To provide holistic mental health care to our clients utilising the foundations of evidence based practice and the principles of the recovery models to ensure a seamless approach from first contact to discharge/release planning. 

 

Our service rests on the pillars of our knowledge, professionalism and values.

 

As a regional service we provide psychiatric care for identified clients in all the correctional facilities north of the Bombay Hills. This service is delivered in the correctional setting and the facilities are visited on a regular basis.

 

According to a recent study, approximately 50% of people in prisons have the experience of mental illness, compared with around 20% of the general public. Inmates commit suicide 4 to 6 times more often than the general population (76 people suicided in prison between 1969 and 1994). The suicide rate is especially high for Maori in prison, and youths aged 15-19 are most at risk. However, most people in prisons have never received any mental health services.

 

It is hoped that receiving mental health treatment in prisons will help offenders with mental illness towards the road to recovery and rehabilitation, so that they can have hope for a better life, and one which does not involve offending.

 

As the only dedicated Forensic Prison Team in the country, the team consists of: