A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER APPROACH TO ENSURINGCONTINUOUS SUPPORT AND SERVICES FOR REHABILITATIONAND REINTEGRATION OF OFFENDERS: FOCUSING ON
HOUSING SUPPORTIMAFUKU Shoji *I. OVERVIEWIn 2003, reported Penal Code offences reached the highest-ever number. Further, in2006, the number of newly admitted reimprisoned inmates reached its peak. However, theratio of reimprisoned to newly imprisoned inmates has remained high over the years,
reaching 58.3 per cent in 2019, as revealed by the line graph in Figure 1. This figure reveals
that the majority of offences were committed by recidivists.
Figure 1 Reimprisoned inmates among new sentenced inmates, and percentage ofreimprisoned inmates

Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Corrections 2019
Furthermore, among those who were sentenced between 1948 and 2006, 1 million wererandomly selected and the tendency of these subjects was investigated and analysed. As
shown in the pie chart below, when looking at the extracted cases by offenders, 71.1 percent were first-time offenders, while 28.9 per cent were repeat offenders. On the other hand,looking at the number of cases caused by each, the number of cases caused by first-timeoffenders is 42.3 per cent, while the number of cases caused by repeats offenders is 57.7
per cent. In other words, about 60 per cent of crimes are committed by about 30 per cent ofrepeat offenders in Japan.
*

Director General of the Rehabilitation Bureau, Ministry of Justice, Japan- 165 - 165 -Source: White paper on crime 2007
This recognition led to the development of national strategies for the prevention ofcrime, particularly reoffending. To effectively reduce reoffending, it is necessary to meeteach offender’s individual diverse needs. Therefore, criminal justice authorities arerequired to involve various stakeholders in areas such as employment, housing and social
welfare services to facilitate offenders’ smooth re-entry into society. In Japan, thecontinuous development of reoffending prevention strategies requires the involvement ofall relevant ministries. They are implemented by governments from the national to the local
level and involve both the public and private sectors.
II. MEASURES IMPLEMENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT
A. Comprehensive Measures to Prevent Recidivism
On 20 July 2012, the Council of Ministers for Crime Countermeasures decided on“Comprehensive Measures to Prevent Recidivism.” This is a comprehensive measure takenby the government to prevent the recidivism of released offenders, and the initiative’snumerical target to be achieved 10 years after its formulation is as follows: “the ratio of
those who will re-enter prison within 2 years after being released from prison will bereduced by more than 20 per cent in the next 10 years.” Further, in 2016, a milestone thatmarked five years after decision was made on this comprehensive measure, a follow-up
was conducted of the initiative’s achievements and challenges.
In addition, the Council of Ministers for Crime Countermeasures declared “NoReturning to Crime, No Facilitation of a Return to Crime” in 2014, and the government
provided various measures for recidivism prevention. As a result, a circle of cooperationby community volunteers such as hogoshi and cooperating employers was widelyfacilitated. On the other hand, many drug addicts who face various challenges in recovery
and the elderly and disabled who have committed crimes have fallen between the criminal
justice system and the local community and have been reoffending without the necessary
support. Therefore, “Emergency Measures to Prevent Reoffending by Drug Addicts andElderly Criminals” were decided to prevent recidivism of such criminals by the Council ofMinisters for Crime Countermeasures in 2016.
B. Act for the Prevention of Recidivism
The Act for the Prevention of Recidivism (hereafter, “the Act” in this section) enacted- 166 - 166 -in 2016 aims to comprehensively and systematically advance initiatives to prevent
recidivism, prevent people from becoming the victims of crime, and contribute to therealization of a society in which people can live safely and peacefully in accordance withthe following principles:a. Laying down fundamental principles for recidivism prevention;b. Clarifying the responsibilities of the central and local governments regarding
initiatives to prevent recidivism;
c. Specifying the basic aspects of recidivism prevention measures, andcomprehensively and systematically implementing these measures.
The Act emphasizes local governments’ endeavours to implement initiatives thatfacilitate the appropriate sharing of roles with the State according to the circumstances inthe areas under their jurisdiction. Based on the Act, criminal justice agencies, including
probation offices, provide guidance and information on recidivism prevention measures tothe local governments and support the formulation of the “Local Recidivism Prevention
Plan” with the cooperation of the community volunteers who support offender reintegration.
Further, the local governments play an important role in recidivism prevention in adherencewith the Act and its “Recidivism Prevention Plan.” As of 1 October 2020, 71 local
governments, not only prefectural governments but also municipal governments, acrossJapan have established their own Local Recidivism Prevention Plans, and prefectural andmunicipal governments have strengthened cooperation in the field of reoffending
prevention (see subsection (3) in this section).
C. Recidivism Prevention Plan
Currently, the Recidivism Prevention Plan, which was formulated in 2017, consists of
7 priority issues with 115 specific measures based on a nationwide multi-stakeholder
approach. The plan highlights the importance of employment, welfare services, housing
and so on.
D. Regional Recidivism Prevention Model Project
To promote recidivism prevention in accordance with the Act, the Ministry of Justicehas been implementing the “regional recidivism prevention model project” since 2018 incooperation with local governments. Accordingly, the local governments carry out several
activities such as (1) researching the status of recidivism in the region and formulating amodel project implementation plan, (2) implementing the model project and (3) examining
the effects of the model project. As of 31 December 2019, 37 projects have been
implemented by 36 local governments.
III. JAPAN’S APPROACH TO SECURE HOUSING
Housing forms the basis of our daily lives by providing us with a place to call our own.
It gives us a sense of stability and security. The same is true for people who re-enter society
after serving time in prison. For them, securing a place to live is closely linked to the ability
to find employment, receive welfare benefits, become a member of the community and soon.

