BREAKING OUT

WHEN YOU’RE ON THAT PATH OF

almost going to jail or, worse, in jail, you know you gotta make some radical changes. Life has changed for me for the better... I think, through growth, learning from past mistakes and trying to get ahead to better the future for myself and my family,” says Cruz Hobson of his job placement with FNR Forestry 2019 Ltd through the Department of Corrections. Starting there in silviculture and now cutting logs to length in an 875 Tigercat Machine for Mold Logging, he adds, “It feels good being in the bush. Time goes quick in the fresh air.”

Cruz, 29, is one of many ex-offenders who have found their way in forestry thanks to the Department of Corrections’ own recruitment service, titled This Way for Work. Though he didn’t spend time behind bars, he was on home detention on electronic monitoring for four months.

Julie Wilson, Manager Employment Services for the Department of Corrections says since November 2016, over 200 people have been placed into forestry and logging jobs, with 36 people into employment in forestry between 1 June 2021 and March 2022.

Explaining how the programme came about, she says, “We have a duty of care to

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people managed by Corrections in prisons and the community – not only to keep them safe and well, but also to give them every opportunity to turn their lives around.

“We know that when we give people support and assistance with employment, as well as with education, accommodation and life skills, they leave our management with a strong foundation from which they can establish a life free from crime. This reduces reoffending and keeps our communities safe.”

Since the majority of prisoners have no formal qualifications and limited education or work experience prior to coming to prison, throughout their time in custody, they are provided with educational opportunities ranging from intensive literacy and numeracy support to tertiary level qualifications. The range of qualifications covers primary industries, creative industries, construction and infrastructure, manufacturing and technology and tikanga Māori. Short courses include driver licences, first aid, health and safety, scaffolding, and forklift operation.

“Many prisoners undertake employment within prisons. We try to ensure that the skills and experience people gain during their time in prison are a good match for their employment upon release. Forestry has been one of the business-like industries operating in prisons for a long time, so it made sense to include forestry as part of the This Way for Work recruitment service when it was launched in November 2016. Along with forestry, there are over 140 businesslike industries operating in prisons across the country, ranging from laundry to kitchen work to dairy farming,” says Julie.

A win-win In Cruz’s case, since he was on home detention and already had his forestry qualifications, he didn’t need to undergo training. Raised watching his father and brother fixing cars, rebuilding gearboxes was his first occupation at the age of 19.

“Fixing everyone's cars, I didn’t have time to do my own, so my brother got me into the Forestry industry when I was 21. We worked together for a few years right up to when he had an accident in the bush…”

After tragedy struck, Cruz moved to Australia for three years: “I moved over to Australia to try and put that behind me as it was hard losing my brother at our workplace. He was the one who introduced me into the forestry field. He worked in there since he was 15 years old. I also have an uncle in the bush, and mates. Forestry runs through our blood.”

After a car accident resulted in Cruz finishing up work over there, COVID hit “and I knew it was time to come home”. Back in New Zealand, Cruz says he started renovations on his house, found himself in

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1. Cruz Hobson (left) with FNR

Forestry 2019 Managing Director,

Jeremy Parkinson.

2. Part of the role of the crew at FNR

Forestry 2019 is fighting fires.

3. Working in the horticulture training nursery at Rimutaka

Prison.

4. FNR Forestry 2019 Managing

Director, Jeremy Parkinson (left), with Department of Corrections

Employment and Training

Consultant, Adam Manukau.

5. Rimutaka Prison.

trouble and eventually got back on track and into the workforce with the help of his probation officer.

Along with helping people with an offending history find and maintain employment, This Way for Work supports the employers who hire them. Managing Director at FNR Forestry 2019, the exclusive silviculture contractor to Summit Forests operating in the Far North, Jeremy Parkinson says the arrangement has been win-win: “We picked up Cruz in November last year. He had worked in forestry before as a machine operator, but no-one wanted to give him an opportunity, so we gave him one. He was really good for us. He was still on an ankle monitor on a night curfew. At any given time, we can have seven or eight guys with monitors. They have to check in with Corrections once a week, so we’ve got a relationship with the Department.

“You’d be staggered at how many guys don’t have driver’s licences. So, we normally pick them up between 6 and 6:30 in the morning and during the winter we don’t get back in until 6 at night. Given the long days, we don’t want the guys to take a day off work to go see their probation officers, so we work with Corrections and check in with them to help support the guys.

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Above: Chainsaw operation is part of the upskilling offered at FNR Forestry 2019.

Below left: FNR Forestry 2019 Crew Supervisor, Alf Preuss, hard at work. Below right: Working in the horticulture training nursery at Waikeria Prison.

A lot of them have drug and alcohol issues so they’re on programmes for that as part of their sentence. We free them up for a day if they’ve got to go and do that.

