A successful Australia-first drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in a WA prison will soon shut down due to overcrowding, in what is a “devastating blow” for men in the system dealing with addiction, the state’s prison inspector said.
The Mallee Solid Steps program, run by Palmerston Association and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation at Casuarina Prison in WA, provides a therapeutic, community-based approach to substance use rehabilitation.
The nine-month program is based in a standalone unit within the prison and provides five days per week with trained health experts, counsellors and support staff.
More than 300 people have completed the rehabilitation program since it was launched in 2021.
But due to the rapidly increasing prison population in WA, the program at Casuarina will soon be shut down, with the unit instead to be used for general prison cells.
This is despite the WA Department of Justice itself saying that the program had been an “unqualified success”.
The imminent end of the program was revealed in a report by the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS), which raised the alarm on conditions within WA prisons driven by overcrowding and understaffing.
“This is a devastating blow to the many men who are struggling with addiction and hoped to be accepted into the program,” the report said.
A spokesperson for the WA Department of Justice said that the closure of the program was necessary to “manage increased prisoner populations state-wide”, and that a new alcohol and other drugs recovery and rehabilitation program would be starting at Bunbury Regional Prison later this year.
This new program will be run by the same providers as Solid Steps.
The Solid Steps program has contributed to “behavioural changes among participants, reduced self-harm, substance use and violent incidents”, and that most participants have gotten parole and employment after being released.
The program has been “life-changing” for many participants, the OICS said, and had helped to improve communication, life and relationship skills and hopes for the future.
The WA Department of Justice last year said the program was the first of its kind in the country, and was about treating the root cause of addiction and drug-related offending.
It was the first therapeutic community operating within a male maximum security prison in the country, allowing volunteer participants to undertake intensive counselling and education with a focus on their recovery and reintegration into the community.
The program was a finalist in the WA Alcohol and Other Drug Excellence Awards last year in the Improving Alcohol and Other Drug Outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples.
The Solid Steps program will cease running from August.
A successful Australia-first drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in a WA prison will soon shut down due to overcrowding, in what is a “devastating blow” for men in the system dealing with addiction, the state’s prison inspector said.
The Mallee Solid Steps program, run by Palmerston Association and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation at Casuarina Prison in WA, provides a therapeutic, community-based approach to substance use rehabilitation.
The nine-month program is based in a standalone unit within the prison and provides five days per week with trained health experts, counsellors and support staff.
More than 300 people have completed the rehabilitation program since it was launched in 2021.
But due to the rapidly increasing prison population in WA, the program at Casuarina will soon be shut down, with the unit instead to be used for general prison cells.
This is despite the WA Department of Justice itself saying that the program had been an “unqualified success”.
The imminent end of the program was revealed in a report by the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS), which raised the alarm on conditions within WA prisons driven by overcrowding and understaffing.
“This is a devastating blow to the many men who are struggling with addiction and hoped to be accepted into the program,” the report said.
A spokesperson for the WA Department of Justice said that the closure of the program was necessary to “manage increased prisoner populations state-wide”, and that a new alcohol and other drugs recovery and rehabilitation program would be starting at Bunbury Regional Prison later this year.
This new program will be run by the same providers as Solid Steps.
The Solid Steps program has contributed to “behavioural changes among participants, reduced self-harm, substance use and violent incidents”, and that most participants have gotten parole and employment after being released.
The program has been “life-changing” for many participants, the OICS said, and had helped to improve communication, life and relationship skills and hopes for the future.
The WA Department of Justice last year said the program was the first of its kind in the country, and was about treating the root cause of addiction and drug-related offending.
It was the first therapeutic community operating within a male maximum security prison in the country, allowing volunteer participants to undertake intensive counselling and education with a focus on their recovery and reintegration into the community.
The program was a finalist in the WA Alcohol and Other Drug Excellence Awards last year in the Improving Alcohol and Other Drug Outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples.
The Solid Steps program will cease running from August.
