The information you’ve received is not correct. The vast majority of people released from
prison nationally return to their previous address or to an area with familial links or support
structures.
Corrections provides support to people subject to community-based sentences and who
have been released from prison in a range of ways, including accommodation. The level of
support and accommodation placement is dependent on the level of risk and the
order/sentence that the person is subject to.
Emergency accommodation is provided to people who have an immediate accommodation
need and all other accommodation options have been exhausted. A nationwide agreement
is in place between the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Corrections which
governs the placement of people into emergency accommodation. For further information,
you will need to discuss with MSD.
It’s not possible to provide you with numbers of people released to the Rotorua area from
prisons outside of the Central Region in the timeframe you’ve provided as th
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manually checking the individual files of recently released prisoners to note which prison
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they were released from. However, we are working on this and will come back to you as
soon as this information is available.
Please see our further statement below.
Information
Please attribute to Caroline Palmer, General Manager Probation (Acting): Public safety is our top priority, and no person would be permitted to reside at an address if
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it was considered that the risk could not be safely managed and public safety upheld.
Emergency accommodation at motels is use
the d as a last option, and is a temporary measure.
The alternative is that these people would otherwise be homeless, which would present an
unacceptable safety risk to communities.
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Around 15,000 people are released from prison every year and finding suitable
accommodation for people who are lawfully required to be released from prison is one of
our most significant challenges. The vast majority of people return home to family or make
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their own arrangements about where to live. Most people released from prison can choose
where to live, or have provided the New Zealand Parole Board with a release plan (including
a proposed address) for consideration, prior to leaving prison. On some occasions, including
for high risk people or those subject to electronic monitoring, a person’s address must be
deemed suitable by Community Corrections.
Some people require assistance with finding a place to live. We contract almost 1,000
supported and emergency accommodation places each year for people, delivered by
contracted providers across New Zealand such as PARS, the Salvation Army and other social
service agencies.
Community Corrections staff assist people to identify suitable addresses when they are
released from prison or are required to move from their current address. We work with
contracted service providers across the country to deliver supported accommodation for
people we are managing in the community who may require wraparound support or
services to help them reintegrate into society. As above, emergency accommodation at
motels is used as a last option, and is only ever a temporary measure. If this is required for a
person subject to release conditions, we work closely with MSD, who are responsible for
sourcing and funding the emergency accommodation.
Corrections is responsible for providing information to MSD to ensure we can safely manage
the person, approving the temporary alternative address, and maintaining a relationship
with the accommodation provider as appropriate. If we do approve a person to move to
emergency accommodation, we then regularly review and reassess what the person’s
longer term options are. If we are unable to identify a suitable long-term address, we may
consider returning the matter to Court for an application to vary their sentence.
As at 21 July 2022, there were 45 people in emergency accommodation in Rotorua who
were in the management of Corrections. These people had been placed in emergency
accommodation through our nationwide agreement with MSD.
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