in 2005 VACRO released an audio-visual resource for
prisoners, their families and those involved with the
corrections system: the Getting Out video. The short
film is designed as a companion to the Getting Out and How
to Survive It book. Which has been recently updated and
renamed Getting Started.
Like the book, the DVD/video addresses a lot of questions
prisoners have when they leave prison, and provides practical
advice and tips on adjusting to life after prison.
Freedom presents many day-to-day challenges for ex-prisoners,
such as finding accommodation and employment, adjusting to changes
within the family, facing old friends, dealing with various
government agencies and organising health care. VACRO’s new
audio-visual resource aims to ease some of those challenges
and reassure prisoners as they make the transition back into
the community.
The Getting Out video is screened
as a matter of course to prisoners as they face release. The
video has been well received among prisoners and the broader
community. It has proved to be very effective in raising awareness
about important issues associated with release from prison and
reintegration back into the community. All Victorian prisons
hold copies of the Getting Out Book, which will be
used as a part of their Transitional Assistance Program
(TAP), which all prisoners participate in within the last three
months of their sentence.
Copies of the DVD is available from VACRO Head Office.
