Commissioner of the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service Carlos Corraspe is continuing to champion the Prison Service’s transition from a prison-focused system to a correctional model centred on rehabilitation.
That vision is at the heart of an agreement between the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service and COSTAATT.
The Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service and the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago, COSTAATT, have renewed a Memorandum of Understanding which aims to strengthen a partnership aimed at enhancing correctional training, offender rehabilitation and public safety.
Commissioner of Prisons Carlos Corraspe stressed that the Prison Service’s long-term vision is to move toward a correction to reduction approach.
“We want to move from prisons to correction because we do not want to protect the society for the five years or the six years or the 10 years that the warrant says, but we want to protect the society beyond the five, six and 10 years so that when the offender returns to society, they do not return to a life of crime. That is public safety at its best, and that is what this MOU between the prison service and the ministry and the COSTATT will allow us to achieve.”
Chair of COSTAATT’s Board of Trustees, Roamar Achat-Saney, said effective rehabilitation requires more than security measures.
“Correctional officers as well as offenders committed to their charge,the youths, some just out of our schools. They all must be equipped with the knowledge, skills and values that will facilitate reintergation into our society.”
While commending the partnership between the 2 entities, Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training Dr. Prakash Persad, noted that education must be treated as a national priority which can be achieved through strong partnerships.
“It reinforces the idea that education is not a standalone sector. It is a national priority that intersects with security, economic development, and social stability. It also underscores the role of partnerships in achieving sustainable development. No single institution can address the complex challenges we face. But together, if we share a common vision and have coordinated action, we can create systems that are more resilient, more inclusive, and more effective.”
Commissioner Corraspe said legislative reforms provide important support for rehabilitation efforts. He however emphasized that the most critical resource remains the people responsible for implementing those programmes.
“It will involve the legislative provisions, as indeed the government has signaled its clear intent with the amendments to the Probation Act. And of course, the coming into being of the parole bill. These are crucial architecture towards the offender in motivating the offender to take part in the rehabilitative programs.”