Drug rehab course not evaluated

A controversial Mongrel Mob-run drug rehab programme has been running for more than a year now, but still hasn’t had its effectiveness evaluated, which the Ministry of Justice says presents a ‘‘significant risk’’.

The Kahukura programme is a 10-week course for up to 10 participants, their partners and whānau, with up to 30 on each intake on a Hawke’s Bay marae.

In 2020 the programme was selected to receive $2.75 million over four years from the Proceeds of Crime fund. It is designed to ‘‘reduce crime and harm to the community by addressing methamphetamine dependency, facilitating and supporting trauma recovery, and enhancing positive whānau and identity development and resiliency’’.

The programme sparked controversy ahead of its launch in 2021, with opponents saying the Government was ‘‘funding gangs’’.

The funding was released by the Ministry of Health to Hard 2 Reach – a consultancy run by former senior public servant and Mongrel Mob honorary life member Harry Tam.

The Proceeds of Crime Fund uses the assets confiscated under the Proceeds of Crimes Act to fund ‘‘address organised crime harm and drug-related harm, test innovative solutions to complex issues relating to crime-related harm’’ and ‘‘enable agencies to build an evidence-based case of what works in addressing crime-related harm’’.

The Ministry of Justice assessment of the programme as at June this year, released under the Official Information Act, said 39 people had been through the programme and just one had failed to graduate. Of the 22 people who had completed the programme in the first two intakes, about two-thirds reported they still used methamphetamine, although most said they used less than they used to.

The report said the most significant risk facing the programme was a lack of evaluation.