24 Jul 2009

Parolees being housed in hotels

2:42 pm on 24 July 2009

The Corrections Department is temporarily housing parolees in hotels because of a lack of suitable alternative accommodation.

The department contracts the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society to help parolees find suitable accommodation.

It also has contracts with six groups throughout New Zealand to provide "supported accommodation" for offenders at high risk of re-offending.

The department says the number of parolees in hotels or motels is relatively few and it happens only when all other options have been exhausted.

It won't say how many ex-prisoners have been temporarily housed in such accommodation over the past five years.