Since the release of the Auditor-General’s report into parole management, Corrections is continuing its focus on improving compliance with procedures.
The Auditor-General’s report examined 100 parole cases in 2008, in four of the 12 Community Probation & Psychological Services (CPPS) areas. This audit included 52 high-risk offenders, and found that procedures had not been followed. The issues generally involved staff not completing procedures in the specified timeframes, or, in some cases, not completing them at all.
Corrections expects to manage over 100,000 sentences and orders in the community this year, 3,700 of which will be parole. This compares with 72,469 sentences and orders, of which 2,898 were parole during the 2006/07 financial year. Currently, 41,950 sentences and orders are being managed at any one time in the community by CPPS staff.
The Auditor-General’s report acknowledges that Corrections’ job is ‘not an easy one’ and points out that offenders on parole ‘often have little experience of complying with time-frames’. He goes on to make 20 recommendations to improve the situation, highlighting five that he sees as a priority.
During 2008, Corrections also reviewed how we handle parole management. We conducted a review of all of the 554 parolees who were identified as high-risk offenders.
Because this was a review across the whole country, which covered a large number of offenders, it helped us clearly identify what the staff compliance issues were and when they happened. We are using this information, along with the findings of the Auditor-General’s report, and those of our own quality assurance systems, to improve our performance.
State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie, in his report into who should be held accountable for the shortcomings in parole management, noted that Corrections has already been working with ‘a consistent and energetic focus’ on compliance issues in the management of parole.
Corrections’ CPPS Plan to Improve Compliance with Procedures for Managing Parole Orders outlines the steps we’ve already taken and the work underway or planned.
The plan details a wide range of specific actions – such as reviewing the Probation Operations Manual to make it easier to read and understand, and training administrative support staff to take on some of the paperwork.
CPPS General Manager Katrina Casey says that while we increased our compliance performance from 60 per cent in November 2007 to 80 per cent in December 2008, it is essential that we continue to improve and doing so is the responsibility of all staff and managers.
“It will only be achieved by managers and staff following the procedures and ensuring that issues are clearly identified and addressed in a timely manner,” she says.
“Our focus must be firmly on public safety and following our own procedures is a critical part of this.
“Accountability applies at every level. Every manager and staff member must take a greater responsibility for following the procedures. This is the best protection against an incident occurring with an offender under your supervision.
“Incidents will, of course, still happen, given the nature of the offenders we manage and their attitudes and behaviours.
"However, we need to be sure we have not contributed to any incidents, either through what we have done or more particularly what we have not done. For example, by not taking timely enforcement action which could have led to the offender not having the opportunity to commit further crime and create additional victims.
“I know most probation officers and their managers have been working under a great deal of pressure for some time and I am well aware of the considerable effort most staff put in every day when managing the most difficult and challenging members of our society.
“It is very clear what our challenge is and very clear that our primary aim is to protect public safety. We can best do this by focusing on an offender’s compliance with the conditions of their sentence or order, with our rules and by taking timely action when an offender does not comply.
"Ensuring we follow our procedures in managing offenders is mandatory and removing the barriers to staff doing so is a very critical priority for us.”
In line with the recommendations of the State Services Commissioner an expert panel has been established to review CPPS procedures, decision support tools and performance measures.
The expert panel will be chaired by Paula Rebstock, previous chair of the Commerce Commission, who brings with her a wealth of experience and expertise in both the commercial and public sectors.
Members of the panel include Peter Hughes, currently Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development with extensive experience in service delivery with a focus on compliance; Andrew Bridges, UK Chief Inspector of Probation with HM Inspectorate of Probation; and senior CPPS staff Tracy Mellor and Monique Cunningham to provide internal expertise.
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ISSN 1178-8453