Download Corrections News November 2005 (pdf: 442KB)
The Community Probation Service (CPS) is keen to hear from non-profit or charitable organisations that need help with projects. It has thousands of hours of free supervised community work labour to allocate to suitable organisations around the country. Read about community work and how it can assist community groups on page 5.
Corrections' Annual Report 2004/05 was published recently, marking the end of a year that saw both achievements and challenges for the Department. I have briefly summarised below some of the key achievements during the year.
The Strategy to Reduce Drug and Alcohol Use by Offenders 2005 - 2008 was released in September 2004. The Strategy continues the focus on reducing the supply of and demand for drugs, as well as reducing the harm caused by drugs through the provision of treatment programmes and harm minimisation initiatives. A key initiative of the Strategy was realised when additional drug detection dog teams were put in place in
Hawke's Bay, Wanganui and Christchurch, bringing the number of drug detection dog teams to 10.
The opening of the Northland Region Corrections Facility (NRCF) in March 2005 and the reception of the first prisoners in April was a significant event in Corrections' history and the culmination of eight years' planning and construction. The partnership with Ngati Rangi as kaitiaki, integral to the development of NRCF, will provide the basis for partnerships with kaitiaki in the commissioning of three further corrections facilities over the next two years.
The Corrections Act 2004 and Corrections Regulations 2005 came into effect on 1 June 2005. The new Act and Regulations provide a modern framework for the management of corrections and a set of clear principles to guide and inform the development of corrections activity over the coming years.
A great deal of work was accomplished in the lead-up to implementation of the new legislation, including reviewing and updating national systems, service descriptions and manuals; developing a new delegations structure for decisions about the management of offenders; reviewing the prison disciplinary process and appointing adjudicators; and developing and implementing a new complaints process for the Community Probation Service. The new Act also saw the transfer of management of the Auckland Central Remand Prison from GEO New Zealand Pty Limited to Corrections in July 2005.
The extended supervision regime for serious child sex offenders under the Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Act 2004 was successfully implemented during 2004/05. Systems and procedures were developed to support implementation of the regime, and are now well established. You can read more about the implementation of extended supervision on page six.
Significant progress was made on initiatives aimed at reducing re-offending. Following the launch of the Wellington Regional Reintegration Coordinator pilot in November 2004, reintegration worker positions were established at Waikeria and Arohata Prisons. The success of the pilot has seen reintegration case worker positions put in place at prisons throughout the country.
Saili Matagi, the Pacific Violence Prevention Programme, was implemented at Auckland Prison on the basis of the successful pilot in 2003/04, and a new Pacific Strategy 2005 - 2008 was developed following extensive consultation with Pacific communities. Year three of the Reducing Youth Offending Programme pilot was completed at the two pilot sites in Auckland and Christchurch in partnership with Child, Youth and Family.
These achievements were made against the backdrop of increasing prisoner numbers. New Zealand’s prison population is continuing to grow, contrary to the Ministry of Justice prison population forecast issued earlier this year. In 2004, Corrections was able to make additional prison beds available by using the operational buffer (a measure built into the prison system to cater for unexpected demand), disaster recovery beds and some double-bunking. In late 2004, work began on construction of 493 additional prison beds on existing prison sites, the first of which became available in April 2005. Corrections has been working closely with the Police and the Ministry of Justice to manage the growth in prisoner numbers, which put pressure on beds across the sector.
I want to acknowledge the efforts of the Police and the Ministry of Justice - I am very grateful for their cooperation and assistance. Corrections will continue working with all justice sector agencies to examine options for containing and accommodating the growth in the prison population, while ensuring the community’s safety is not compromised.
The commitment and hard work of staff has been integral to Corrections’ management of the muster situation. I also want to record my thanks for the professionalism demonstrated by staff in what has been a difficult year, and I look forward to another challenging and rewarding year ahead.
Hon Damien O'Connor has been allocated the Corrections portfolio in a major reallocation of ministerial responsibilities following September’s general election.
Mr O'Connor replaces Hon Paul Swain, who did not seek reelection to the Cabinet.
Along with his responsibilities as Minister of Corrections, Mr O'Connor is also Minister of Tourism, and continues as Minister for Rural Affairs and Associate Minister of Health. Hon Mita Ririnui continues as Associate Minister of Corrections.
The Psychological Service’s expertise is in demand across the Tasman as Australians grow increasingly interested in Corrections' approach to offender management.
Manager Special Projects David Wales recently visited Queensland to share Corrections' experience in implementing its Integrated Offender Management (IOM) approach.
