Mr. Paul Delaney:

This will not be a new concept to members of the sub-committee. They are based on best international practice. The concept is that if we do not address the ten key risk factor areas with offenders, the chances of reducing recidivism are appreciably lower. One of the target areas we address is attitudes and cognitive style. We work with offenders who have serious issues about how they interpret their impact on society. Many are at the stage in which they do not look at the long-term impact of their behaviours. We use a model called motivational interviewing, which is again highly respected as an intervention methodology in other jurisdictions. We bring about a shift in negative attitudes and cognitive style as a precursor to working with people towards making positive change. Another target area is offending behaviour. The majority of people we work with, some 82%, have already been before the courts. We work in a targeted way to enhance motivation to change what we call "created discrepancy" to build self-efficacy, not self-esteem, which is another dimension. Many of the young offenders with whom we deal would not regard themselves of being capable of changing their behaviour. That might sound strange but that is the reality. We work to address that. We also have them engage in pro-social activities. Many of the clients we work with only become involved with other pro-social groups when they come into the project. Many have been living and operating in a very narrow band of people who are also offenders.

Anger and emotion management is another area that is addressed. Anger and emotion dysfunction can stem from a variety of complex issues but if it is not addressed it tends to pollute the progress that can be made in other areas. Drug and alcohol misuse is another target area. We work very intensively with people who have both drug and alcohol issues. A key hallmark of our project is that we work with people with where they are on a continuum of services so we do not demand that they be drug or alcohol free in order for us to engage with them. We have a continuum of services that are suitable for people on the dysfunctional end of the continuum and those who want to become completely drug and alcohol free. Lifestyle and associates are tied in with the idea of pro-social activities and we link people in with other groups. We link people into non-offending activities. Another factor is training and employability. We have a very good track record in moving people on, but only when they are ready. This is at the heart of our programme. At our team meetings we would be very careful not to set somebody up for failure. If we feel somebody is not yet ready to take a work placement or a particular training course, we do not push them into it just because it is there. If one does that, relapse rates increase. We take a much more pragmatic look at it. We also target accommodation, to which my colleagues from the other two services have just referred.

The interesting fact about the COAIM system is that it gave us the statistics we needed to sit down with the housing authority in Wexford and set out the facts. We used to have anecdotal evidence but we now have very clear evidence that accommodation is a serious issue for offenders. That has changed the dynamic completely. We have been able to have a businesslike conversation with the council and the borough council.

Another key area is financial issues and debts. I do not think I have come across a drug user who does not have substantial debts as a consequence of his or her drug use either for general services such as the ESB, gas, rent and so on or owing money to other detailers. We constantly link in people with the MABS, which is a fantastic resource to us in Wexford.

As my colleague from Care After Prison said, relationships and family issues are a significant part of the dynamic. We have built into our system a family support group, where we support the family members. These are the ten criminogenic target areas. It is not to say that other activities such as sport activities, adventure sports, art and so are not of good in and of themselves. We run a number of other vocational skills programmes. We do it as well as and not instead of the COAIM system. We do it alongside it, so that every single client who comes into the project gets a change plan base. They work up their change plan with our staff based on these ten criminogenic areas.