Recommending Special Conditions on Intensive Supervision

It is anticipated that many offenders on intensive supervision will have multiple special conditions, usually including at least one relating to programmes or other treatment/interventions.

If the needs of the offender can be met via a sentence of supervision, then the recommendation should be for supervision and not intensive supervision.

What can be imposed

The full range of special conditions is available.

Special conditions that can be imposed for intensive supervision but not supervision are:

• attendance at residential programmes
• judicial monitoring

Note: Judicial monitoring can be indicated in the body of the report but it should not be a recommendation or special condition.

What cannot be imposed

The legislation provides that the following special conditions cannot be imposed under a sentence of intensive supervision:

• electronic monitoring (EM)
• requirements to make any financial payment (fine, reparation etc), or
• requirements to do work that could be done under a sentence of CW.

Legislative reference: Section 54I Sentencing Act 2002.

Programmes and special conditions

It is expected that most offenders serving a sentence of intensive supervision will have special conditions to attend one or more of the following:

• a residential programme (e.g. alcohol and other drug treatment, or a community residential centre)
• a departmental programme (i.e. MIRP)
• a programme to address sexual offending against children, or
• multiple community-based programmes (alcohol and other drug counselling, family violence programmes).

Programme-related special conditions may also cover attendance at:

• training in BWLS
• any programme (that is not residential)
• counselling, and
• assessments.

Legislative reference: Section 54H Sentencing Act 2002.

Needs that can be met without a special condition

 Probation officers can assist offenders on a sentence of intensive supervision to meet some re-integrative and cultural needs, without a special condition being imposed.

The pre-sentence report should record needs identified during the assessment process, even if a special condition is not recommended.

Available services/programmes include:

• Tikanga M?ori programmes (to be eligible offenders must identify as M?ori and indicate a willingness to attend), and
• reintegrative services such as assistance in obtaining employment or accommodation, budgeting skills etc (probation officers will facilitate access to relevant community based services).

Addressing low or no motivation

Probation officers will be trained to address low motivation in offenders on intensive supervision, and to encourage the offender to maintain their motivation while waiting for a programme to commence/during attendance at a programme.

Some community-based programmes (particularly AOD counselling and DVA programmes) are designed to address low motivation/minimal acknowledgement of the need for a programme.

It is therefore appropriate to recommend a sentence of intensive supervision for such offenders. The recommendation should include an indication of the minimum sentence length required to enable motivational work to be completed before intensive rehabilitation commences.

If there is significant concern that motivational work will not be sufficient to engage the offender in a rehabilitation programme, a sentencing option that includes home detention (which has both punitive and rehabilitative components) should be considered.

If the offender refuses to agree to participate in such a programme, and the probation officer considers there is no likelihood of motivational work increasing their willingness to attend, other sentencing options (CW and/or CD) should be considered.