Queensland’s Department of Corrective Services is currently introducing a system similar to IOM - its computer system is even called IOMS - and offence-focused rehabilitation programmes. The Department is adapting two offence-focused programmes developed by Corrections’ Psychological Service for use across the Tasman: the mixed criminogenic programme (M-PRO) and the newly-developed Kowhiritanga criminogenic (crime causing) programme.
David says such visits are an opportunity to look at initiatives in other jurisdictions and to share our experience in offence-focused programmes.
“The Queensland initiatives create an excellent opportunity for collaboration and information sharing with one of New Zealand’s near neighbours,” says David.
While in Queensland, David met with the Queensland State Minister of Corrective Services, State Treasury representatives, and the Queensland equivalent of the New Zealand Parole Board. He also met key staff involved in implementing the criminogenic programmes and visited a number of correctional facilities where they will be introduced.
Senior Psychologist Lucy King will visit Queensland later this month to train staff to run the new programme based on Kowhiritanga, which she developed for women.
Queensland isn’t the only Australian state learning from experience on this side of the Tasman. Dr Nick Wilson recently held a workshop in South Australia on the Psychopathy Checklist. South Australia has also decided to adapt Rimutaka Prison’s Violence Prevention Unit to teach prisoners non-violent behaviour. Psychological Service staff in demand.
The idea of developing facility standards for the design of prisons was first mooted in 1997. Eight years, 329 standards, 167 standard drawings, seven agreements, and 1,242 pages later, four volumes of standards have been approved and another volume is on the way.
Assets and Property National Property Manager William Whewell says the standards will be used as a manual for design and construction of all new prisons, and additions to existing prisons.
“Facility standards provide guidance and direction and are a timely and necessary baseline for Corrections,” says William.
“All new prison building projects must meet the same performance requirements so staff at different prisons can expect the same building performance.”
The standards cover details as specific as the allocation of room space and the quality of linings and fixtures.
The Regional Prison Development Project (RPDP) team first started work on the project and took into consideration accepted good practice, fitness for purpose, the New Zealand Building Code, and relevant legislation. Corrections’ groups and services were then consulted and draft standards drawn up. These were submitted to the National Facility and Services Committee and, once approved, became Departmentcertified facility standards. In 2003, the standards were transferred to Assets and Property to develop further.
Common facility standards introduced “The high quality of the facility standards is a testament to the expertise and hard work of the RPDP, Public Prisons Service and Assets and Property teams,” says William.
The standards currently comprise four volumes, covering first principles, relationships of built spaces, performance requirements of built spaces, performance requirements of fixtures and fittings, and specified suppliers.
Assets and Property Senior Adviser Facilities/Standards Mark Goodliffe says the standards are a living document. They will be updated and added to as new requirements and best practices are identified and tested.
“In fact, work is currently underway on a fifth volume that will set out the energy, water conservation, and waste management requirements for facilities,” says Mark.
The Psychological Service’s expertise is in demand across the Tasman as Australians grow increasingly interested in Corrections’ approach to offender management.
Manager Special Projects David Wales recently visited Queensland to share Corrections’ experience in implementing its Integrated Offender Management (IOM) approach.
Queensland’s Department of Corrective Services is currently introducing a system similar to IOM - its computer system is even called IOMS - and offence-focused rehabilitation programmes. The Department is adapting two offence-focused programmes developed by Corrections’ Psychological Service for use across the Tasman: the mixed criminogenic programme (M-PRO) and the newly-developed Kowhiritanga criminogenic (crime causing) programme.
David says such visits are an opportunity to look at initiatives in other jurisdictions and to share our experience in offence-focused programmes.
“The Queensland initiatives create an excellent opportunity for collaboration and information sharing with one of New Zealand’s near neighbours,” says David.
While in Queensland, David met with the Queensland State Minister of Corrective Services, State Treasury representatives, and the Queensland equivalent of the New Zealand Parole Board. He also met key staff involved in implementing the criminogenic programmes and visited a number of correctional facilities where they will be introduced.
Senior Psychologist Lucy King will visit Queensland later this month to train staff to run the new programme based on Kowhiritanga, which she developed for women.
Queensland isn’t the only Australian state learning from experience on this side of the Tasman. Dr Nick Wilson recently held a workshop in South Australia on the Psychopathy Checklist. South Australia has also decided to adapt Rimutaka Prison’s Violence Prevention Unit to teach prisoners non-violent behaviour.
Corrections' new probation officer training curriculum was launched in September after months of consultation and testing.
