Neustart to end prison-release job training in 2027

Probation support association Neustart will end its job-training programme for people released from prison in 2027 because of budget cuts, ORF reports. The association says it will be short of eight million euros over the next two years.

The programme helps people who have served longer prison sentences return to working life. Last year, 326 clients received support and work placements in workshops in Vienna and Linz. Eight full-time Neustart employees will also be affected by the closure.

Neustart managing director Alfred Kohlberger said the association hoped some of the cuts would be reversed. Without adequate funding, he warned, the scope and quality of its social work services would suffer. He said social security and employment were important in preventing reoffending, but the association had to reduce its services without the necessary funds.

Justice Minister Anna Sporrer said she was “somewhat surprised” by the announcement in an interview with ORF radio. She said the ministry and Neustart had agreed that cuts would not affect day-to-day operations, and that the association could use its reserves to maintain its existing work in 2027.

Neustart also says it will have to increase the number of clients handled by each probation officer. The law sets a maximum of 35 clients per officer, but the association’s average was already about 40 in August. Kohlberger warned that financial pressure would push the ratio further beyond the legal limit, saying the cuts would come at the expense of public safety.

The association also supports judges’ and prosecutors’ calls for more staff positions, made with their union during the “Week of Action for the Rule of Law”. Kohlberger said courts, prosecutors’ offices, prisons and probation services all needed more resources.