Prison service marks progress in rehabilitation efforts

(CNS): Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service (HMCIPS) has been criticised for many years for its revolving door, partly due to a fundamental lack of investment in proper rehabilitation programmes. However, recent steps to change that include a partnership with the University of the West Indies to deliver education and skills training to inmates.

At the Inaugural Awards Ceremony, held recently following the first year of this programme, 37 inmates (eight from Fairbanks Prison and 29 from Northward) and nine HMCIPS officers received certificates for successfully completing their programmes.

The graduating inmates had completed courses ranging from Introduction to Computers and Small Business Management to Basic English Language. Some inmates received more than one certificate, HMCIPS noted in a release. The nine HMCIPS officers received Certificates in Supervisory Management. They were five prison officers (Austin Williams, Oscar Owen, Marlon Watson, Wayne Green and Cesar Tilo), three prison supervisors (Derron Watson, Dr Dwight Simms and Steve Miller), and Adult Education Facilitator Tamar Barclay.

Both Northward and Fairbanks prisons have myriad challenges, largely due to old and inadequate facilities, but HMCIPS is nonetheless trying to offer meaningful programmes to its inmates, which led to the Memorandum of Understanding with UWI in August 2021, the first such partnership in the region.

Some of the inmates who graduated from their initial courses have now expanded their goals and applied for acceptance into the UWI Open Campus’s associate degree and bachelor of science programmes. Other inmates who are not yet ready for this step are being encouraged to pursue bridging courses so that they can become eligible to apply for degree programmes.

Acting Prison Director Daniel Greaves noted that if inmates are given opportunities to develop and build skills, they are more likely to find jobs when they are released, allowing “for a smoother transition as they reintegrate into the community”.

Noting that the MOU with UWI also covers courses for staff, he explained that it has often been the prison officers who delivered programmes to inmates. “A dual purpose of this initiative is to build the institutional capacity of HMCIPS by sharing a range of UWI programmes, instructional resources, and professional development support with prison officers,” Greaves added.

As she congratulated the graduates at the recent awards ceremony, Home Affairs Minister Sabrina Turner said, “Innovative and impactful programmes like this are important as they support the government’s broad policy commitments to improve education, promote lifelong learning and greater economic mobility, as well as provide solutions to improve the well-being of people and help them to achieve their full potential.”

Noting that the Ministry of Home Affairs would continue to invest in rehabilitating offenders, Turner implored both government and private entities to help “people who are embracing positive change” once they are released by providing jobs and other opportunities. “Rehabilitation is about reducing crime, and everyone has a part to play,” she added.

In his remarks, Governor Martyn Roper said it was admirable that the graduates were willing to take the opportunity to turn their lives around. “I hope some of you may use these skills to pursue opportunities for entrepreneurship, which is a major focus of this educational programme,” he said.