‘Half way house’ proposal for inmates about to leave prison

Selected prisoners should be obliged to spend the last couple of months of their jail term in a residence for the homeless rather than being sent there on their last day, according to Corradino Correctional Facility’s spiritual director.

Fr Franco Fenech, who also sits on the board of Fondazzjoni Suret il-Bniedem and Dar Patri Leopoldo, both catering for the homeless, said the proposed system would serve as a “halfway house between prison and society”.

He believes that before they serve their time, “chosen” homeless prisoners, who would have been monitored, should have the opportunity to move to an open house where their issues would start to be tackled by professionals and they could start seeking a job and finding their way back into society.

Fr Fenech maintains the situation would be similar to that of prisoners who were in drug rehabilitation programmes.

He dismissed the risk of abuse, or even escape, saying the prisoners would have nothing to gain from doing so. They would be obliged to stay in the home for the remainder of their sentence even though it had an open-door policy.

Asked what difference it would make if such homeless prisoners were referred to Dar Patri Leopoldo after their jail term was up instead of before, he said the problem would be that after serving their term they would be free to leave and often just moved to a friend’s house, a scenario he excluded would occur if they entered the home before they served their sentence.

“I do not think anyone would want to start another court case,” he said, even though it was pointed out that repeat offenders existed.

The proposal has already been made to the Justice Ministry and Fr Fenech said he was awaiting an answer to be able to develop the proposed system, which would be presented to the public shortly.

Speaking at a seminar on children at risk of poverty, organised by the Labour Party’s progressive foundation, Ideat, Fr Fenech said the situations he encountered were no longer a matter of being “at risk” but that poverty had already struck.

Nine years ago, he said, he was faced with youths who had to be treated for drug problems. “Today, we have gone a step further because we even have to convince them they actually have a problem. They cannot understand that what they are doing is wrong because their parents are doing it too and it has become a culture,” he said, pointing to a “moment of crisis” in this area.