Corrections says there will continue to be support available for prisoners with mild to moderate mental health needs after the contracts end. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
This story has been updated to reflect four community provider contracts being cut instead of five after Corrections informed RNZ of its error.
Corrections has axed its contracts with four community providers supporting prisoners with mental health conditions.
The decision follows a wide-ranging internal review of all mental health services within Corrections that recommended a shake-up of how support was provided.
The Improving Mental Health Service (IMHS) contract has been in place since 2017 and last year provided counselling and therapy to 4047 prisoners with mild to moderate conditions, who according to Corrections annual report, self-reported "statistically significant positive results."
Corrections spent $5.17 million on IMHS in the year to June 2024. No additional funding was allocated to the programme in the most recent government Budget.
Pact Group, Emerge Aotearoa and Well South were among the providers told their contracts would end.
Corrections confirmed a total of four contracts would end in either June 2025 or June 2026, depending on their location, but there would continue to be support available for prisoners with mild to moderate mental health needs after those dates.
"We are looking at how we can use our funding for mental health services more effectively to deliver better outcomes for people we manage," Corrections chief mental health and addictions officer Emma Gardner said in a statement.
Emerge Aotearoa chief executive John Cook said he was not in a position to discuss contract specifics.
"We remain focused on providing the best possible support to the people who come to us through these service contracts. Like other providers, we are closely watching developments in this area as we consider the evolving needs of the people and communities we serve and the impacts on our workforce," he said in a statement.
One therapist affected by the cut told RNZ her employer had advised her to start looking for a new job, and she worried there would not be enough support for prisoners once her contract ended.
However, Gardner said the money from the contracts would continue to be invested in mental health services for prisoners, including those with mild to moderate needs.
"The mental health needs of people in prison have changed significantly since 2017 and it is important we constantly evaluate our services to ensure people are getting the right treatment and support at the right time."
Gardner said the review findings had given Corrections a better understanding of what mental health support should be provided in prisons from June 2025.
"Final decisions on these are yet to be made. These changes will ensure we are providing effective services that deliver the best possible results in improving people's mental wellbeing, which in turn sets them up to be well enough to engage in rehabilitation focused on reducing re-offending."
Once Corrections had decided what services it would provide it would go to the market to tender for providers, said Gardner.
The internal review, Te Ara Tika: The delivery of mental health services within the department of corrections, obtained by RNZ, found there were inconsistencies with how mental health services were provided across prisons, and suggested some therapies offered by the IMHS contract may not actually be suitable for a prison environment.
It recommended developing therapies more suited to prison, as well as greater targeting of investment to key groups identified as needing better mental health support, including Māori, women, young people, prisoners with alcohol and addiction issues, and those needing forensic services.
Better mental health training for Corrections staff and the recruitment and retention of mental health staff employed by Corrections also needed more attention, the report said.
Corrections Association president Floyd du Plessis said he supported the shake-up of mental health services, which was part of a wholesale review of all of Corrections' programmes.
"This is a good thing. It's something that we've actually been pushing for quite some time on. We've been saying we need to look at what programmes are there, where are they being targeted and resourced," he said.
"In a lot of these cases, the programmes will continue. But there are some opportunities where programmes can be streamlined, delivered better, and delivered across the country more consistently, rather than small ad hoc groups."
Labour's mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary said she would be watching developments carefully to ensure "it is not a cut by stealth".
"Especially given how many people are in our prisons who need mental health services, and given the track record of this government to make cuts."