The Irish prison service CONNECT project

The Irish Prison Service mission statement asserts, "The mission of the Irish Prison Service is to provide safe, secure and humane custody for people who are sent to prison. The service is committed to managing custodial sentences in a way that encourages and supports prisoners in their endeavoring to live law-abiding and purposeful lives as valued members of society."

As part of the effort to implement the second part of the mission statement, the Irish Prison Service established the CONNECT Project in 1998, with the goal of creating effective pathways for inmates to follow from custody to employment after their release. Central to this objective is preparation of an individualized vocational program that takes into account all facets of inmates' vocational needs and involves inmates in planning how to use the services available both inside and outside the correctional facility.

Last June, 2,705 men and 458 women made up the Irish prison population. Of those, 431 men and 27 women were awaiting trial. Supervising the inmates are 3,100 staff members, 147 of whom work in central headquarters. Of the 2,953 institutional staff, 2,479 are line-level correctional officers working in 17 facilities. The Irish system classifies its institutions as closed prisons (12 facilities), open centers (three) and semi-open centers (two). The designation Is based on perimeter security and internal inmate regime (the program being run by the particular institution). A semi-open center has the perimeter security of a closed prison while maintaining the inmate regime appropriate to an open center. Firearms are not used by correctional staff at any internal or perimeter post at any facility.

The Irish prison system originated from the 19th-century English penitentiary system, which was based on the concept of solitary cells for all inmates. The open and semi-open locations were introduced to promote rehabilitation and are regulated by the Prisons Act of 1970. Under most circumstances, a person must be 18 or older to be incarcerated. However, courts may commit a juvenile age 15 to 17 to a prison sentence under provisions of the 1908 Children's Act for very serious offenses and if the court determines the circumstances warrant it. Sixty-three percent of the system's offenders are age 21 to 40, with 29 the average age at time of commitment. Although 61 percent of those in prison are sentenced to more than two years, most serve less time; the average length is 11 months.

The CONNECT Project

The CONNECT Project began as a collaboration among the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and the National Training and Development Institute of the Rehab Group, an independent, nonprofit organization working for social and economic inclusion for people with disabilities, as well as others who are marginalized. Originally, the project was both a research and an action program intended to produce a comprehensive, objective analysis of the existing vocational preparation programs for inmates. It then developed and implemented strategies and systems to fill the gaps on a pilot basis. The project was funded by the European Union INTEGRA Employment initiative, an international grant-making program, but since 2000, the Irish government has funded it through its grant-making program, the National Development Plan.

Although the CONNECT Project is being established in all correctional facilities, it started in three Dublin-based facilities. Mountjoy is Ireland's largest prison and houses up to 650 inmates. The population generally comes from low-income families, in which unemployment and low academic achievement are the norm. The Training Unit is a semi-open prison that houses up to 96 inmates and was set up to provide formalized training and promote rehabilitation. It now is a drug-free prison and the population is similar to that of Mountjoy. The Dochas Center is the new women's prison in the Mountjoy Prison complex and houses the majority of approximately 80 female offenders in the Irish prison system. Research in Ireland on female inmates is very limited, but it appears that the Dochas Center population is highly transient and most of them have children for whom they are the primary caregivers.

The CONNECT Project had the task of establishing clear and effective links between the situation in custody, which is highly structured with minimal opportunity for independent decision-making, the available training and educational opportunities, and the transition to employment or additional training/education after release. Within this aim, the project operated with a number of more specific objectives, including:

Enabling and encouraging inmates to make well-informed choices about their future, and how to use their time in custody beneficially so as to prepare for their return to society, and more specifically, the labor market;

Evaluating existing work and training service provisions in prison to ascertain whether it meets the needs of the various client groups (e.g., male and female offenders and those serving long sentences) and to develop strategies to fill any gaps; and

Establishing clear and effective links between in-prison and outof-prison services, including links with employers, training agencies, educational establishments, voluntary agencies and other projects providing services for ex-offenders.

According to O'Donoghue, the project involved extensive consultation and partnership within the prison and with the probation and prison education services, as well as the wider community. "The whole process of engagement with the individual participants in CONNECT has been around the needs and aspirations of the individual prisoner," he said. "A key feature in the project is the central role of the prison officers. They play a key mentoring role for all participants and are a vital part of the multidisciplinary team involved in the process. The multidisciplinary approach is the only way forward in prisoner rehabilitation."