Soon afterwards, 12 new probation officers from around the country gathered in Hamilton to attend the first induction course.
The new curriculum is made up of 22 modules, which new probation officers complete during their first two years in the job. Some of the modules were based on earlier training courses, but most were developed from scratch.
Officers study in groups that remain together for the full two years. They also have work to complete before and after each course, supported by senior staff in their service centre.
The training is divided into three parts.
The first is a basic course to build generic skills. Probation officers then go through technical training on assessment and sentence planning, and training on sentence management.
Training and Development Team Leader Richard Waggott says the new curriculum balances structure and flexibility, while ensuring national consistency.
“The training is a big commitment for new staff and reflects the professional nature of the job,” he says.
In addition to the Hamilton course, two groups of 12 probation officers have started training and another four will start after Christmas.
The seven intakes will provide training for 90 new probation officers projected to join the Community Probation Service this financial year.
Richard says all new probation officers will go through the new curriculum as well as others who have recently joined.
“Our priority is probation officers who have joined since 1 July but we are expecting interest from other recently-appointed officers,” he says.
Former Ohura Prison Manager Peter Madsen is settling into his new role as New Plymouth Prison Manager.
Peter applied for the job after Lance Kennedy left the Public Prisons Service earlier this year.
Peter says he is looking to build on the good work done by Lance.
“While his departure was a loss for Corrections, it presented me with an opportunity following the announcement that Ohura Prison was going to be relocated to Tongariro-Rangipo Prison,” he says.
Although Peter has worked in prisons for 27 years, he still looks forward to coming to work every day.
“I’m hooked on dealing with people and personalities. I try to be a positive role model for the prisoners and interact with them as much as possible. I believe this helps the rehabilitation process and, hopefully, they leave prison as better people.”
Peter says that, while he is sad to leave Ohura, a prison was no longer viable in the town.
“The relocation allows Corrections to make the best use of its resources. Ohura is isolated, which makes it hard to recruit and retain staff, and to maintain delivery of rehabilitation and reintegration services at the site.”
Peter says he is enjoying working with the staff at New Plymouth Prison and looks forward to further developing the already strong relationship between the Prison and the Taranaki community.
From East Timor to Invercargill, Stu Davie has gained invaluable experience for his new role as Invercargill Prison Manager.
He takes over from Gary Lonsdale, who acted in the job following the death of former Manager Geoff Mills earlier this year.
Stu started his Corrections career in Invercargill some 25 years ago when he signed on as a prison officer. He later worked as Unit Manager, Regional Operations Adviser and in quality assurance.
He twice travelled to East Timor to work as Contingent Manager, seconded to the United Nations (UN) by Corrections.
“There are always 10-12 Kiwis over in East Timor, with two managers. Part of my role was to liaise between the UN and the Timorese prison services, at one point helping open a jail in Bacau.”
Stu says Invercargill Prison has been well managed and has a good team of staff.
“Gary’s done a fine job leading prison staff through a difficult time after Geoff’s death and now I’m looking forward to working with them,” he says.
“It’s a good time to work at the Prison. We’re in the middle of renovations that will give us better facilities and more options for prisoner activities. There are exciting times and challenges ahead.” South Island Regional Manager Paul Monk has welcomed Stu’s appointment.
“It’s great a manager of Stu’s calibre will lead the Invercargill Prison team. The Prison has consistently received positive peer reviews, audits, feedback from stakeholders and low levels of incidents for a number of years, and I look forward to this continuing under Stu’s capable watch.
“I also want to acknowledge Gary Lonsdale for his very sound management of Invercargill Prison following the tragic death of Geoff Mills earlier in the year.”
Community work is a community-based sentence that requires offenders to do unpaid work in the community. The aim is for offenders to pay something back to the community for the offence they committed.
Community work also gives offenders an opportunity to take responsibility for their offending and learn new skills and work habits.
Judges can sentence offenders to between 40 and 400 hours of community work.
Community work can be done in a supervised group, or on an individual basis through placement at an agency. Suitable projects for supervised groups include those at local councils, government agencies, voluntary organisations, marae organisations, sports groups and other community groups.
Agency placements typically utilise the offender’s particular skills. For example, an offender may provide accounting advice to a charity.
“It’s a job in itself managing the allocation of projects and agencies on our books,” says Central Regional Manager CPS Heather Mackie.
The Papakura District Council is one of many groups that welcomes Corrections’ help in cleaning graffiti. Mayor John Robertson says the Council appreciates the initiative and assistance offered by the Corrections Department.
