Helping former inmates stay the course through partnerships with professionals
Vivien Ang
SPEAKING with Azahari Harrison, one might find it difficult to believe that he was incarcerated about eight years ago. The team manager at a global automobile company was welcoming and enthusiastic as he shared his journey with The Business Times.
“It was… my eighth time in prison, and I knew I had to turn my life around,” he said. “I looked for my recovery officer, who introduced me to HCSA Community Services.”
HCSA Highpoint Halfway House, one of the signature programmes at HCSA Community Services, provides a safe and substance-free residential shelter for homeless male ex-offenders, and those in recovery from addiction.
Harrison was paired with a recovery coach at the shelter. “Through her mentorship, and the programmes offered by the shelter, I am where I am today.”
Now, the 50-year-old leads a team of more than 20 at his job; he is also part of HCSA Community Services’ Step Up mentoring programme.
Andrew Ong, director for partnerships and strategic communications at HCSA Community Services, explained: “The initiative involves pairing former inmates, as well as girls who have gone through multi-faceted trauma, with professionals as mentors.”
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Now into its second year, Step Up counts Allen & Overy and Procter & Gamble among its corporate partners.
On Monday (Jul 10), seven groups kickstarted their mentoring journey.
Unlike other rehabilitation programmes, the Step Up mentorship begins about three years after inmates are discharged from the shelter and HCSA Community Services’ rehabilitation programme.
“There needs to be more community involvement to reintegrate this group of people into society. We cannot depend on just government agencies or family members to help them,” said Ong, who is also an ex-offender.
“Professionals such as the lawyers from Allen & Overy, being mentors and friends to the ex-offenders… offer a different perspective on how to settle matters. Hopefully, they also provide this group of former inmates with a new network of friends that spurs them to improve themselves.”
The Singapore Prison Service’s latest report in 2022 showed that while the two-year recidivism rate was 20.4 per cent in 2020, the five-year rate has remained at around 40 per cent.
“This really is the impetus for the programme, as the successful ingredient for reintegration is when an ex-offender makes an intentional lifestyle shift to be more pro-social,” said Ong.
Asked about the methods employed to gauge the success of the programme’s first run, he said mentees set goals before the mentorship, and that progress towards these goals is tracked through regular reports by mentors.
Ong noted that 10 mentees achieved their career-oriented goals through the programme.
“(We also managed to) foster cross and reverse mentorships among beneficiaries and corporates, encouraging empathy (among the volunteers) and helping to correct stereotypical notions of ex-offenders and at-risk girls,” he added.
He aims to collaborate with more companies in future.
Rishi Hindocha, partner at Allen & Overy, has been volunteering with Step Up since it began.
“I wanted to contribute to society and through this programme, it has helped me understand the struggles that people face, including drug addiction,” he said.
“The experiences of my mentee inspired me. Everyone has their preconceptions, and we think of offenders as inherently bad people. The project has really brought home the message that we should never judge anyone. Through the initiative, we not only help the mentees, they help us too. I made a friend and the experience has given me more confidence to help others.”
Piya Sawhney, India practice manager at Allen & Overy, said: “What I have taken away from the programme is to be a bit more aware; it’s (also) given me more confidence to take on mentorship roles in the future.”
The pilot iteration of Step Up ran from 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, with 10 mentees completing the programme. For the second run, HCSA Community Services has partnered 20 mentees with more than 50 mentors from sectors spanning law to logistics and finance.
Looking back on his journey, Harrison said going through Step Up has made him a stronger leader at work, as he can better empathise with his teammates, and is no longer as quick to judge.
Asked about his plans for the future, he said he would like to be a motivational speaker and pay it forward to as many people as possible.
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