The Corrections Department is investigating why its drug and alcohol treatment programmes for prisoners have become less effective.
The latest data shows that the department's rehabilitation programmes have had very little impact on preventing prisoners from reoffending.
Corrections' director of mental health and addiction services Emma Gardner told 1News that, while in the past the programmes made a real difference, "the figures are showing that at the moment the programmes aren't as effective as they used to be".
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Gardner said Corrections was now investigating what was going wrong. She hoped it was a statistical glitch rather than a problem with the content of the programmes.
In 2018, Corrections terminated several of its short alcohol and support programmes because they were completely ineffective.
Nearly 90% of prisoners have a substance abuse disorder at some point in their lives. But, in the year to June, only 700 or 9% of prisoners accessed a treatment programme.
Gardner said Covid-19 meant Corrections had to pause many of its addiction treatment programmes for prisoners and it was still finding it tough to get them restarted.
"Just recently, we recommenced our drug treatment programmes at Hawke's Bay prison and then, unfortunately, there was an outbreak of some Covid cases in the prison. So, we've had to temporarily pause that," she said.
However, drug and alcohol counsellor Roger Brooking said Corrections drug treatment programmes were a waste of time and reduced reoffending by only 1%.
"Whether it is 700 people getting treatment in prison or 1000 prisoners getting treatment, it doesn't make any difference because those programmes don't work anyway."
Brooking, who has worked as a drug and alcohol counsellor for 18 years, said many prisoners had complex needs, including mental health.
Brooking said, for treatment programmes to succeed, these issues must also be considered. He said that didn't happen in prison.
The National Party's corrections spokesperson Simon O'Connor said it was disturbing how few prisoners were accessing drug and alcohol treatment.
"These programmes at least send the signal to these prisoners that the community still believes in them and they're worthy of some investment."
O'Connor acknowledged the drug and alcohol programmes had a very low success rate but said they were still worthwhile.
"They don't work for all, but they do work for some... any prisoner whose life is turned around from a rehabilitation programme is a success, and we have to keep trying."
The Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis was in Covid isolation and unable to provide a response for this story.
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