Auckland, New Zealand __ Around 22% of people released from New Zealand’s prisons will reoffend within 12 months of release (a 7.6% decrease from 2017/18). Momentum - a brand-new, community-led mentoring programme - is aiming to ensure these statistics keep on going in the right direction. With funding from the Department of Corrections (and another philanthropist) and created by one of the founders of Life101 - the leading provider of life skills programmes in Aotearoa’s prisons and probation centres - the first group of mentees have been recruited from Kohuora Auckland South Corrections Facility; with additional cohorts to follow at other prisons in the Auckland region.

Since 2013, Life101 has worked in 10 of New Zealand’s prisons to impart life skills education that educates people in prison with life skills to build stable, successful and happy lives for themselves, their kids and their whānau. “The problem, however, is that there’s often a gap between these learnings; and putting them into practice in the ‘real world’. We hear a lot of stories of people not having any support networks once they’re released from prison and not knowing how to get set up and underway. Many of them end up going back to what they were doing before which ends up contributing to reoffending,” explains Nick Carroll, Founder of both Life101 and Momentum.

Set up as a charitable trust, Momentum was designed to bridge the gap between learning essential lifeskills; and putting these into practice. Approximately three months before release, the programme pairs each person in prison with a mentor from their community. The programme begins in prison where this mentor supports the person/mentee in terms of a plan for their release (such as setting up a bank account, plans for accommodation and finding potential employment). Post release, the programme continues for 12 months, providing ongoing support in terms of their integration back into society.

Combatting a culture of blame

“Most of New Zealand’s prison education either ‘manages backwards’, dealing with the correction of behaviour such as violence and drug abuse; or is curriculum-led, such as university studies or trade qualifications. A lot of the feedback we have received from people in prison around our Life101 offering centres around the fact that the programme allows people in prison to look forward and prepare for real life. Momentum is simply a continuation of these efforts, in partnership with those in the community who want to do something about New Zealand’s unacceptably high reoffending rates,” explains Clem Bayvel, Programme Manager for Momentum.

While studying psychology, it struck Clem that there isn’t a single set of personality traits that lead to offending; but rather a set of circumstances. “And if circumstances dictate the probability of crime; it follows that by changing these circumstances, we can reduce the probability of reoffending. As a country, our approach to “prisoners” is often very focused on blame; yet the reality is that it will take action to shift the statistics. We can all reinvest our discontent into changing the circumstances that result in reoffending. We’re looking for everyday people who are willing to do this, in partnership with Momentum,” explains Clem.

Thorough training for Momentum mentors

“Every mentor will be taken through two days of intensive training to prepare them for their role. They don’t have to be an expert in any of the skills mentees need because the manual we provide covers all of this. They simply need to be willing and available to volunteer time to work through the manual with their mentee and to build a constructive, long-term relationship,” explains Nick. Following training, the time commitment from mentors is usually just a weekly or bi-weekly meeting in a public space such as a library or cafe with their mentee.

Change is up to us

The first cohort of mentees from Kohuora will help Momentum refine the systems put in place to support widespread launch, monitoring and scalability with a single success metric in mind: to drive down reoffending rates.

“We can all be part of criticising the problem; or we can get to work changing what happens when people are released from prison. If we do this, we could be the first country to create a community led benchmark for the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of people in prison. It’s up to us as a community and society to be part of supporting people coming out of prison…,” concludes Nick.

Momentum is currently seeking mentors to be a part of this programme. If you would like more information about becoming a mentor with Momentum, email info@mometum.org.nz or visit momentum.org.nz.

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