“I was really pleased with the offer to help - they are doing a great job for our community,” he adds.
Another project well underway thanks to help from community workers is the upgrade of Cambridge’s Settlers Track walkway.
“The upgrading and beautification of public spaces is an ideal project for groups of labourers, who can achieve a lot in an eight-hour day under the guidance of a supervisor,” says Hamilton Community Work Supervisor Ian Murphy.
The first findings of a study to measure the effect of the Otago Region Corrections Facility (ORCF) on the local community will be released shortly.
Senior Project Management Adviser Colin Munn says these initial findings will provide a benchmark picture of life in the community prior to construction of ORCF.
It will be compared to the findings of a second stage assessment, to be undertaken within five years.
“Over 400 local residents, community leaders and service providers were interviewed for this part of the study,” says Colin.
The study is an important piece of research for Corrections.
“This is the first time we have carried out a baseline social impact study of this type on a prison or corrections facility, and the findings will significantly add to what is already known about how prisons fit into the community.”
Corrections’ latest annual report is out now, reporting on the Department’s achievements against the Statement of Intent 2004/05.
The strategies and initiatives in the Department’s Statement of Intent 2004/05 were based on the four themes of the Strategic Business Plan 2003 - 2008:
The report describes achievement against Corrections’ strategic goals and key initiatives, outputs and performance measures during the year. This includes detailed information on how Corrections is progressing against its outcomes of protecting the public and reducing re-offending, together with the financial statements and the statement of service performance, which detail performance against Corrections’ outputs.
A feature of the Annual Report 2004/05 is the inclusion, for the first time, of a full sustainable development report detailing the social, environmental and economic impacts of the Department’s operations.
The Annual Report 2004/05 is available on the Corrections website at www.corrections.govt.nz
Alongside the widely accepted principles of risk, need and responsivity, the notion of treatment integrity has been generally regarded as an integral element in effective correctional programming.
Despite an obvious intuitive connection between programme integrity and effectiveness, research literature has been comparatively silent on this matter. However, a recent review by Don Andrews and Craig Dowden 1 seeks to provide an empirical basis for the implicit connection between integrity of service delivery and reductions in recidivism. While programme integrity has been variously described by a number of authorities, Andrews and Dowden posit 10 specific indicators they consider to be integral to this construct.
These include a specific model of practice, selection of workers with interpersonal influence skills, training and clinical supervision of workers and training manuals that specify desired practice, monitoring of service delivery, and an adequate ‘dosage’ of treatment being provided. Using the technique of meta-analysis, the authors assessed 273 evaluations of correctional programmes with respect to whether they met the above specified indicators of integrity, and the relationship of these integrity indicators to a reduction in downstream recidivism.
First of all, the authors divided the treatment evaluations into those that fell into the “more appropriate” category or “less appropriate” category, in terms of their adherence to the principles of risk, need and responsivity.
The most marked finding was that, for the “less appropriate” programmes, there was no significant relationship between integrity and subsequent reoffending.
For those programmes that adhered to the risk need and responsivity principles, there was a clear relationship between integrity indicators and re-offending.
On the basis of these findings, Andrews and Dowden recommend that improved results from rehabilitative programmes are likely to be achieved by the selection of staff with relevant skills, and through establishing relevant training and clinical supervision by trained supervisors. These results also indicated that small scale studies that allowed for high quality training and clinical supervision achieved more favourable results than those initiatives implemented on a much larger scale.
They concluded that this current publication provided “the first systematic study of programme integrity and its impact on the effectiveness of correctional treatment programmes”.
More than 40 high-risk child sex offenders are now being monitored in the community under new laws designed to safeguard the public.
Extended supervision (ES) was introduced in July last year with the passing of the Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Act 2004.
It allows offenders convicted of specified offences against children to be assessed for suitability for ES, and for applications for ES orders to be made to the Court.
“These people are no longer in prison or on parole and are legally entitled to live in the community,” says Manager Operational Policy and Planning Tracy Mellor.
“Extended supervision provides additional protection for the offender and the community.”
Rigorous psychological assessments are carried out to determine if ES is warranted.
Offenders on ES are subject to standard parole conditions for up to 10 years, and the Community Probation Service can apply to the New Zealand Parole Board for special conditions allowing more intensive monitoring.
Typical special conditions set by the Board include:
More intensive supervisory conditions such as electronic monitoring and personto-person monitoring are rare, but can be imposed where deemed appropriate.
