Jarrod presents his findings.

To refresh your memory, the evaluation looked at reoffending levels of men that had been part of the NI and are now back in the community compared to a general prison population sample; life inside the NI unit; Tū Ora’s initial return to the community and the NI from the perspective or Pathway and Corrections staff.

Dr Gilbert reiterated just how unique the NI and its place within the prisoner reintegration field is, saying that having a programme in partnership with Corrections that is not funded by Corrections does not happen in this country.

"Pathway is doing something no-one else is doing," he says.

Building confidence, communicating more openly and accepting it's okay to be vulnerable were examples of how the NI was making improvements in men’s lives, combined with the practical elements of the NI and activities such as outings to supermarkets or libraries.

That was backed up by our Tū Ora themselves saying the NI was achieving what it set out to do - create powerful change in their lives.

With the NI now well-bedded in, Dr Gilbert says the time was right to tease out what was working particularly well, while also looking at other areas of focus, such as the ongoing need for our men to be kept up to speed with changing technologies.

The next step for Dr Gilbert and his team was to conduct additional surveys with Tū Ora and staff in the future, which he says will provide further relevant data about the NI and its effectiveness.

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