LifeLine

In-Reach Workers

Few people are as well-equipped to understand what an offender with a life sentence is facing than another lifer. This is the core concept of LifeLine, a partnership between Correctional Service Canada (CSC), National Parole Board (NPB) and non-government organisations. CSC recruits lifers on parole who have successfully re-integrated into their communities for at least five years to work as in-reach workers and help other lifers.

The primary job of an in-reach worker, in the words of the first In-reach Worker, the late Tom French, is to keep lifers "alive, sane, and out of trouble". More specifically, in-reach workers make contact, motivate, and assist lifers to achieve the maximum benefits from existing correctional programs in an institution. Through their experience and knowledge of what long-term inmates require, in-reach workers also contribute toward the introduction of additional programs inside the institution. They also provide support to the lifer in processes such as parole board hearings, temporary absences, and judicial review hearings. In-reach workers must be:

• lifers or long term offenders who have demonstrated successful reintegration by responsible, crime-free living in the community while on full parole for a minimum of five years; and
• accepted and recognised by the Correctional Service Canada, National Parole Board, other lifers, and the community as a responsible role model.

In-reach workers are an important link between the offender from the institution and the community. For example, family contact is an integral part of in-reach work. They help inmates maintain their family connections, and provide support and information to families throughout the inmate's incarceration.

Inside the institution and side by side with parole officers, the in-reach worker ensures an integrated approach toward inmates. Institutions benefit from the experience and credibility of the in-reach workers in alleviating frustration among inmates and removing barriers to effective programming. During times of conflict, in-reach workers can act as intermediaries, mediating among inmates themselves, and between inmates and staff.

A talented pool

With close to one-third of Canada's 3,500 lifers on supervised parole in the community, Life Line can select from a large pool of potential in-reach workers who possess a variety of skills, credentials, and experience.

For example, a published writer and artist, a youth worker, and an ordained minister are three of the newer in-reach workers hired in the Ontario region. All three have university degrees they earned while serving their sentences.

In-reach workers are hired by community-based non-governmental organisations through a contract with Correctional Service Canada. A uniform job description has been developed to facilitate the further expansion of LifeLine, and CSC has developed an orientation program that introduces in-reach workers to their new roles and equips them with the skills they will need. They meet regularly to discuss issues and provide regular summaries of their work.

In-reach workers reaching out

In-reach workers are also important resources for the community. By meeting with community organisations, voluntary groups, and others in the correctional community, they help to raise public awareness of the special needs of lifers, and help to ensure a more receptive public environment when they are released on parole.

Community activities undertaken by in-reach workers range from speaking engagements at schools and colleges, to appearing before Parliamentary and Senate Committees. In addition, in-reach workers carry out "preventive" work, speaking with young people about how they became lifers, what it has meant to their lives, and how others can avoid becoming involved in drugs or crime.

Through their public awareness work, in-reach workers allay the fears of citizens and create much-needed support for lifers returning to the community.

In-reach workers: increasing in value, increasing in number

At over 20, the number of in-reach workers operating across Canada continues to increase. Following the February 1998 report of the Task Force on Long Term Offenders that examined LifeLine, Correctional Service Canada has committed itself to the goal of one in-reach worker for very 125 lifers.