Kairos Inside operates in men’s and women’s correctional centres around Australia.
It is based on a 3-5 day ‘Short Course’ run inside the centre by a team of ordinary men and women who have trained over several months and who volunteer their time and resources – because they have a heart to help.
The inmates who come on the course are invited by the chaplain (with approval of the prison administration). Each inmate can chose to attend or not - it is purely voluntary. Through a systematic, structured program, the ‘residents’:
- are given the time to reflect on their lives to date.
- hear the life stories of many team members.
- learn that choice is an option for them (often the first time they have recognised this).
- recognise that some team members have had lives just as hard as theirs, but made different responses to difficulties and challenges.
- are buoyed by the hope that ‘what was' doesn’t have to be 'what will be’.
During the course they are placed in small groups made up of residents and team. These groups are encouraged to take on the characteristics of a sharing family. For many residents, this is their first experience of a supportive family environment.
After the ‘Short Course’ there is an ongoing ‘Journey’ program where a rotation of team members continue to return every week or fortnight until the next Short Course is run in 6 or 12 months time. Actions always speak louder than words to most inmates as they have often experienced a lot of untruths and false promises in their lives. It is in this ongoing Journey program that the ‘proof of the words’ is experienced. Team members ‘walk the talk’, providing ongoing support, strengthening of friendships and proof of their willingness to support the residents in moving forward.
Is Kairos Successful? Yes, Kairos makes a difference.
Experience has shown that the residents become more settled, more positive, more ‘future directed’ and more outward looking. They relate more positively to their families and children and within their local communities when they are released.
A recent study completed by Kairos Prison Ministry into the recidivism rate of NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) inmates who have completed the Kairos Inside Short Course shows a favourable result compared with the overall recidivism rate for DCS.
What does this really mean in savings to society? Even if the impact of Kairos was to produce only a 10% improvement on the average recidivism rate (43% returning for a new crime within two years), the saving to the community would conservatively be $7.2M per annum in prison costs. In addition there are savings in court and police processing time and costs, people are saved from becoming victims of crime, and the community is saved the direct costs of crimes not committed - and this is on top of the lives changed and the ripple effect out to family and friends.
Testimonies abound of the changes and transformations of lives of both residents and team members alike.
Kairos makes a difference - because Kairos brings Love,
Acceptance and Forgiveness