A program preventing hundreds of the ACT's prisoners relapsing into drug and alcohol addictions will soon be axed, raising fears of a "significant" impact on crime levels and recidivism.
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Not-for-profit organisation Directions ACT has been running a large, intensive support service for drug and alcohol addicted prisoners for the past three years.
The service, called the Inside Outside Throughcare Program, supports 300 prisoners and ex-prisoners at any one time.
But the program will be axed in September as $485,000 in Federal Government proceeds of crime money dries up, taking away the bulk of its total $525,000 funding.
Directions ACT executive director Kate Pensa said that money was only given for a pilot of the program, with the expectation that the ACT Government would pick up the bill for its continuation.
That has not occurred, although the government recently made a budget commitment of $1.1million over two years for all throughcare services at the jail.
The funding is not specific to alcohol and drug support, and Ms Pensa believes it is too little and will be spread far too thin, meaning some services to addicted prisoners would be lost.
Corrections Minister Chris Bourke said the government was working with Directions ACT to try and maintain drug and alcohol support for prisoners.
But he said the loss of federal funding would realistically mean the "level of onsite service may change".
The program works with remandees and sentenced prisoners three to six months before and after release, helping to build support networks to prevent a relapse upon release with "appropriate" methadone treatments and other services.
"If a person has been living in [the prison] environment, which is controlled, it's principled, it's structured, they seem to appear to manage everything very well," Ms Pensa said.
"What we find is that people are reluctant to seek drug and alcohol services once they actually are released because the first point of call is the alcohol and drug service at the Canberra Hospital."
Ms Pensa said the hospital provided a good service, but it meant detainees were often inadvertently put back in contact with other prisoners and "known associates".
"That of course creates that cycle [of crime] again, they're getting back in with that group they want to stay away from," she said.
This meant many prisoners were avoiding the hospital's drug and alcohol service, Ms Pensa said.
Mr Bourke said the government would work with community sector organisations to manage the $1.1million made available for throughcare in the last budget.
Ms Pensa said it was unclear how much money would go specifically to alcohol and drug support.
"It's not a great deal of money when you look at the support needs of people when they're actually coming out of prison, to set them up and support them," she said.
"I think there will be quite a gap in terms of how the ACT responds to those people, there just won't be the resources there for them to have what they have had.
"We're working collaboratively with the prison to find ways in which we can actually bridge that gap."