- 167 - 167 -In Japan, there are more than 500 privately run or publicly run facilities that support therehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. The offender rehabilitation facilities, whichfunction as so-called halfway houses, have played an important role as the last bastion for
released inmates who could not secure a residence. Since those released inmates haveincreased, it is necessary to secure various measures and residences systematically. To
ensure that offenders are able to secure housing by themselves in the community, theprobation officer provides them with knowledge and information on securing housing, suchas the procedures to rent a house, and guidance to help them live independently. In addition,
for probationers and parolees who have nowhere to live, the probation officer actively
secures employers who can provide a residence and helps them move into the National
Center for Offender Rehabilitation as well as offender rehabilitation facilities.
Correctional institutions and probation offices in Japan collaborate in coordinating
offenders’ re-entry, such as by securing housing tailored to each inmate’s needs. In
correctional institutions, specialized staff conduct assessments of inmates at the beginningof incarceration to identify their needs. Such information is shared with probation officers
in a timely manner. Moreover, at major prisons, a probation officer is stationed full timefor coordination of offenders’ reintegration into the community.
Coordination and information sharing between correctional institutions and probation
offices are systematically and continuously conducted for almost all inmates regardless of
their offence. These practices start from the early stage of incarceration and continue up to
the point of release, making it possible to find housing tailored to each inmate’s needs. The
regional parole boards and probation offices promote securing housing for released inmatesin cooperation with housing support corporations, which provide support for securing
housing for people in need of housing support, such as those in need of housing, the elderly,
and the disabled, as stipulated in the Act on Promotion of Offering of Rental Housing toPersons Requiring Special Assistance in Securing Housing.
To find the most suitable place to live after release, probation officers consult with avariety of stakeholders. For instance, for those who need welfare or medical support, theprobation officers consult with the welfare or medical section of local governments which
can offer housing or other accommodation with access to welfare or health-care service.
For people with addictions such as drugs and alcohol, the probation officers contact selfhelp groups which can offer accommodation with rehabilitative programmes. For those
who cannot return to their family and cannot find a proper place to live, the probation
officers coordinate temporary housing.
When coordinating re-entry into the community, it is of vital importance that it is done
according to the conditions relevant to the community to which the offenders return. Thus,
hogoshi (volunteer probation officers), as community volunteers, help probation officers
coordinate re-entry.
For instance, hogoshi visit the offender’s future residence, interview the offender’sfamily or guardian, and foster the relationship between the family or guardian and theoffender during his/her incarceration. Furthermore, if the offenders are released on parole,
the same hogoshi are generally assigned to conduct their community supervision and tosupport them as a good neighbour. Under the national strategies, criminal justice authorities
have engaged these stakeholders and have developed cooperative partnerships with themwith clearly identified roles.
- 168 - 168 -However, it is hard for some members of the general public to understand theimportance of accepting offenders back into society, and they often refuse to cooperate. For
example, there are some cases in which released offenders cannot rent an apartment or theycannot be employed because of their criminal records. To tackle these challenges, probation
officers make full use of their contacts and resources in the community, particularly hogoshi.
Hogoshi are usually highly respected senior members of their communities. Using theirpersonal networks and knowledge of their communities, hogoshi regularly make efforts torecruit and encourage community stakeholders who can potentially offer housing and othersupport to released offenders.
Furthermore, other volunteers such as members of Big Brothers and Sisters, theWomen’s Association for Rehabilitation Aid and cooperating employers, also play animportant role in gaining public understanding of the importance of successful reintegrationof offenders into society.
IV. CONCLUSION
Still, the process of reintegration into society is complicated, and some offenders needa long time to reintegrate into the community. In these cases, the local governments arerequired to provide continuous support for those offenders, because they have the authority
and the responsibility to take care of their own residents’ housing and welfare issues.
Therefore, the Ministry of Justice provides the local governments with the necessary
information for prevention of reoffending in order to take effective measures in cooperation
with them. According to such a mechanism, each local government has individually beendeveloping a local recidivism prevention plan.
To facilitate communication among relevant governmental agencies, the Ministry ofJustice has taken the initiative to establish platforms for cooperation between the nationaland local governments, such as the Conference of Prefectural Officials and the Conferenceof Mayors.
According to the statistics, 26.9 per cent of prison inmates did not have proper andstable housing at the time of release in 2008. Since then, comprehensive efforts to intensify
housing support as above mentioned have been implemented. In the result, the percentage
had decreased to 18.7 per cent in 2019 (Annual Report of Statistics on Corrections 2019).
In conclusion, the multi-stakeholder approach to ensuring continuous support andservices for the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders emphasizes the following three
key points: enhancing the multi-stakeholder approach based on public-private partnership,
activating stakeholders’ strengths engaged in a variety of areas of services and support, andgaining public understanding for successful offender rehabilitation and reintegration intosociety. This approach will be further promoted through practices as a legacy of the 14th
United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

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