I am extremely honoured to have been asked to formally open the Bridge
Project’s new premises here in Francis Street. Since its move from Parnell
Street four years ago, ‘Bridge’ has operated from a variety of locations,
but I hope that the project has finally found a permanent home.
Since its inception, the Bridge Project has been to the forefront of
meeting the changing needs and priorities of offenders.
Together with the Probation Service, over the years the Bridge Project has
engaged in the development and delivery of effective, structured
intervention programmes.
These programmes are now being used nationally both by the Probation
Service and other Community Based Organisations. The Probation Service
together with ‘Bridge’ has also fostered a support, research and
development capacity in order to ensure these programmes accord with
international best practice.
In particular, Bridge has been involved in the development and introduction
of a range of national, evidence-based offending behaviour programmes, such
as the Choice & Challenge Group Work programme, Living with Life, and an
Alcohol Awareness programme.
The Bridge Project is an innovative preview of where penal policy is
heading. The Penal Policy Review Group Report in 2014 recognised that our
penal system must support the rehabilitation and reintegration of
offenders, encouraging and supporting them to resist becoming
re-engaged in criminal behaviour.
The Report also states that while imprisonment serves an important role, it
can adversely affect a person’s job prospects, family links, access to
accommodation and social attitude. This negatively impacts on the
person’s rehabilitation and their chances of re-integrating into the
community. It also may ultimately impact on whether they will be able to
avoid further criminal activity.
Many offenders come from difficult backgrounds and have complex needs such
as alcohol or drug problems, literacy skills and social skills. They
require a broad range of support and assistance if they are to make better
choices. Engagement in education and training, and access to behaviour
management and treatment services can be crucial to the successful
rehabilitation and reintegration of an offender.
All of this is best achieved, as far as possible, in a non-custodial
environment. Specialised initiatives and support services are often best
delivered within the community itself by projects such as Bridge and
others.
The Probation Service has always worked in partnership with a range of
community based organisations. This year, through my Department, the
Probation Service has provided €10.7 million directly to Community Based
Organisations working with adults and the Irish Youth Justice Service has
provided €5 million through the Probation Service to the Young Person
Probation projects.
When an offender is leaving prison, we have a duty to ensure they have
access to the necessary services and supports. The work of community based
organisations is therefore crucial to ensuring that the appropriate
supports and services are put in place when offenders are released from
prison.
Dr Mary Rogan, Chairperson of the Implementation Oversight Group, recently
provided me with an update on the Penal Policy Review Group’s work and I
welcome the fact that they are continuing to prioritise the advancement of
the Group’s recommendations in the area of interdepartmental and
interagency working.
I will continue to encourage the criminal justice agencies to work closely
together in adopting a common approach to offender management and
rehabilitation. Their common goal is to maintain public safety through the
reduction of offending by those in their care, whether the offenders are
placed directly under Probation supervision by the Courts or sentenced to
custody.
One excellent example of this inter-agency co-operation is the Joint Agency
Response to Crime (JARC), which I launched in September. Its aim is to
tackle, in a co-ordinated way, those prolific offenders who cause a high
level of harm or disruption in communities, and it involves collaboration
between An Garda Síochána, the Probation Service and the Irish Prison
Service.
Breaking the cycle of offending is essential to reducing crime and
protecting the public. We know that a disproportionate amount of property
crime, some 75%, is linked to 25% of offenders. So it makes sense to
concentrate on these repeat offenders and examine how we can
collaboratively change their behaviour.
It is my vision to see the integration of services extend beyond
collaboration between justice agencies. I would like to see a whole of
Government approach developed that prevents an offending lifestyle from
developing in the first place. The better use and earlier application of
resources, resulting in better outcomes is a key recommendation from the
Review of Penal Policy, and it is something I intend to build on.
The Change Works Programme is the Dublin Regional Initiative of JARC, which
targets violent and persistent offenders by challenging them to identify
and change their behaviour patterns.
I want to acknowledge and commend Bridge’s role in delivering the JARC
initiative in the Dublin inner city area. I also wish to acknowledge the
efforts and progress made by the participants here today, who have engaged
with the programmes in Bridge and motivated themselves to address the
factors that led to the offending behaviour in the first place and who are
making the positive changes necessary in their lives.
We can be optimistic that, with the right level of supports and
interventions, people previously involved in crime can progress to very
worthwhile and successful lives.
I also want to formally launch the Bridge Project’s Strategic Plan for the
next three years up to 2019.
The plan commits the organisation to continue working in close
collaboration with the Probation Service, and specifically
· supporting the Probation Service developing and rolling out a range
of evidence based programmes for national implementation,
· implementing JARC,
· creating innovative pathways that support the journey from detention
to education & training and onwards into employment,
· and aiming to have the project recognised as a high quality practice
incubator and centre for learning within the criminal justice sector.
So to conclude, I want to once again pay tribute to the incredible and
important work of the Bridge Project, its staff and its participants over
the last 25 years. I hope the new premises being officially opened here in
Francis Street will enable the work of the Project to continue for the next
25 years and I wish you every success.