Bail Support Services Initiative to Address Remand Crisis in New Zealand

The Bail Support Services (BSS) is a justice sector initiative in response to the remand crisis in 2018, where the remand prison population had grown while the sentenced population had decreased. People were spending a greater proportion of their prison time in remand where interventions and programmes are limited.

Research indicates that even a brief time remanded in custody will have deleterious and criminogenic effects on an individual. These extend to job loss, residential instability, negative financial consequences, loss of social supports and the exacerbation of mental health and substance use issues.

In response to this, the first BSS pilot project was conducted by the High Impact Innovation Programme (HIIP) within Ara Poutama Aotearoa from February 2018 to June 2022. Due to the success of the following pilots in Wellington, Manukau, Christchurch and Kaitaia, BSS was granted permanent funding as part of Budget 2020 which determined that BSS will be operational across the country by June 2024.

The first three pilots (Wellington, Manukau, and Christchurch) were developed as �Ara Poutama Aotearoa-led� initiatives, meaning mana whenua community groups, Runanga and Iwi were not actively involved in design or implementation of these services. The fourth pilot site of 2018 was Kaitaia.