Treatment for Tokoroa man makes the difference

Community Corrections Tokoroa works with drug and alcohol treatment providers to help people serving sentences in the community address their addictions.

Mark*, a 33 year old male with a drug addiction going back 15 years, recently completed an eight week residential rehabilitation programme through the Salvation Army and has since been supported by community based counselling from Care NZ. This treatment has enabled Mark to make a number of constructive changes in his life.

Fed-up with the cycle of recidivism, drug use, and not being able to have access to his children, Mark is thrilled to be drug-free since December.

“The community, even the police officers, my family, are all proud of me. The police now say ‘good on you, keep it up’ and are smiling at me and not arresting me.”

It’s not just Mark who is pleased about his progress either, his Probation Officer Adam Morris played an instrumental role in getting him into, and motivating him to stay in the residential treatment offered by the Salvation Army.

Prior to treatment, Adam built a rapport with Mark and helped him with small challenges such as staying straight in the days leading up to reporting to Community Corrections. He then worked with him after he returned home by providing one on one intervention and support.

Becoming clean has been a challenging journey for Mark, who has been in rehab twice before, as well as serving sentences in prison. He acknowledges his Christian faith as being a big part of his recovery as well as gaining stable employment with a family member. Mark says he feels like he has the innocence of youth back that he felt prior to his drug addiction.

Addictions can be a significant barrier to living an offence-free life says Rotorua, Taupo, Tokoroa District Manager Raema Mackay.

“Often personal drug and alcohol issues can contribute to offending. Corrections’ aims to reduce re-offending and to do this, we need to address the issues that people face that relate to their reasons for committing crime. Even if the addiction is not directly associated to the person’s offending, it is still a barrier to other protective factors that can prevent further offending such as education, employment or accommodation. We need to look at the wider solution that gives people the tools to turn their lives around.”

Mark is not alone, many Corrections staff have similar success stories says Raema.

“Alongside the programmes available in our prisons, Corrections works collaboratively with our partners such as the Salvation Army, Care NZ, local District Health Boards, and the Ministry of Health to coordinate treatment services for people serving sentences in the community. There are really passionate people working in this field who are helping Corrections to make our communities safer through the treatment they provide.”

More than 50 percent of crime is committed by people under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Corrections continues to increase drug and alcohol treatment and target programmes to those who need assistance to overcome these issues.

*name changed to ensure privacy

ENDS

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