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Too many doing too much means too little for inmates, says Prison Fellowship

Thehead of a prisoner rehabilitation programme charges too much money is being wasted through the duplication of services.

And Jack Harris, of Bermuda Prison Fellowship, called for Government to set up a task force to look into the problem.

He made the suggestion in his address to Hamilton Lions at their weekly luncheon at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute yesterday.

"There is so much duplication going on in this area,'' said Mr. Harris. "I really think a task force to look at the overall situation of rehabilitation is needed.

"So many groups are attacking similar problems. If they could all just be gathered together and discussions held, I think prisoner rehabilitation would be more efficiently handled.'' Pointing out that Government currently allots around 11 percent of its budget to dealing with crime and criminals, Mr. Harris stressed that the problem was serious.

The creation of a resettlement office was also proposed by Mr. Harris. The office would be run by Prison Fellowship and manned on a regular basis, he suggested. It would provide support not only for ex-prisoners, but also for their families.

"There are over 3,000 people affected by imprisonment on this Island at any one time,'' he said.

"When prisoners are released from custody the rehabilitation virtually stops.

There is nothing and no place for them to go if they need help staying on the right path.'' Mr. Harris explained that families tend to break down when a member is imprisoned "especially if the imprisoned person was a bread winner''.

"A resettlement office would serve as a place where these people could come for support,'' Mr. Harris said.

"I have noticed,'' he added, "that in this country, we programme people for success but not for failure. Failure can be very hard for many to take because after all, this is the land of opportunity.'' CLUB CLB