The City of Dublin VEC established the Pathways Project in 1996. It was envisaged as "a mechanism to enhance existing educational provision in prison and to bridge the gap between prison (and more specifically prison education) and mainstream employment, training and education."
The initial project (1996-98) was EU-funded and included the development of new educational programmes and initiatives, including a literacy CD-ROM, as well as pre-release courses and a post-release centre (the first of its kind in the State).
Most of the workers in the post-release centre are prison teachers or ex-prisoners, who are aware of the specific needs and problems of ex-prisoners.
There is no statutory obligation to provide support of any kind to ex-prisoners, so the onus is largely on the individuals themselves to seek out available opportunities. The evidence suggests that very few do so. The most common barriers to accessing education on release include addiction problems, lack of information and lack of confidence. Homelessness is also an issue. It's difficult to focus on education when you're sleeping on a piece of cardboard in a doorway.
An evaluation of Pathways found that only 10 per cent of beneficiaries had re-offended, compared to a general recidivist rate of 80 per cent. While it was not possible to establish that Pathways prevented participants re-offending, it is likely that involvement in the centre's activities contributed significantly.
Surely there's a case for establishing a network of similar post-release centres, to support ex-prisoners in their own communities? As John Lonergan, governor of Dublin's Mountjoy Prison, said in 1998: "Pathways has demonstrated what can be done, given resources. There is always money to build prisons, but not to give resources. Money should be put into disadvantaged areas to develop infrastructures." Maybe the new government will lead the way?
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