“When Cruz arrived, our crews were picking avocados in the orchards on ladders, working at heights, so he joined them. He’s also got a fire ticket, so he worked on fires with us. After that, he picked up a job with a logging crew, harvesting, which is actually what he wanted to do. So, it’s been good for both parties. He worked three or four months for me and did a really good job. He’d say he got an opportunity with us that worked out well and now he’s been able to progress onto what he wanted to do.”

And that’s what it’s all about says Julie. “The key benefits of having a job are becoming financially independent, and building a sense of purpose and pride, which can be a big motivator in staying away from crime. Forestry is a particularly good option because many people will have had opportunities to gain relevant skills and experience while they were in prison. Forestry jobs are also available in many parts of the country, so there are employment opportunities for people in a range of locations. The role also often appeals to people because it provides the opportunity to work outside, and because it is a physically active job.”

In transition Most New Zealand prisons offer Level 1 to Level 4 horticulture qualifications. “Where appropriate, we utilise this training by placing job seekers into planting or silviculture roles. From there, there are many career opportunities available. We also offer prisonbased employment in timber processing and wood processing, and this can lead into roles in these areas upon release,” says Julie.

When a prisoner is nearing the end of their sentence, the case manager assigned to them will discuss a release plan which includes employment. If the person wants assistance with finding employment, they are then referred to the employment service. An Employment and Training Consultant (ETC) will assess the individual and, if suitable, accept them into the service.

The service starts with goal setting, developing a career plan, and identifying what knowledge, skills and experience are required in order to reach the person’s employment goal. If the job seeker needs further education or training, they are supported to enrol in it. If this is not required, they move into preparing for a job. ‘This includes creating a CV, mock interviews, and establishing local support networks. The next step is finding a job, where the job seeker is supported to connect with suitable employers and complete applications,” says Julie.

Once a suitable job is found, the job seeker moves into the placement stage, where they attend interviews. ETCs provide support with interview preparation and are able to attend interviews as a support person if necessary. ETCs also help with contract negotiations. After a job placement is finalised, ETCs continue to provide in-work support to both the employer and the new employee for at least three months.

And support is supplied on the job too, says Jeremy: “We meet with the new guys within the first few weeks of their release

and first of all screen them and have a chat. Kaitaia’s a pretty small town so most of them know one or two of the guys that work for me. We emphasise basic foundation skills such as nutrition and hydration, as well as health and safety requirements. Next, we see if they can get through our planting programme which can be up to five months. If they can do that, we know they’ve got it. “The process has been really beneficial. It’s good watching guys work. A lot of them get into trouble when they don’t work; they’re sitting around with time on their hands, so this is a great way to keep them occupied as well as earning money.

“We’ve got our own in-house trainer and Operations Manager, Anthony ‘Shorty’ Murray. As a 63-year-old Maori man he’s really highly respected… you know got a lot of mana. He’s really good at relating to young Māori and Pacifica boys which is 85% of our workforce. We’re a whanauorientated business. All the guys get on really well, so we’ve got a really good culture and environment going.”

To start, everyone goes straight into planting, Jeremy continues: “In an ideal world like this year, it’s looking like we’ve got a big planting contract in Gisborne, so I’m going to go not just Northland-wide but probably mid-central New Zealand too. I’ll look at recruiting a mobile team that will go to Gisborne for a couple of weeks, plant there and have a weekend where they go back again… guys that are unattached that can move around.”

Working in the orchard at Hawkes Bay Regional Prison.

Overcoming challenges As to the challenges, Jeremy says those with an offending history face the same

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challenges as anyone else wanting a career in forestry. “The hours are long, the work is physically demanding, and is often in remote locations so transport can be an issue. In addition, there are significant health and safety risks associated with forestry roles.”

As Director of FNR Forestry 2019, he ought to know: ‘We plant from May to September and we’ve got around 20 guys that are ticketed to operate chainsaws. We have an eight-to-10-man avocado-picking crew and I have a five-man spray crew. During our busy planting times we can go up to 45 guys. We also do firefighting. It’s a high turnover business as it’s very physical… brutally hard. The planting is one of the most difficult jobs with a box of trees on your back.”

And that’s why FNR Forestry 2019’s relationship with the Department of Corrections began. With staffing a challenge, having initially brought workers on through Work and Income’s Mana and Mahi programme – which was getting people started in forestry and offering wage subsidies to transition them to work – it wasn’t long before Jeremy was introduced to ETC, Adam Manukau. FNR Forestry fostered a relationship with him and, in 2020, ran a programme working with 14 of his men.

