are treated like an underclass, so this is an extension of that."
She said the lack of empathy with former prisoners was one of the reasons why they re-offend.
"If people come out and have nothing and get treated like they are nothing, and if they haven't an opportunity to build any kind of economic security for themselves, of course they're going to go back inside."
Rākete said suitable housing for those coming out of prison was paramount.
"If you don't own your own home when you're incarcerated, you will lose your lease, you'll lose your tenancy, and when you come out, you'll have nowhere to go back to.
"You are passed around to boarding houses where conditions are often really poor, or the street or a car, and that's simply not a circumstance in which someone can become a functioning, stable member of society again."
The support for ex-inmates was not enough to start again, she said.
"When you come out of prison you get the new start supplement, which is I think about $300. That figure has never been adjusted for inflation, so it's not enough money to live.
"For many people who leave prison, they'll be coming out basically in a situation as bad as what they've just left."
Rākete said the struggle faced by those leaving prison started with prejudice.
"It's illegal in this country to discriminate based on criminal record, but employment contracts require people to disclose their criminal records, so they are likely to face discrimination on that basis.
"So, you get stuck basically working in the grey market economy or in kind of menial jobs where pay is poor, which means that it's really difficult to ever kind of dig yourself out of that hole of poverty and deprivation."
Those who had been incarcerated needed to be supported with a safe place to be re-integrated into society, she said.
"If you have a drug problem, for example, you should not be placed in places where you will be in direct contact with drugs or violence, or the conditions will set you up for failure and make you re-offend.
"Ex-prisoners should fight for housing support that will benefit their rehabilitation but, as a society we don't do anything to support these kinds of healthy decisions," she said.
"Do we want people who made a real healthy decision to be punished for doing so? I don't think we do."
MSD says staff work hard to help
The Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Auckland Central Mark Goldsmith said the organisation's front-line staff worked hard to support people in a range of ways both before and after they were released from prison.
He acknowledged that the staff member's behaviour was unacceptable in relation to Sajay Singh and did not meet the expectations of the service MSD wished to provide.
"We work in partnership with Corrections and community providers, to help people who have been released from prison with the support they may need to help them reintegrate into the community. This includes a range of support to connect people to services to provide housing, health, education and training, and to help people take steps towards gaining sustainable employment," Goldsmith said.
"People released from prison also receive a Steps to Freedom grant to provide initial income on leaving prison. It is intended to help eligible people pay for any initial costs they may have when they're trying to get set up in the community. The Steps to Freedom grant is just one way we can help people - there are a range of other financial and employment supports that we regularly use to support people facing barriers to reintegration and employment."