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Can you keep someone out of jail, out of drug rehab, or keep them from lashing out just by talking?

That's the approach reverend Ron Hutchinson is taking to help marginalized people in Brisbane - and he says it works.

"We have people who should have been in prison, people who got out, substance abuse, poor mental health, domestic violence - you name it," Mr Hutchinson said.

Mr. Hutchinson is a pastor at Redcliff Fringe Church, a nonprofit that he and his wife fund primarily, where he and others help people reintegrate into the community.

The first step could be confrontational, Ron Hutchinson said.

"Basically, my first conversation with them was, 'First of all, you know you're an idiot, don't you?'" he said.

"and the answer has to be yes"

Within three weeks of its establishment nine years ago 25,000 people had signed up with the organisation for help.

Mr Hutchinson said part of his role was to help people take ownership of their past, deal with it, and plan for the future.

For some that could mean facing the criminal justice system.

"You've planted shit — all this rubbish and stuff in your life," Mr Hutchinson said.

"You need to reap it, harvest it and eat it. only then can we plant again and I will walk with you while you do it.

The Bald Hills father of four said not being able to talk openly and without judgement could make matters worse for the people he worked with.

"We've seen guys come off drug addiction, abuse, families coming back together — people reintegrating into society quite well by having someone they can talk to."

Family violence organisation DVConnect said it supported efforts of the Fringe Church.

"We believe that there needs to be a whole-of-community response to stop violence against women," a spokesperson said.

"Men who are taking responsibility for their use of violence and abuse and are demonstrating a commitment to making unconditional agreements to change their abusive behaviour provide examples that positive change is possible."

Mr Hutchinson said isolation was one of the biggest problems for the people he worked with.

"They're lost, they're alone," he said.

"They've got no one to turn to, no one to fill the space.

"It's the same with criminal activity — a lot of it would be stopped if they felt that they were part of society and contributing, as opposed to being shunned."

The work of people like Mr Hutchinson is integral to a person's reintegration into society, according to University of Queensland School of Law researcher and former social worker Professor Tamara Walsh.

"It's about building a rapport with someone — trying to understand what brought them here and trying to implement a response that meets that person where they're at," Professor Walsh said.

Mr Hutchinson said his work was "not fashionable" and received very little public sympathy and no public funding.

"There's nothing financial in it for us and so it's like, how is this sustainable?" he said.

"The answer is, it isn't — but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it."

In the nine years that The Fringe Church has been running only two of its members have returned to prison this is nothing short of a miracle when the recidivism rates sits at 52% in Queensland.

Ron Hutchinson stated that Social equity programs and the building of new self-identity of ex-offenders on relace can have lasting change and drive a community-based attitude that will lead the person away from criminal interactions.

Increasingly the aspirations of The Fringe Church programmes are focusing on reducing the use of incarceration through analysis of demand for prison places and identifying opportunities at different points in the system to divert offenders from custody and/or reduce the likelihood of re-offending on release.

This model of the program is described as a criminal justice system redesign approach—places little attention on what is happening beyond the criminal justice system or on preventing criminality in the first place.

Research shows that inmates who participate in correctional education programs have 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not and that every dollar spent on prison education saves four to five dollars on the costs of re-incarceration.

One thing we can say is The Fringe Church and Ron Hutchinson are making a great difference in the greater Brisbane area and we wish him all the best in his work.

www,thefringechurch.com