Drink Driving programme steering change in the Central North Island

An initiative run by Taupō Community Corrections is working to instil better life skills in offenders while helping to ensure the roads around the central North Island are safer.

The Brief Drink Driving Intervention (BDDI), run in-conjunction with Harmony Trust, is a programme for people serving sentences of community work who have a first or second time drink driving offence. The course is offered as part of the Department’s work and living skills initiative and to date three, one day courses have run in Taupō, involving 44 people.

Service Manager Garry Sparkes says the course is a sensible and important addition to the work the service centre already does.

“A significant portion of people serving sentences of community work have been convicted of a drink driving offence and so it makes sense for us to offer interventions in this space,” explains Mr Sparkes.

“We have to give people the skills and tools to make smarter decisions and change their behaviour when it comes to getting behind the wheel.”

The programme, which caters for 15 people at a time, supports participants to develop drink driving free habits, cope with high risk situations, make better decisions, be a more responsible drinker, and be a more responsible driver.

Mr Sparkes says the feedback from participants has been extremely positive.

“It is easily the best feedback I have seen in relation to a programme that we have conducted. It was a truly satisfying and rewarding result for all the staff involved.”

Some of the feedback, such as: “I will never forget it,” “want more courses like this,” “inspirational,” “conviction to speak out against drink driving,” “will remember this course for time to come,” has staff thrilled with the results.

The next DIC Free course is set to run September 2016

ENDS

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