THE PUBLIC POLICY OF REINTEGRATION Professor David Adams Social Inclusion Commissioner June 2010

WHAT IS SOCIAL INCLUSION ABOUT? Social inclusion is about being connected and being valued in society. Networks are the engine room of social inclusion. Supportive networks underpin access to the resources and experiences that make life meaningful. productive networks (where we develop skills and work in various roles); consumption networks (access to goods and services); civic networks (where we can have a say on what matters; and personal networks (our links to family, friends and community that helps shape identity, trust and belonging)

SOCIAL INCLUSION AND REINTEGRATION KEY EQUATIONS: 1.Supportive networks are a key to reintegration..and can generate ‘community’ 2.Networks can fragment and break during incarceration 3.Which is a form of institutional exclusion…. 4.And then to reintegrate ‘we’ have to put supportive networks back together again…. 5.Much of the conference is about 4

NETWORKS CAN SHAPE/CREATE ‘COMMUNITY’ Communities have value because they can cause things to happen They are places and spaces to: make friends, have fun, be happy feel safe, be safe shape futures and sort out values forge identity and belonging make sense of things and judge what’s right get access to resources – and be a resource creativity and imagination learn stuff….eg skills

NEW COMMUNITIES Myspace; YouTube; Twitter; Facebook; Avatars and Blogging Families being replaced by the ‘strength of multiple weak ties’…networks High speed broadband will accelerate this (But can also be places and spaces of risk and exclusion) Still coming to grips with this...

6 THINGS THAT WORK? 1.See the world through the lens of people and places….not programs 2.Investing in networks that matter not institutions 3.And investing in the spaces and places where people live their lives 4.Brokers between communities and institutions ( the future for local government as stewards of social inclusion?) 5.Supported pathways over time ( generations not hours) 6.Begin with assets, aspirations and capabilities not just needs and services

OUR INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC POLICY REINTEGRATION PUZZLE = WE INCREASINGLY KNOW WHAT WORKS BUT… Scale…nothing like a network platform in place Scope…can’t quite reach that far Connectivity…’.welcome to my program’ Sustainability…..’lets have another pilot’… So...we are primarily dealing with a failure of public policy and public will

COMMUNITY GARDENS AS AN EXAMPLE OF NETWORK VALUE CREATION…. Social capital – trust, reciprocity, belonging, diversity Economic capital – trade produce Environmental capital – sustainability, food security Human capital – up to 20 qualifications…Seems to add up to a source of prosperity and wellbeing….

SO… How do we create reintegration networks ( productive; consumption; civic; personal) that look and feel like community gardens….about people not offenders… We need more ‘hubs’ ‘intermediaries’ ‘third places’ ‘mens sheds’ ‘Agoras’ as the sites of weak ( but very important) community ties for transitioning and for brokering with institutions

SUMMARY Supportive networks matter to reintegration We know a lot more than we did about how they are constructed and maintained and the conditions under which they will be accessed… The value(s) they can generate and… How public policy can shape enabling conditions and… We have quite a few now but they are a patchwork quilt not a system