The capability and capacity of the Department of Corrections to deal with the demands we face is arguably our most pressing organisational issue.
Associated with this are several significant risks. As discussed previously, recent years have seen rapid growth in the numbers of offenders being sentenced to prison and community sanctions. This growth has tended to exceed forecast increases, with the result that expansion of capacity has often lagged behind actual demand.
Volume growth has also necessitated recruitment of significant numbers of new staff for both community probation and prison services. This has resulted in a very high percentage of inexperienced staff, in both front line, managerial and support roles: 40 percent of Corrections Officers and 46 percent of probation officers have less than two years experience.
Meeting standards in the management of parolees has been under particular pressure because of resource issues.
The quality of services provided, including the time able to be spent with each community-based offender, reflects Government purchase and funding decisions.
Since the 2003 Output Pricing Review, the Department has been funded to deliver services at the “restore and maintain" level. While this level of funding allows for adequate standards of service, it is not desirable over the longer term. Significant growth in volumes since 2003 has also meant some erosion of the intended standards.
Community offender management: Capacity
Capacity issues for Community Probation and Psychological Services (both in terms of staff recruitment and training, and facility development) are expected to remain a strategic challenge for the foreseeable future.
New community-based sentences introduced in October 2007 have provided the Judiciary with a broader range of options intended in the main as alternatives to prison sentences. The introduction of these sentences was supported by provision of extra resources to employ additional staff, and meet associated costs. Additional funding was secured for 88 probation officer positions through the 2008 budget, as well as extra administration and service manager positions. Recruitment to these new positions has taken some time in parts of the country.
The new sentences were expected to reduce numbers in prison by around 450, making use of electronic monitoring for home and community detention to keep lower risk offenders in the community. It is now estimated that, because of the new sentences, the prison population is currently 700 lower than it would otherwise have been - the equivalent of a larger-sized prison.
In fact, judicial uptake of the new sentences has occurred at rates significantly higher than anticipated. This has meant that Community Probation and Psychological Services are managing volumes of offenders on each of the new sentences greatly in excess of anticipated numbers.
As already noted, pressure from managing unexpectedly large numbers of offenders has resulted in issues with maintaining service standards. If the shortfall between resources and demand continues, there is potential for service delivery standards to degrade further, which could have flow-on effects in terms of prisoner numbers, and public safety.
To meet adequate standards of service to manage the existing unanticipated volumes, Community Probation and Psychological Services need an additional 200 probation officers, 17 psychologists, and 50 management and administrative support staff.
The costs of the electronic monitoring contract both for Home Detention and Community Detention, and associated equipment, have also increased significantly because of the increases in volumes of offenders on these sentences. The Department is preparing a budget bid for the required resources, based on the most up to date information available.
Prison capacity
The Department has commissioned and opened four new prisons in the past five years. These facilities, in conjunction with expansion on existing sites, have added a total of 2,400 beds to total prison capacity, which now stands at around 8,500 (with additional though sub-standard capacity available for emergency use – see Figure 4 below).
Despite this increased capacity, the most recent (October 2008) prisoner population forecast indicates that, on existing policy settings, numbers in prison will continue to rise over the next eight years, from 8,000 at present to around 10,700 by 2016.
If currently projected levels of growth are realised, the prison estate needs at least another 2200 beds, or 275 new beds in each of the next eight years. Changes to key settings, such as more restrictive approaches to bail or parole would, without countervailing measures, increase these estimates. An immediate concern is the prospect that existing in-use capacity is exhausted by mid-2010. As well as additional bed numbers, staff numbers will need to increase significantly.
Support facilities such as receiving offices, prisoner health units and at-risk units will also need to be expanded. At some prisons such facilities are already inadequate, relative to the total number of prisoners on the site.
Aggravating these pressures is the fact that a significant proportion of the prison estate is approaching, or has already reached, the point of obsolescence. Some facilities can no longer be regarded as fit for purpose, with some being at risk of non-compliance with relevant building standards. The refurbishment of some of those units is not economical. Deterioration of obsolete or near-obsolete capacity may be slow, but risks increase as replacement is delayed. The Department is preparing a business case to address various capacity issues, including providing for some replacement of capacity that is at the end of its economic life.
The following graph (Figure 4) gives actual and forecast prisoner numbers, against a backdrop representing the various levels of prison capacity. Only the capacity in the “green” band is fully functional and immediately useable. Various and escalating risks apply as greater proportions of the “amber” and “red” zones are pressed into service, as is explained in the text boxes superimposed on the graph.
Figure 4: Prison capacity and the 2008-2016 prisoner forecast
Click here to view a larger version.
Expansion of the prison estate on the scale suggested by the forecast is a daunting prospect for all stakeholders. The fiscal consequences are very significant, and recruitment and other issues raise major practical concerns in the short term, as well as longer term questions about the feasible upper limit on the size of our Corrections system. Avoiding such expansion will require bold policy or strategy changes.
Initiatives are being developed across the justice and social sectors to address crime and the effects of crime. However, crime reduction strategies typically have impacts in the medium- to long-term. Other potential responses to the problem of muster growth carry significant risks, both social and political. For example, alternative (noncustodial) sentences transfer pressure onto community offender management which, as noted above, is already experiencing significant strain.
The Department considers a prudent approach to managing risks associated with the prison population is to plan for additional capacity, whilst continuing with other justice sector agencies to develop initiatives that reduce crime and re-offending. Currently the best options for additional prison capacity include expanding the current redevelopment project at Mt Eden Prison, and increasing the number of beds on other existing sites.
Prison capability
Growth in prisoner (and bed) numbers in recent years has seen a corresponding growth in the number of staff required to supervise and manage these prisoners.
Recruitment and training of Corrections Officers is a key component of capacity planning, especially when new facilities are established. In order to maintain a safe and consistent standard of prisoner management, Prison Services not only recruited new staff but also transferred experienced staff to the new prisons. Approximately 50 percent of staff in the four new prisons have prior experience at other New Zealand prisons. This strategy is believed to have contributed significantly to the relatively trouble-free commissioning of new prison facilities.
However, overall growth in staff numbers has meant that more than 40 percent of Corrections Officers now have less than two years experience. This also means the proportion of experienced staff to mentor and oversee newer staff is lower. The Department is enhancing training and support for frontline prison staff and their managers to ensure that safety and security are maintained at required levels. At the same time, staff are supported in their efforts to change prisoners’ behaviour both in prison and after release.