Corrections is quietly confident its staffing woes are on the way out, but it will still be months before visits are reinstated at all prisons
Corrections has seen a bumper increase in job applications since it began a recruitment drive near the end of last year, but its pipeline of custodial officers is still some way off converting to tangible results for prisoners.
“We mustn’t convince ourselves that it’s solved," chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot said. "We are now really wanting to make sure we continue that upwards cycle of recruits, we flatten the position in terms of turnover and we make sure we don’t lose sight of the importance of supporting current workers in that custodial environment.”
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He told parliament’s select committee changes were expected in three to four months.
“We are seeing for the last three months a net positive increase in custodial staff to the order of 40 or 50 people [per month] and therefore if we do nothing other than keep the turnover as it is ... and maintain the current levels of applicants, we will see quite significant improvement over the coming three to four months.
“It will hopefully significantly improve our ability to open up and deliver more services and most importantly get those visits back up and running for the sites we can’t currently accommodate.”
The department has 469 vacancies for custodial roles across all its prisons, but has a shortfall of 800 staff, including those on leave or unable to work for other reasons.
It has spent just under $4 million on a recruitment campaign.
“We expect to resume visits at all sites as soon as possible, but this must be done when we have enough staff to ensure the safety of prisoners, visitors and our staff.” - Leigh Marsh, Corrections.
National Commissioner Leigh Marsh said since October 2022 there had been 2,700 applications with almost 1000 of these received this year.
“Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, low unemployment, and border restrictions, we recruited 998 people to frontline roles in prisons and the community in 2021/22.
“While we have received a significant number of applications, it does take time to assess each applicant, and ensure they complete the required training before they are ready to be safely deployed in a prison environment.”
He said training for new Corrections Officers took 12-14 months including an induction week at their prison site, five weeks at the National Learning Centre in Upper Hutt and then one year back at the prison site.
“We expect to resume visits at all sites as soon as possible, but this must be done when we have enough staff to ensure the safety of prisoners, visitors and our staff.”
Fifteen of the 18 prison sites across the country have now opened for visits, albeit a number with limited availability.
"It’s a feeling of [being] powerless ... that they don't have any rights or any say in this really large and really, quite frankly, unforgiving system.” - Corrina Thompson, Pillars.
Auckland Prison was the most recent site to open in a limited capacity for visits, with Units 6 and 8 available for visits on Monday morning and Thursday afternoon respectively.
Pillars senior mentoring coordinator Corrina Thompson said while it was encouraging to see a light at the end of the visit tunnel, the damage done to whānau relationships in the meantime could not be overstated.
“One of our young people said [to me] when you take away the opportunity for us to continue visits, even if it's with someone that we have a really challenging relationship with, even if it's a difficult visit, you take away our opportunity to heal, you take away our opportunity to communicate, and you also take away our opportunity to maintain any kind of relationship.
"It’s a feeling of [being] powerless ... that they don't have any rights or any say in this really large and really, quite frankly, unforgiving system.”
She said the mental health toll the suspension of visits, coupled with the pandemic on children, had been extremely taxing.
"We have had children as young as nine talking about suicide, we've had children as young as 11 attempting suicide. It's just been enormous, the impact on our young people who are already vulnerable.
“And it really is about that compounding, the way that trauma compounds, and it builds and it becomes overwhelming.”
Thompson said some families have not seen each other in more than three years, and transitioning back to visits would be easier said than done.
“Sometimes the child that you remember or the parent that you remember has changed so much they’re now almost unrecognisable, and when that relationship has kind of been severed it's really hard to rebuild that.”
She said there was a need to help families though these challenges.
“Lots of our families are in a position where it's not you know, 'happy families'. It's a really difficult, already quite fractured relationship ... it's not just, 'Hey, how was your weekend?' – it's a lot more challenging than that.”
She suggested video call visits as a way to bridge the gap before in-person visits resumed.
“Those who are able to have the AVL [audio-visual link] visits, yes, it's short and sweet but it's able to occur in the whānau home – they haven't had to travel, the kids aren't hungry and tired and it's a much more controlled environment for families.
“So that might be a really nice way for Corrections to consider that navigation.”
Visits to Mt Eden Corrections Facility, Spring Hill Corrections Facility and Rimutaka Prison remain closed – however, AVL video meetings are available.
Other prisons are back to normal, or open with limited capacity.
