A huge volume of training is being rolled out to community probation staff in preparation for new community sentences being introduced in October.
Around 850 staff within Community Probation & Psychological Services (CPPS) are completing up to four separate sets of training over September and October.
This will enable them to prepare the new pre-sentence reports and manage the new sentences, in addition to managing current community sentences and orders.
The new sentences are: Home detention as a stand-alone sentence; community detention, which imposes electronically-monitored curfews; and intensive supervision, which provides for rehabilitative interventions and active involvement with the offender.
The existing sentence of supervision now targets offenders with rehabilitative needs that can be addressed with community based programmes and involve minimal oversight from a probation officer.
Community work has also been revised to include a basic work and living skills option, and clearer timeframes for hours to be completed. The most community work hours an offender can accumulate is 400 and they’ll have six months to complete every 100 hours (or less) of community work.
This tiered structure of community sentences is intended to give judges greater options in sentencing, and alternatives to prison for low risk offenders who would have got short prison sentences.
CPPS’ Manager of Training and Development, Richard Waggott, says a team of 60 staff selected from throughout the service have been trained as trainers to codeliver workshops on:
In addition, two representatives from each of the 140 service centres have been trained in IT changes and the Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS) templates for the new sentences. These staff are now training th eir colleagues in IOMS changes back in their service centres.
Richard says the substantial training programme needed for the introduction of changes under the new legislation, is being run simultaneously with the core curriculum training for new probation officers. 
For the year to July there were 180 new probation offi cers to be trained, compared to 96 for the previous year.
Richard says the new sentence training is being gradually transitioned into the regular training curriculum for new probation staff. Meanwhile, recruitment continues for further staff needed to cover the extra workload from the new sentences, the police drive to get an additional 1000 officers, and to also cover for attrition.
An overtime policy for September was introduced to enable CPPS to continue with “business as usual” while the training regime was undertaken.
Richard says the 60 trainers are undergoing a “gruelling schedule”. “They have shown a real commitment to meeting tight deadlines.”
While most of the training is due to be completed by October 10, a range of initiatives will be put in place to provide ongoing support, such as team meetings, emailed updates, and additional coaching.
The first offenders serving intensive supervision were sentenced on October 1. The first offenders serving community detention or home detention are expected to be serving the new sentences from October 23, after Labour Weekend.
Corrections is training over 850 staff to manage the
community-based sentences: Wellington region
community work supervisors at a training day.
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