Data gap raises concern over housing for former prisoners

A lack of accessible data on housing arrangements for former prisoners has raised concerns about the Department of Corrections’ role in helping people integrate back into society. Photo / Alan Gibson

A lack of data held by the Department of Corrections on accommodation for former prisoners has raised concern among law and criminology experts as new research details the social cost of unstable housing.

In July, Local Democracy Reporting made an Official Information Act request to the department for the number of former prisoners released to the East Coast who had residential placements.

It also requested information on the percentage of former prisoners nationwide who had somewhere to live prior to release.

The department declined to answer both, saying the information did not exist in a form that could be readily supplied, requiring a project to extract it.

It follows new research out of Auckland University showing former prisoners without a stable place to call home were almost five times more likely to end up back behind bars within 12 months.

Tamaki Legal managing director Darrell Naden — who recommended the OIA be undertaken — said he was “astounded” by the lack of information.

Tamaki Legal managing director Darrell Naden.

“There seemed to be a washing of the hands of any knowledge, of the information that was sought about prisoner release systems ... the OIA seemed to confirm that’s not something the Department of Corrections gets into,” Naden said.

“I’m astounded because there are several policies that the Department of Corrections has created itself that are supposed to be about finding prisoners somewhere to stay on release.”

Naden and his team point to wording of the Corrections Act 2004 as a reason for the department to take greater responsibility in housing former prisoners — legislation which states a primary purpose as being the rehabilitation of offenders into the community through programmes and interventions, where appropriate and practicable.

“If you scratch away the surface it doesn’t take much to find that the way they’re addressing this is wholly inadequate,” Naden said.

Auckland University Associate Professor Alice Mills understands the issues affecting prisoners better than most, having worked extensively on a report looking at post-prison housing.

Her work, released in September this year, focused on 201 people from six prisons during the period of release and beyond.

Former prisoners with unstable housing were 4.6 times more likely to be imprisoned within the first year of their release.

Twenty-two per cent were uncertain of where they would live upon release and expected to be homeless, while Māori were 1.7 times more likely to live in unstable housing.

Less than one third reported receiving any support to find housing prior to release.

Mills was disappointed the department didn’t keep data on accommodation for those leaving prison, saying the lack of information affected its ability to properly utilise what it could offer.

University of Auckland Associate Professor Alice Mills recently conducted research which showed former prisoners with unstable housing were much more likely to be imprisoned within the first year of their release.

“The issue with that is if they don’t have that data, how then do they go about planning post-prison housing that they do facilitate?”

More important than putting a roof over heads was making sure people had a place they could properly call home, she said.

“If someone is released homeless or is released (into) emergency accommodation such as a motel, then it generally makes it much harder for them to put down roots in the community.

“If we want people to stop reoffending, the housing that they get has to be considered to be a home.”

In its response, the Department of Corrections said the “vast majority” of people released from prison returned home to family or found their own living arrangements.

The department also oversees transitional housing for 1200 former prisoners identified as having “complex needs” but this is capped at 13 weeks, and only available at six locations around the country.

A total of 5267 people were released from prison for the year ended June 2023, with 284 of those recorded as going to the East Coast.

The department did not record location information for those not required to comply with a post-release order, meaning the number released to Tairāwhiti — where there are no transitional options — could be higher.

The significant housing shortage and high cost of renting has already been well documented in the region.

Massey University’s most recent residential market report showed Gisborne had the highest annual rent increase (16.2 percent) for the 12 months ended September 2022.

Gisborne was also marked in the report as the least affordable place to rent against the national average.

The housing issue has also caught the eye of the local authority, with Gisborne District Council predicting a need for 5000 more homes by 2050 to accommodate an expected population increase of 8700 people in the region by that time — a large jump considering the area is currently home to around 50,000 people.

The Department of Corrections offers supported accommodation options in Auckland, Hamilton, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air