Prisoners will one day return to society

The spiritual director at the Corradino Correctional Facility, Fr Franco Fenech, has proposed that 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 the last day of their sentence. The cleric, who also sits on the boards of organisations catering for the homeless, said that such a system would serve as “a half-way house between prison and society”.

About three years ago, the NGO working for the rights of prisoners at the CCF, Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl, had published the results of a survey that it had conducted showing that more than one in two prisoners released from jail was likely to return behind bars. The picture painted by the survey was of a lack of readiness by prisoners for their return to civil society once they had served their time. Almost two-thirds said they were not being prepared for reintegration into society, just under half complaining they were given no chance to participate in vocational courses while in prison.

While it is to be hoped that matters have improved since the publication of that survey, it serves to underline the fact that, bar some individuals, all prisoners at Corradino will one day be released. How they then behave will depend on how successfully they have been prepared for the challenges ahead while serving their sentences. Rehabilitation protects the public. Reoffending, which the system in place seems to encourage, does not.

It is in this context that Fr Fenech’s constructive proposal for a half-way house in the last few months of a inmate’s time in prison should be viewed. His contention is that selected prisoners, who would be homeless after release, should, prior to the end of their sentence, have the opportunity to move to an open house where the issues they are likely to have to face on their release would start to be tackled by professional staff. They could then commence seeking employment and taking the first tentative steps back into society so that they are better prepared to face the huge challenges of resettling and adjusting not only to life outside an ordered institution but also to changed conditions in society.

As one would expect, the director of Fondazzjoni Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl supports the introduction of this scheme but understandably would like to see it extended further , specifically by having a proper “sentence plan” for all prisoners that monitors, evaluates and encourages them from the start in preparation for their return to society.

How the inmates behave after release from prison will depend on how successfully they are rehabilitated back into society. The aim of the CCF should be to protect the public by preventing prisoners from reoffending. Its vision on what should be achieved there must be centred on the preparation of inmates to return to society and not to reoffend. This entails a holistic plan of rehabilitation, resettlement and reform, which covers a wide spectrum of different aspects encouraging the links between the CCF and the wider community.

Programmes of education, vocational training and contacts with companies willing to bring skills training into prison in preparation for future employment should also be fostered. Every activity in prison needs to be designed around the resettlement and rehabilitation process. The half-way house scheme could make a significant contribution to this process. It is one the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs is encouraged to pursue.