Services
PARS - People At Risk Solutions has a long history (117 years) of providing services to prisoners, released prisoners, and their families/whanau. PARS is informed and underpinned by kaupapa Maori and provides culturally appropriate support for all clients. A range of specialist services are delivered at a critical time to break down the barriers to living a positive, productive and crime-free lifestyle. The PARS team are effective navigators to a place of safety and inclusiveness. The staff build capability and sense of responsibility in each client to make achievable changes for a better future.
Our services include:
Community Mentoring Programme
Some people have a support network and the required social
skills to reintegrate into the community following release, yet for
others it can seem daunting. The Community Mentoring programme is
all about helping released prisoners readjust to life outside of
prison. It offers one-one-one support, by specially trained
volunteers, to help establish support networks, promote healthy
decision-making, enhance social skills and encourage released
prisoners to navigate their lives independently.
Pasifika Mentoring Programme
In the same way that prisoners are best off if supported by
people that care and want the best for them upon release, it can
also be beneficial to be immersed in a familiar cultural
environment. The Pasifika Mentoring programme enables just that -
with life skills, social skills and connection with the community
facilitated in a culturally sensitive way.
National Child Travel
Fund
At PARS, we recognise that families/whanau play an important
part in a prisoner's re-integration into their community. When a
loved one is imprisoned, it can put extra stresses, and extra
costs, on families. With little other help available, the reality
is that it may not be viable to visit often. PARS provide a travel
subsidy to help encourage strong family relationships. PARS is also
the National Administrator of the Child Travel Fund on behalf of
the Prisoners Aid & Rehabilitation Societies through out New
Zealand and the Salvation Army reintegration service.
Whanau Visits
For families/whanau of prisoners, there is often little support
and many struggle to visit loved ones as often as they would like.
At PARS, we believe continued whanau relationships are vital to
wellbeing and to positive re-integration following release. To
support this, we have a team who volunteer their time to bring
whanau to visit prisoners.
Reintegration Support for Long Servers (RSLS) and Emergency
Accommodation.
The main focus of this service is to support high-risk,
high-need long serving prisoners through their transitioninto the
community to enable them to develop skills and strategies to lead
independent and productive lives.
Supported accommodation
It can be daunting to face release from prison with nowhere else
to go. Recognising the need for support to break the cycle of
reoffending, PARS has been providing supported accommodation in
Auckland for over a decade, with safe, self-care environments and
theurpeutic community living immediately following release and
support to then help released prisoners find independent, long-term
solutions.
Emergency accommodation
Long term sustainable accommodation is a challenge for many .
This service supports high-risk and / or high-need community
offenders through their transition to sustainable accommodation by
meeting their immediate accommodation needs.