The past few months have been very busy for Community Probation & Psychological Services, with staff all over the country involved in implementing law changes to strengthen community sentences. The new sentencing hierarchy includes two new sentences – community detention and intensive supervision – and also provides the courts with new ways to combine sentences. In addition home detention has also become a sentencing option available to judges.
Each sentence has a particular purpose such as reparation to the community, punishment or restriction of liberty, and/or rehabilitation. Offenders we manage may be subject to one or more sentences at any one time.
Community work can be combined with every other sentence except prison.
More than 800 offenders sentenced between 1 October and 26 November were serving community work alongside supervision, intensive supervision or community detention. That’s about 16 percent of all offenders newly sentenced to community work in that period.
Combined sentences mean these offenders not only do unpaid work that benefits their local community but they may also get help to address the causes of their offending, or have their freedom restricted to reduce their chances of reoffending.
This is an example of what we mean by strengthening community sentences.
As you’ll see from the stories in this issue, community work has potential to benefit not only those sentenced to it, but the wider community. CPPS has been working with community groups throughout the country for many years now. We are proud to be working with them to help build better, safer communities.
To all of our community work agencies out there, thank you. We look forward to your continued support in the new year and in the future.
Got a story for Community Works or want to request the print edition?
Email commdesk@corrections.govt.nz or phone (04) 460 3365.
Community Works is published quarterly by the Department of Corrections. Contact details for Community Probation & Psychological Services can be found here or by looking under C for Corrections in the Government listings of the Telecom White Pages.
ISSN 1178-1327