Rehabilitation programme for former prisoners reviewed
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The Georgian Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani has evaluated the outcomes of a rehabilitation program initiated by her five years ago, titled Rehabilitation and Resocialization Program for Former Prisoners.
The minister stated that between 2012 and 2017:
- 3,345 former prisoners addressed the Justice Ministry to benefit from the program.
- 527 inmates found jobs.
- 1,233 prisoners have undergone various professional trainings.
- 308 beneficiaries received municipal transport cards free of charge.
- 311 former prisoners have received free of charge psychological assistance.
- 106 business ideas by 108 former prisoners have been financed.
- 823 former prisoners have used health care services free of charge.
- 643 former prisoners have used free legal services.
- 123 former prisoners have removed tattoos, free of charge.
- 65 of the former inmates were underage individuals.
- 532 former prisoners have participated in free sport and health activities.
Participation in the program is voluntary. As soon as a former prisoner asks for support a social worker evaluates his/her needs and offers some of the following services within the program.
Works by former inmates. Photo from the Justice Ministry press office.
- Psychological support.
- Support for health-related problems.
- Professional trainings and help to find a job.
- Support for family members of a former inmate.
- Legal support.
Tsulukiani stated the program is very important to prevent future crimes and help former prisoners start new lives.
This year more juveniles were offered preventative sentences rather than prison terms, says Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani.
Georgia’s Acting Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili told Parliament that the Ministry of Corrections planned to build a new prison for young offenders aged 14-21 years, through the recommendation and support of the European Union (EU).
How do authorities supervise inmates on home detention?
Today a group of diplomatic corps and media representatives saw first-hand how the Ministry remotely controlled juvenile inmates from the newly established Electric Monitoring Centre of the National Probation Agency.
Georgia’s Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili says that the ministry plans to carry out unprecedented reforms in 2018 to encourage employment in prisoners that will lead to a decrease of prison terms.
The Georgian Goju-ryu [the main traditional Okinawan style] karate and the basketball federations have gotten involved in a project of the Georgian Justice Ministry which aims to help juvenile convicts in three prisons of Georgia gain new skills.
The Georgian Justice Ministry, with the partnership of the charity Apkhazeti, has allocated funds for 142 former prisoners between 2013 and 2019 to help them start businesses.
The statistics of 2008 read 445 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants in Georgia, while the figure was 252 per 100,000 in 2018. CoE says that the number of inmates in the Georgian prisons was increasing until 2012 [under the United National Movement], with 516 inmates per 1000,000 in 2012.
Former prisoners and minor convicts will undergo a de-tattooing programme per an agreement between Georgia’s Justice Ministry and Charity Center Abkhazeti.
Flowers grown in the 16th prison of Rustavi in eastern Georgia by convicts will be sold during a flower festival on the Independence Day of Georgia on May 26.
A bill presented by the Georgian Dream ruling party MPs allows inmates to receive a Master’s degree while in prison as the current law regulates the conditions and procedures only for Bachelor’s degree.“The current law, with the involvement of the Ministry of Education and Justice, offers procedures and conditions only for the Bachelor’s degree for inmates. There are no rules for a Master’s degree,” says the bill.