Catalogue of Local Inclusive Public Policies

Public policies
catalogue

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Programa Oportunidades para la Vida – OPV (Life Opportunities Program)

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Quillota - Chile

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants (small intermediate)

4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and professional skills, to access employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

16.1 Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.

16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.

16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.

A - Full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development with equality and respect for human rights.

American Convention on Human Rights

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in economic, social and cultural rights (San Salvador Protocol).

Summary

This is a municipal program for the social, family and labor rehabilitation of people deprived of their freedom, aimed at preventing and/or reducing recidivism. It is implemented jointly by the Municipality of Quillota and the Pre-Trial Detention Correctional Facility of Quillota (under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights), through an agreement signed with the Chilean National Prison Service.

Implementation Date:

Start: 05 / 11 / 2012

End: End: Currently in force

Security - Citizen security
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i) Chile has one of the highest imprisonment rates in Latin America, amounting to 229 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. ii) The correctional facility infrastructure is deficient, which, taking into account the above, results in overcrowding problems, poor access to health services, and lack of the minimal conditions to live a decent life in confinement. iii) Due to the above situations, social rehabilitation processes –carried out by the Chilean National Prison Service, in charge of the custody of people deprived of their freedom– are seriously limited. iv) Programs to help prisoners achieve psycho-social, family and labor rehabilitation are scarce, and market conditions are not optimal –e.g., employment selection processes require that candidates have clean criminal records. v) The rights of people deprived of their freedom are violated, who are overlooked under the custody and rehabilitation system currently in place. vi) A higher demand of security by the Chilean society, which has resulted in a criminal law policy focusing on the penalizing character of the correctional system in place since the 90s.
General objective: Generating inclusion opportunities for men and women deprived of their freedom in the community of Quillota, by means of actions that may allow for their rehabilitation when they are released and aimed at preventing and/or reducing recidivism. Specific objectives: - Generating collaborative, inclusive and non-discriminatory systems for people deprived of their freedom, based on values such as solidarity, empathy and trust. - Encouraging the personal development of the program’s beneficiaries, contributing to strengthening their family and interpersonal relationships within their communities. - Fostering the rehabilitation of people deprived of their freedom from three areas of intervention: psycho-social, family and labor.
i) Municipality of Quillota, through the Municipal Rehabilitation Unit under the Directorate of Community Social Development: in charge of developing and implementing this local policy, as well as coordinating the actions of the correctional facility’s technical area professionals and the OPV program implementing team, covering its three intervention stages. ii) Chilean National Prison Service, through the Pre-Trial Detention Correctional Facility of Quillota (a public service under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights): in charge of implementing most of the actions involved in the program.
- Municipality of Quillota’s Labor Mediation Office. - Abriendo Caminos program (Chilean Ministry of Social Development): implemented through the Municipal Rehabilitation Unit, under the city of Quillota’s Directorate of Community Social Development.
- Constitutional Organic Municipalities Act No. 18695: it sets forth that one of the functions of municipalities is the development, implementation and evaluation of public-security actions, including agreements to apply social rehabilitation plans at the local level. - Proyecto Oportunidades Hoy: a cooperation agreement between the Municipality of Quillota and the Chilean National Prison Service/Pre-Trial Detention Correctional Facility, as approved on May 11, 2012 by Municipal Executive Order No. 6159/2015 –section 6 of this executive order provides for an automatic renewal of the referred cooperation agreement, which is currently known as the Oportunidades para la Vida program. - Social agreements with the OPV program’s beneficiaries, containing a set of basic rights and duties, in order to help their rehabilitation within the community.
People deprived of freedom
Financial/legal/technical assistence
Education and training
The OPV Program’s strategy is aimed at men and women that have the support of a family network (whether their own family, or a non-biological family, or a family of reference), residing in the community of Quillota, deprived of their freedom, having a final sentence, and serving their sentence during the year of implementation of the program, or likely to obtain the benefits of a controlled release into the community during the twelve months of intervention as provided for in the agreement signed between the Municipality and the National Prison Service. The strategy comprises three stages: i) Selection and confirmation. This stage comprises the following actions: selecting those persons deprived of their freedom that will be part of the program, who will be interviewed by the program’s implementing team together with the correctional facility’s technical area; building up and confirming the group of beneficiaries of the program, through a ceremony involving the participants’ signing of a symbolic social agreement (containing rights and duties), attended by family members, authorities and the local support network. ii) Psycho-social and family intervention. This intervention is carried out using a