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Ground breaking research underway

Groundbreaking research on the effects of imprisonment on children with a parent in prison is to be undertaken over the next three years - the first of its kind in New Zealand.

PILLARS was one of the first recipients of the funding through the Lottery Community Sector Research, a new fund established by the New Zealand Lottery Board, to further its aim of fostering the development and application of knowledge in and for New Zealand communities.

PILLARS is a community-based organisation that supports prisoners’ children and their families through volunteer mentors, social workers and other support services.

The research which will survey 250 prisoners and 40 families in its first year is a joint partnership between PILLARS and Network Research. It will also engage with policy makers and community organisations.

Chief executive of PILLARS, Verna McFelin, is very excited about the three-year project and looks forward to receiving the results.

“We know that children of prisoners are more likely to suffer poor education and social outcomes, to be poorly adjusted, and to become offenders themselves,” she says.

To back up her comments, Verna cites recent research from Canada where 59.7 per cent of adult inmates are children of prisoners and a recent report from USA stated 48%.

New Zealand does not even have statistics available about how many children have parents who are in prison.

“This concerns us because changing Government policies have seen an increase in the number of prisoners, and an expected growth from 9,000 prisoners to 14,000 in the next eight years.”

“We are looking forward to filling the gaps in our knowledge about these high risk prisoners’ children so that we can provide effective services based on the New Zealand environment and not on international research.”

The study will be managed by Dr Liz Gordon, Director of Network Research who will lead the research.

“We want to know whether these children saw their parents arrested, do they have on-going contact with them and how do they interact with them”, says Liz Gordon.

“The study will also look at the social, health, family and educational needs of the prisoners so we can understand the impact of parental imprisonment on the child and family.”

The end result will be the development of a framework for action which will provide the basis for agency intervention to prevent poor child outcomes and inter-generational imprisonment.

“We are very excited to receive funding for this ground-breaking research project and know that at the end of the day children throughout New Zealand will benefit from the results,” says Verna McFelin.

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Introducing PILLARS
Supporting children of prisoners to break the crime cycle 
 
PILLARS has been 20 years supporting the children of prisoners. Donating to PILLARS is a positive way to help fight crime. You can donate online by linking through to a secured website by clicking on the Donation Button at the top right hand corner of this page or go to "How to Help" on the Menu bar.
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The PILLARS programme is a concerted effort to break the cycle of crime in New Zealand - for good!
Approximately 13,000 children in New Zealand are "sentenced" to separation from their imprisoned parent - mainly fathers. Despite these staggering numbers, however, the children of prisoners remain largely invisible.

Research shows that children of prisoners are 6 - 7 times more likely to end up in prison than any other child without intervention. We believe we could significantly cut the crime rate in 10 years if every prisoners child  in New Zealand was matched with a pro-social mentor,

Our Mission

"To work towards a crime free society by providing support servicboy.jpges to  youth and children of prisoners and their families / whanau, aimed at breaking the cycle of intergenerational crime and lowering the rate of imprisonment."

Our Objectives 
  • To be a national voice for children of prisoners, representing their views and directly influencing policy and legislation.
  • To provide innovative best practice models of support for children of prisoners to break the cycle of intergenerational offending.
  • To raise awareness of issues affecting children of prisoners.
  • Contribute to cutting edge research on crime prevention and reduction.

Programme Goals

  • Break the cycle of imprisonment within the family.
  • Provide quality mentors for children of prisoners to help them overcome the trauma and instability of having a parent in prison.
  • Assist with providing children with a safe and secure environment in which to grow up.
  • Help children to expand inner strength by conquering the risk factors involved in having a parent in prison and expand the protective factors and resiliency needed to live a productive, crime free life.

PILLARS provide a free non-judgmental and confidential service. As we rely on financial support to provide our services, a koha / donation is appreciated.

PILLARS is a registered charity under the Charities Act 2005, Registration Number: CC23953, and all donations over $5 qualify for a tax rebate.

 

Job Vacancies

Here you will find Job Vacancies at Pillars

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Interested In Mentoring?

Introduction sessions run frequently and will include: who PILLARS is, what we do, the specifics of the Mentoring Programme, what will be required of you as a volunteer, and will briefly look at some of the issues facing the children.
This session runs for approximately one hour, and at the end you will know whether the mentoring programme is for you.

Please contact:
CHRISTCHURCH
Deborah Porter
03) 377 3990 x705
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AUCKLAND
Helen Cheng
09) 262 2639
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