“We picked them up in April and started running classes for them, so they got all their tickets to go into the forest. It’s a drugfree industry so we drug-tested 14 guys on a Friday afternoon and 12 of them passed. There were a lot of man hugs and high fives and yahoos. Everyone who works for me has to have a clean drug test and there’s random testing throughout the year, so guys can get tested up to six or seven times a year. Those 12 guys started work the following Monday. We lost three guys the first week because it was brutally hard and, over time, during that first year I think we ended up with four guys that we held onto and put into the orchards over summer… then started training the guys up on chainsaws. So, we did the same last year, brought more guys on for planting.”

A step up Jeremy says forestry often serves as a stepping-stone to move on to other careers: “They come and work for me for a couple of years and prove they’re reliable. Like I said, it’s really tough, the planting and then the chainsaw work is very taxing as well. We’ve probably had 20 candidates through Corrections that have come through various degrees of work. Cruz is the most recent one and I’ve got a guy who is currently away on ACC and another, Rex Smith, whose been with me a while, just come back from ACC after a motorbike accident.”

Some do stay long-term Jeremy says. “Yeah, I do have a couple of guys that are now ticketed to operate chainsaws who have been through the Corrections programme. they’ve also got their fire tickets and it’s really pleasing to see them thrive in our company.

“So yeah, it works out well. They get employment, they get upskilled, they get a trade, they become chainsaw operators and they get certification that can get them a job

Above: FNR Forestry 2019’s first intake from the Department of Corrections in 2020. Above right: Fighting fires at FNR Forestry 2019. Right: Planting at FNR Forestry 2019. It isn’t easy with a box of trees on your back.

Carbon farming permanent forest, Tokorahi.

pretty much anywhere in New Zealand and potentially throughout the world.”

Asked if he or his staff had reservations working with ex-offenders, Jeremy is quick to answer, “Not at all”. He says the trouble with the law his workers have mostly encountered has been alcohol-related. “So, all I say to them is ‘everyone deserves a chance’. We don’t really get too much into their offences. We just ask for a bit of a character reference and we’ve got a good relationship with Adam where he only puts candidates forward he knows will fit in with and relate to our guys.

Julie elaborates, “Potential employers provide us with information on the type of person they are looking for, and this includes sentence type and offending history. We match job seekers with each specific employer’s requirements.”

And that does the trick, says Jeremy: “If you look after me by turning up, communicating and working hard I will look after you. And if this job’s not for you I totally understand but you need to come and say, ‘it’s too hard, I can’t handle it’. You know, that’s fine but it’s when guys just don’t turn up and don’t respond to communication, that’s the upsetting thing. Everyone deserves an opportunity, so they get an opportunity and if they put their hand up and impress me and my key foreman, we look after them and we offer them long-term employment and potentially the opportunity to work their way up through our company.

Of course, some recruits land up back in trouble with the law. “Like I said,” of the intake we took in 2020, we only ended up taking on four. A number of them did start using marijuana again so they failed drug tests. Unfortunately, that’s instant dismissal. The forest management companies we work

for need you to be drug-free, so it’s not 100 percent success rate.

“There’s also a pretty big dropout rate because a lot of them haven’t been working and if they’ve been in a facility for a while they’re out of condition. One of my good guys lost 20 kilos in his first six months planting. The guys that really want to make a success of it are the ones we want to hold onto because they’re driven to succeed, and they’ve made those changes. It’s good to see guys take an opportunity and forge a bit of a career for themselves.”

Back on track With over 8,800 people having been placed into jobs through This Way for Work since it started in November 2016, the service is clearly successful. “We do not hold data on how long people stay in the jobs they are placed into beyond the initial three month period, but anecdotally we hear lots of stories of long-term success, with both employers and new employees very happy with the placement,” says Julie.

“We also operate a Release to Work programme which allows minimum security prisoners, who are assessed as suitable, to engage in paid employment in the community. Prisoners participating have previously taken part in prison-based activities and education to ensure they are well-prepared for community-based employment and that the public are safe.”

In terms of that programme, they are given temporary release during the day to work which provides the opportunity to maintain, develop or re-establish work skills and habits necessary for stable employment.

Based on his experience, Jeremy is all praise: “I want to commend the work that the Ministry of Social Development and Department of Corrections do at reintegrating people back into the workforce. They bend over backwards and support people to get back into work, so I’ve got nothing but praise for both those organisations, especially the people who work out of Kaitaia and Adam Manukau at Corrections up here. They do a really good job.”

As for Cruz, with a stable job processing a daily log target from 5am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, a partner, children and one on the way, he says the transition was “easy”.

“Forestry is where my strengths lie. It feels like I never left after being out of the bush for six years. It was getting the motivation back into the workforce after my car accident in Australia that took a while. Now I feel like I’m getting back on track. Work life and family life are good. There are no lows really. I just mustn’t get too content in the machine and put on weight,” he jokes. NZL

Top: Horticulture qualifications are offered at most New Zealand prisons. Above: Northland Region Corrections Facility.