Identifying barriers to participation for prison release customers 001-09020130

Immediately after release from prison, most job seekers will find it difficult to focus on looking for work, as many will need to sort out basic personal needs such as food, clothing and short-term shelter.

If a job seeker has no place to stay, or no long-term address, this will be a very high priority for assistance. The Service Officer may be able to help with this type of issue (or refer them to appropriate specialists such as a social worker) when conducting pre-release interviews.

Parole or court order requirements (a restrictive order).

The need to comply with these can affect the activities the job seeker can undertake. For example, if they have been instructed to undertake drug rehabilitation.

For more information, see Court Order impacts table.

Many employers are reluctant or hesitant to offer work to job seekers with a criminal record.

Mental illness or intellectual disability - a significant number of people imprisoned may have one or both of these issues.

Substance abuse - some job seekers may need to resume or start treatment such as methadone programs. Many of these may need to find a general practitioner (GP) on the day of their release and find other program providers.

Many job seekers in this group have experienced interrupted or truncated education.

Even if a job seeker would otherwise require little assistance with participation, the effects of being institutionalised can be very marked, particularly in the weeks after release. Some job seekers may be suffering from acquired conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and/or:

• poor social skills/anger management. Some job seekers may have issues like these, which can lead to problems if they are confronted with unfamiliar or challenging situations
• low self-esteem, poor motivation. A job seeker's self-perception may limit what they believe their options to be. Some people may have difficulty imagining success in training, education and formal employment
• poor living skills. Many job seekers in this group may have poorly developed skills in areas such as budgeting or planning ahead

A job seeker's payments may be reduced immediately by current debt withholdings. This can make budgeting even more difficult.

As the customer often arrives at their Services Australia office straight from the prison, they may not have sufficient identity documents to support their claim. This can lead to either rejection of their claim or cancellation of payment after several weeks.

Some remand inmates can be released directly from a court hearing and may not have Release Papers or their belongings from prison.

Other customers, who have no stable residence and/or family support or structure, may just not have or own a Birth Certificate, Passport or other fundamental identity document.

Customers will need identity documentation for other purposes to re-establish themselves, such as for bank accounts or accommodation.

See the Resources page for a link to the Prison and Offender Servicing homepage and Alternative Identity.

The challenges faced by customers undertaking a Community Service Order may include:

• contact with the criminal justice system. A person serving a Community Service Order may also have a conviction, and may have been imprisoned in relation to an offence. This will present a barrier to employment, particularly if the job seeker applies for work with employers who wish to conduct police checks
• lack of flexibility to take up other opportunities, such as employment or attending classes
• difficulty establishing a routine to meet Community Service Order requirements
• general issues experienced by young people. Job seekers taking part in Community Service Orders tend to be younger, e.g. lack of work experience, limited skills, more limited job opportunities, unstable or short-term accommodation, unreliable access to transport
• other issues such as drug and/or alcohol problems or lack of family support

It will be common for job seekers in this group to have a Job Seeker Snapshot Initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) flag once the Job Seeker Snapshot is run.

In this case, a participation deferment of up to 4 weeks may also be applied. This means that the initial Service Officer interview can be deferred until after that time.

These customers have strict conditions when they are released from prison including requirements to attend for supervision, monitoring or assessment as directed, a prohibition on changing address without approval and a requirement to notify of any changes in employment.

The Adult Parole Board may impose additional rigorous conditions, including electronic monitoring, residential control, no Internet access, no contact with children and restricted access to certain areas within their community.

The restrictions are specific to each individual and can be in place for an average of 8 to 10 years.

The challenges faced by customers under ESO include:

• lack of flexibility to take up other opportunities, such as employment or attending classes
• other issues such as drug and/or alcohol problems or lack of family support
• ongoing contact with the criminal justice system: A person under an ESO has a conviction and has completed their sentence but is considered to have a high likelihood of re-offending. This will present a barrier to employment, particularly if the job seeker applies for work with employers who wish to conduct police checks

The restrictions imposed by an ESO mean some customers cannot meet their mutual obligation requirements. In some circumstances, a 13 week Major Personal Crisis (MPC) exemption is appropriate for these customers. Importantly, a 13 week MPC exemption should only be granted when a customer's circumstances make it unreasonable for them to meet any of their mutual obligation requirements.

Before an exemption is granted consideration should be given to adjusting or reducing a person's requirements. Where the customer is provider managed this is the responsibility of their Employment Services Provider. Employment Services Providers are required to provide individually tailored support to meet the needs of each customer.

Where a Service officer decides a 13 week MPC exemption is appropriate, it can be coded, then reviewed every 13 weeks and extended as appropriate. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: select most appropriate reason
• Due Date: 13 weeks after the exemption is granted
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Review exemption granted for jobseeker with ESO. Return to OB 001-09120030 for action.'
• Keywords: CSO
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action..