Since the release of the Auditor-General’s report into parole management, Corrections is continuing its focus on improving compliance with procedures.
In the last issue of Corrections News we reported on the work we’re doing to put the Community Probation & Psychological Services Plan to Improve Compliance with Procedures for Managing Parole Orders into action.
Community Probation & Psychological Services (CPPS) General Manager Katrina Casey says we’re continuing our focus on improving compliance, with several areas of work reaching implementation.
“We’re piloting new summary tables of key sentence or order requirements that clearly lay out the actions probation officers have to take and the timeframes they have to adhere to,” she says.
Katrina says that now we are responsible for managing nine different sentences and orders, the requirements for these sentences can be very complex.
“Especially if they have a mixed caseload, it’s not easy for probation officers to quickly pinpoint when they need to have done a certain task,” she says.
Initial feedback suggests probation officers find the new requirements tables useful. They have also given good feedback about what needs to be included.
Also being tested is a new way for probation officers to assess the risk posed by a violent offender every time they report.
The Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry tool assesses changes in an offender’s circumstances that can mean their risk of committing another crime has increased.
The tool helps to highlight if the probation officer should intervene or take other action. The testing is being managed by National Research Adviser Dr Nick Wilson and is operating in Christchurch. An analysis and evaluation of the tool will be done later in the year.
We are also well underway with the implementation of a new way for probation officers to electronically access their operations manuals.
Katrina says the current operations manuals are difficult to navigate and are not formatted in a way that makes best use of the technology now available.
“We’ve approved a new on-line format for the operations manuals which will significantly improve navigation. A senior probation officer has been seconded to begin putting the manual content into the new format.
“Staff will get the opportunity to test the new on-line manuals as they’re being produced,” she says.
In other work, we are well on the way with the follow up review of the 554 high risk parolees we reviewed in August/September 2008. The second review is to ensure all the actions we deemed necessary have been taken and to assess how well probation officers are now following procedures.
Further Information
The CPPS Plan to Improve Compliance with Procedures for Managing Parole Orders
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ISSN 1178-8453