Project Phases

The project was divided into four phases, each of which included research and action components. Phases 1 and 2 of the project examined the perceptions of inmates, staff and management regarding inmates' needs in order to identify the system's strengths and weaknesses. Suggestions for improvements also were elicited to establish how inmates' needs could be better met. Phase 2 also examined more specific areas: the needs of female and longterm inmates, as well as an evaluation of training provisions in the Training Unit and the possibility of introducing certified training programs in the workshops in Mountjoy. Phase 3 research focused on links with the outside community. It involved surveys of the attitudes of employers, training agencies, educational establishments and community services to the integration of exoffenders into their systems. Phase 4 research consisted of an evaluation of all actions taken throughout the lifespan of the project to determine their effectiveness in relation to project aims and objectives.

As noted in the July 2001 National Training and Development Institute Report of the project from 1998 through 2000, "Phase I findings showed that while no area of need appeared to be totally neglected, no area of need appeared to be fully met. Prisoners and staff differed in their opinions and perceptions of the situation in relation to many of the issues addressed. Most services were not in a position to be able to deal with the demand. Prisoners who were involved in developmental activities did not appear to be using them to their full advantage or working toward any clear goals."

The report continued, "Phase 2 research, which examined the needs of female prisoners and how they are being met, coincided with the women's move to the newly built Dochas Center. The results of this research pointed to a need for greater choice in terms of developmental activities. The women were not making choices based on any planning for their futures and needed more assistance in their decision-making. Many of the women were interested in employment or training but the information they had about their options was very limited. Training provision in the prison also needed to be linked to the interests of the women and job opportunities in the community."

The above examples of initial findings should not surprise anyone who works in a correctional facility. The recommendations, which the CONNECT Project helped implement, included the development and introduction of a needs assessment system, individual program planning system, prevocational training program, job-specific vocational training and a bridging program for those moving from the drug treatment program in the medical unit to a different regime in the training unit. Certified training programs also were introduced in several areas, including computers, electronics, welding, industrial cleaning, general engineering and baking. In fact, chefs from some of Dublin's leading establishments were reviewing the training process used there to incorporate it within their own kitchens. Certification also is given in the European Computer Driving License program.

Phase 3 of the project specifically examined the needs of offenders reintegrating into the community after release. Research was conducted to assess the willingness of employers, community services, educational establishments and training agencies to accept ex-offenders. Half the employers surveyed reported that they would consider hiring ex-offenders. The percentage increased to 63 percent if support would be provided. Referrals on an individual basis were seen as the most effective way of facilitating integration and working to change the community's attitude toward ex-offenders.

From the offenders' standpoint, the program begins with the Options Program, the prevocational training component designed to provide personal development training and jobseeking skills. Twelve participants take part in the program five days per week for 14 weeks. They are encouraged to ask themselves how they can use their time in custody to their optimal personal development benefit. Participants are chosen via a fourstage application process culminating in an interview. The individual must be motivated to change, not drugdependent and unclear about his or her vocational direction.

The second stage is the Vocational Needs Assessment and Individual Program Process (IPP). The needs assessment was designed to elicit the needs of each individual in a holistic way. It assesses needs in all areas of the individual's life and culminates in a report detailing his or her strengths and areas in need of development. The assessment outcome is fed back to the inmate by his or her IPP mentor. The IPP system provides a structure by which the individual can plan his or her sentence with the assistance of all relevant agencies within and outside the prison service. It takes a multidisciplinary approach to ensure that offenders make the best use of time spent in custody in a supportive way. Program staff stress that "the aim of the process is to encourage the individual to plan for the future and to take structured and well-planned steps to ensure that any obstacles which may exist to prevent them from living a crime-free life on release are recognized and tackled. It also attempts to get individuals to take responsibility for their own actions and to take steps to change any negative behavior patterns they have set up in the past."

According to O'Donoghue, "The main result from the first stage of the CONNECT Project was the creation of a process which could clearly benefit prisoners in their preparation for employment after release. There also were some interesting facts and figures: 174 prisoners, both men and women, participated in the first stage (as of Nov. 1, 2000); of those, 76 have been released. Of the 76 who were released: 26 percent started jobs immediately, 7 percent had further training, 5 percent received residential drug treatment and 58 percent lost contact with the (prison) service. Most remarkably, of the 76 who were released, only 4 percent have been returned to prison. This needs to be set against a national pattern of 70 percent recidivism in the (Irish) prison system."

O'Donoghue best summarized the reason for the CONNECT Project as: "Prison systems always reflect the society they serve, the good and the bad features. Mountjoy Prison has, for instance, been described in the past as the 'cracked mirror of Irish society.' I want the Irish prison system to consistently reflect in its policies and actions the very best features of our society. These positive features of Irish life include a commitment to social cohesion and inclusion, equality and human progress. CONNECT is a shining example of this communitarian approach and I commend all involved in its inception and delivery."