Stand Up Jamaica head welcomes decline in reoffending, wants more reintegration support for ex-prisoners

Jamaica’s steady decline in offender readmission to correctional facilities is being hailed by Executive Director of Stand Up for Jamaica, Carla Gullotta, as a sign of progress, but she argues that stronger efforts are needed to facilitate their reintegration into society.

“It [reintegration] remains a big, huge problem. There is a very strong stigma when they apply for the job, and the employer hears that they come from prison, it is most of the time a no-no,” she told The Gleaner.

Recent data from the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) showed a continued decline in the number of offenders being readmitted to correctional institutions.

In 2025, the department recorded 153 offender readmissions out of 575 total admissions, resulting in a 27 per cent readmission rate.

Among those readmitted, 31 were for simple larceny, 15 for larceny, 12 for breach of traffic law, and five for murder.

There were also eight for assault occasioning bodily harm, nine for robbery with aggravation.

Additionally, three people were readmitted for shooting with intent, receiving stolen property, and grievous sexual assault, respectively.

The decline in readmissions last year was a further improvement in the overall number of readmitted offenders when compared with 162 readmissions in 2024, 194 in 2023, and 207 in 2022, and stands in sharp contrast to the 384 readmissions recorded in 2016.

The annual admission has also seen a reduction; 809 people were admitted in 2022, 780 in 2023, and 580 in 2024.

This includes the continued strengthening of programmes aimed at behaviour change, personal development, and successful reintegration, which involves educational advancement, vocational skills training, counselling, spiritual guidance, and other structured interventions designed to prepare inmates to lead productive, law-abiding lives after release.

Commissioner of Corrections, Brigadier (Ret’d) Radgh Mason, said the figures affirm the importance of sustained investment in rehabilitation.

“The decline in offender readmissions is an encouraging indicator that our rehabilitation efforts are having an impact. Each reduced readmission reflects the potential for transformed lives, stronger families, and safer communities. While recidivism remains a complex challenge, these figures reinforce the importance of continued investment in meaningful rehabilitation and reintegration programmes,” he said.

Gullotta lauded the DCS’s efforts at rehabilitation, stating that the more that these persons are well rehabilitated, educated, the easier it is for them to be reintegrated in their communities and in their families”.

However, she said there ought to be a more concerted effort for rehabilitation to go hand in hand with reintegration.

“Otherwise, those who have done very well are more frustrated than those who came to the prison as bad man, and come out of the prison as bad man,” she said.

In its statement, the DCS noted that recidivism is influenced by several factors beyond the correctional environment, including family support, access to employment, community acceptance, and wider social and economic conditions.

To this end, Gullotta is calling for stronger support from all relevant stakeholders to promote reintegration and for the Government to revisit its policy ban on the employment of ex-convicts.

“We have strong support from the Ministry of Security in terms of rehabilitation, and none of the government Ministers can employ anybody who is coming from a prison, and that should change,” she said.

- Sashana Small

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