“I just kind of felt like this was it, it’s hard to articulate but being a case worker I really never felt like I was working. It just felt incredible to me that I could get paid for helping people in the way that we do in ReConnect.”
“My career journey at ACSO started when I joined the ReConnect team as a Forensic Case Worker in 2021, and I’m still with ReConnect in 2025. We were just coming out of Covid, so when I first started I didn’t even get to meet the rest of the team in person until the Christmas party. I was a Forensic Case Worker for about 3 years before an opportunity came up to act in a Team Leader role for 3 months in ReStart. It was a bit scary moving from a case worker to a TL particularly in a program that’s as fast paced as ReStart, but the team were incredible, and I really felt like I grew a lot during that time thanks to some amazing support from people in both ReConnect and ReStart. I’ve been a Team Leader in ReConnect for over a year now and genuinely feel so lucky every day to be able to support the amazing team we’ve got.”
“Working in ReConnect is the best! We have such a supportive team and even though we’re spread across the state (Hume, Gippsland and Dandenong) every day is a chance to make a difference in someone’s life, whether it be big or small. The team is super supportive and always willing to help each other out and help out other areas if needed. We’re really lucky in ReConnect.”
“A normal day in my work week might involve reviewing some Post-Release Reintegration Assessments before they get uploaded. I’ll speak to some of the team if they’re having issues with participants and need support. I also get to go up to the Traralgon Hub once a week and spend time with the incredible crew up there!”
“There’s a lot of admin in my role as a Team Leader, but by far the best parts of my week are when I get to meet participants with the team. It’s always my favourite part of the job getting to meet people who are trying to make meaningful change in their own lives and being able to support the superstars that we have working in ReConnect who are walking alongside their participants and being a support regardless of whether things are good or bad.”
“Easily the best part of my role is meeting with participants. The cohort that the ReConnect program supports are men who have been identified as having high reintegration needs and have been sentenced to longer than 3 months in custody. We often work with participants who are released into homelessness, may have limited to no supports outside of our program and may be dealing with mental health and/or substance abuse issues.”
“Being able to work side by side with our participants to help them engage with supports is the best part of the job. Getting someone into accommodation, helping them attend their AOD appointments or seeing them rebuild relationships with family is so incredibly rewarding and I get to support a whole team of people who do this every single day!”
“It’s too hard to pick one program! There are too many to name. Even just working in the Dandenong Hub I see such a wealth of knowledge and experience spread across so many programs, COATS, AOS, the Clinical and Practice teams, FACT, RPP then there’s CSP and ReStart just to name a few! All these programs bring a really unique perspective on providing support to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. I’m just really grateful that any and all of these programs are willing to answer my questions whenever I don’t have an answer.”
“Belief in humanity is probably the value that resonates with me the most. Through working in ReConnect, I’ve met some incredible people, both participants and colleagues, and I think that’s reinforced within me the idea that people are inherently good. People can do horrible things but that does not have to define who they are, and they always have the capacity to change it’s just about finding the right path for them to move forward in a positive way.”
“It’s hard to pick one moment that I’m most proud of in my time at ACSO. I think something that makes me smile to think back on is a participant I worked with right at the start of my time with ReConnect. He’d been homeless for 10ish years prior to getting locked up, served 8 years and was being released with nothing. We managed to get him onto the NDIS, completed his DSP application and he started engaging with AOD supports after being a Heroin user since he was an early teen. He started talking with his brother again and when he finished up his ReConnect package after 9 months it was like he was a totally different person to the guy I met for the first time at Port Phillip Prison. He’d really struggled to engage with services due to difficulties with reading and comprehension and I think all he needed was someone to just take the time to hear what he needed and then just help him with the little things like getting forms filled out.”
“I didn’t feel like I really did that much for him, but looking back on where he started from compared to where he ended up it was super rewarding to see him getting back on track.”
“I really don’t know where my career is going to go. I love working in ReConnect and supporting people within the justice system so I think as long as I’m doing that I’ll be happy.”
“I think long-term I’d really like to see a post-release support program offered to every single person exiting prison rather than the current framework where only people who are high-risk with high-needs are eligible for our support.”