social-educational and participatory strategy focused on human rights and gender issues, comprising two levels: intra-prison and extra-prison activities. Within the correctional facility, participants attend group workshops and receive specialized assistance on subjects such as personal motivation, self-esteem strengthening, life project development, conflict resolution, responsible parenthood, job skills, and home management and economy, among others. Outside the correctional facility, issues are worked out with the families –both at group and individual levels–, such as violence in family contexts, relationship with the support networks, and communication and relations with the family member deprived of their freedom, aiming at their rehabilitation. iii) Job obtainment and follow-up. The OPV Program’s implementing team, together with Quillota’s Labor Mediation Office, assist and follow up on the participants’ labor inclusion process, managing their inclusion in the job market through local networks, both private and public. This intervention and follow-up stage lasts 24 months and, at the end, a graduation ceremony is held, attended by the program’s beneficiaries and their families.
This program is based on an unconventional intervention model for the rehabilitation of people deprived of their freedom. In this sense, the program’s intervention modality has a comprehensive approach (including family, psycho-social and labor aspects), applied at two levels (intra-prison and extra-prison), where the basic family units of the persons deprived of their freedom participate in the intervention and follow-up process. Additionally, the program’s implementing team uses a comprehensive methodology, taking into account the needs of the beneficiaries and their specific circumstances. Each case is approached from a rights perspective, considering cognitive-behavioral, relational and attachment aspects.
BanAmor Foundation, Chile.
This initiative resulted from the study of real-life cases of people repeatedly exposed to discrimination due to having been in prison in the past. For the purpose of continuously improving this program, the demands and needs of each group of beneficiaries are constantly taken into account, in order to render each workshop flexible and adapt the specialized interventions to each particular case.
The Municipality of Quillota financially contributes to the operation of this program in the following areas: human resources, food services, rental of facilities, personal hygiene products, and educational material for workshops.
There is no active monitoring system in place for this program. However, results are evaluated using effectiveness indicators analyzed on an annual basis, by rating the following variables: early release, recidivism, and effective rehabilitation.
Local goverment
Upon uploading this card, this public policy has shown the following results: • Quantitative Aspect 2012: 10 persons entered the program; only one recidivist. 2013: 9 persons entered the program; only one recidivist. 2014: 9 persons entered the program; only one recidivist. 2015: 9 persons entered the program; no recidivists. 2016: 12 persons entered the program; only one recidivist. The program currently works with a maximum group of 20 people. • Qualitative Aspect - Personal and professional development of the beneficiaries. Since the program’s implementation, one beneficiary has been working at the Municipality of Quillota, and others have started up their own successful undertakings, while others have studied at the university or have opted for trade training courses. - This program has become a model local policy for other municipalities –such as Quisco, which in 2018 began to implement a pilot test very similar to the OPV program. - Inclusion of the program in institutional networks, thus expanding their offer of programs at different government levels, for example: at the regional level, the OPV program is supported by the Chilean Regional Directorate of Prison Service and its Regional Technical Area; at the local level, the program is supported by the mayor and is implemented jointly by Quillota’s Social Rehabilitation Center, the Municipal Labor Mediation Office, the Municipal Anti-Drug and Alcohol Unit and the Housing and Urbanization Service, among others; and at the provincial level, the program is implemented together with the Government of Quillota.
The promotional campaign of this program is aimed at raising awareness of this issue within society in general, and among businesses in particular. • Any piece of news on the OPV program is announced through the Municipality’s institutional website and its social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). Information on the program has also been broadcasted at local radio stations. Additionally, solidarity campaigns have been made in order to collect work tools and equipment for people deprived of their freedom. • The social agreement signing ceremony with people deprived of their freedom is announced in local newspapers. 2017 Management and Results Report attached (available at the “supporting documentation” section of this card.)
Article on the OPV dated June 18, 20108, posted in the Municipality of Quillota’s official web portal: https://quillota.cl/municipalidad/oportunidades-para-la-vida/
Construir Igualdad award, honorable mention (2018 edition) – ICPHR-UNESCO
Link to Fundación BanAmor’s institutional website:

Instrumentos

4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and professional skills, to access employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

16.1 Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.

16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.

16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.

A - Full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development with equality and respect for human rights.
American Convention on Human Rights
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in economic, social and cultural rights (San Salvador Protocol).

Location

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants (small intermediate)

Contact details

Other projects from #CiudadesInclusivas

/* Educacion = 2 Empleo = 14 Género y diversidad sexual = 8 Interculturalidad y no discriminación = 21 Medio ambiente = 18 Movilidad Humana = 7 patrimonio e identidad cultural = 88 Salud = 25 Seguridad = 31 Vivienda = 30 */