Since its implementation nearly 16 months ago, over 40 ES orders have been granted for periods ranging from two to 10 years.
“The Courts have largely accepted evidence of risk and granted orders accordingly,” says Tracy. “It’s interesting to note that some offenders see extended supervision as a safeguard for them, too.”
Since the Act came into effect, a dedicated team from head office has been liaising with staff in the field to assist with the management of offenders subject to ES.
A national ES training programme for probation officers began last month. The training covers the management of offenders on ES, writing ES special conditions reports, and the process involved in applying to the Court for an ES order.
The opportunity to compare information about public and private prisons drew a high-level Korean delegation to New Zealand recently.
The group of three officials from the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Justice included Director-General Mr Yang Bongtae.
After meeting Chief Executive Barry Matthews, General Manager Public Prisons Service Phil McCarthy and General Manager Strategic Services Mike Martelli in the morning, the delegation travelled north to visit Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP).
ACRP is part of the Public Prisons Service but was formerly managed by a private company.
ACRP Prison Manager Mack Herewini says Mr Yang, and his colleagues Mr Kim Tae-gyu and Mr Choi Kwang-woo toured the facility and were impressed by what they saw.
"They are building private prisons, and wanted to learn a little about them from us," says Mack.
"Mr Yang said quite directly that after talking with the Chief Executive and others in Wellington, then looking around ACRP, he thought the Public Prisons Service runs its facilities very well," he says.
The delegation received a brief powhiri from members of staff, and took the time to ask Mack a variety of questions surrounding the day-to-day running of ACRP, and the transition from a privatelymanaged prison to a public prison.
"Mr Yang specifically mentioned our staff structure and how well it works, from corrections officer to Chief Executive," says Mack. "He was impressed by the way staff behaved and wore their uniform, and by the facility itself."
As the Republic of Korea hosted this year’s Asian and Pacific Conference of Corrections Administrators (APCCA) conference, the visit doubled as a chance to meet senior Korean officials ahead of the conference. New Zealand will host APCCA in Auckland next year.
Corrections’ Information Technology (IT) Project Management Team is the driving force behind recent enhancements to computer and telephone systems across the organisation.
The IT Project Management Team is responsible for delivering enhancements to existing core systems and technologies - including the Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS), the Corrections Analysis and Reporting System (CARS) data warehouse and the computer network - as well as new initiatives such as prisoner information kiosks, upgrades to the intranet Corrnet, and the new digital telephony system.
Made up of IT professionals, the IT Project Management Team is led by Senior Project Manager Christine Whitfield, who reports directly to Chief Information Officer Derek Lyons. Christine joined Corrections in 1989 as a corrections officer, and has worked throughout the organisation in a variety of roles and secondments.
Derek says the IT Project Management Team plays a crucial role in delivering IT operational strategy. “Our project managers work closely with the other IT teams to identify the requirements of the groups and services, and verify that the technical solution meets the business and information needs of the Department. Then they are responsible for implementing those solutions.”
The Team’s strategic responsibilities are to:
The IT Project Management Team works to an annual work plan that sets out the projects planned for the financial year. Corrections staff can keep up-to-date with the IT work plan and upcoming developments through Corrnet, where a new page with details of the IT Annual Work Plan for 2005/06 will be published shortly.
An agreement to provide water and wastewater services to the Otago Region Corrections Facility (ORCF) was recently signed between Corrections and the Clutha District Council.
Senior Project Management Adviser Colin Munn says ORCF will be a substantial user of both water and wastewater services, and current council infrastructure is unable to meet the expected increase in demand.
"We reached an understanding with the Council on water and wastewater services during the designation process in 2004 and we have worked cooperatively to finalise the agreement," says Colin.
“We agreed to contribute financially to upgrade the necessary infrastructure and, in return, the Council has agreed to provide water and wastewater services to ORCF.”
As part of the agreement, Corrections will contribute towards the cost of a new water treatment plant for the nearby town of Milton and fund an upgrade of the existing wastewater treatment plant. It will also pay for the pipes and pumps required to service ORCF.
Colin says the agreement is a good outcome for the Milton community and Corrections. "The agreement allows Milton to develop a modern water treatment plant that will service both the community and ORCF."
The agreement is one of a number of milestones recently reached in the construction of ORCF, which is due to open in 2007. Earthworks and most of the pre-cast concrete work have now been completed, and a number of buildings have been constructed.
1 Andrews D.A., and Dowden C. (2005), Managing correctional treatment for reduced recidivism:
A meta-analytic review of programme integrity. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 10 -173-187.
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