The Criminal Justice Reform Bill, which contains the changes required to implement the Government’s Effective Interventions strategy, was passed this month.

As the legislation has wound its way through the House, the Corrections Department has been exceptionally busy preparing for the changes.

Among these are changes required in order to implement home detention as a new sentence. This work is on track and due to be completed in time for implementation later this year.

The preparations required are extensive and in many cases are tightly linked to other changes in legislation. They include:

• Design of new pre-sentence report processes and documentation, to include home detention (together with the other new/changed sentences) as a sentencing option
• Design of the sentence management regime to be applied to offenders serving the new sentence of home detention. This includes policies and procedures relating to changes in the legislation (e.g. recall no longer available as an enforcement action or provision for probation officers to approve temporary change of address)
• Specification and development of changes to the Department’s computer Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS) to provide IT support for the preparation of pre-sentence reports and the notification and management of imposed sentences. This includes the interface with the Ministry of Justice (Courts) Content Management system (CMS)
• Recruitment and training of additional probation officers and associated other staff, and the provision of additional accommodation and other infrastructure (computers, cars etc.) to enable us to manage the additional volume of offenders
• Design and delivery of training in the new requirements for existing staff.

This is a huge amount of work, which requires a great deal of planning and accurate implementation. Risks, such as the hiring and training of new staff, and the need to have systems, such as information technology platforms, in place and ready in time for 1 October, have been managed very efficiently.

There has been a pleasing amount of interest in the new positions, and probation officers are due to start specialised training any time now.

It is never easy to institute systemic change, particularly in a public environment that has been less than friendly. I commend all Corrections staff, who have and continue to be involved in this process. The changes are important and so is the work you are doing.

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ISSN 1178-8453

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