The Department of Corrections’ medium intensity rehabilitation programme (MIRP) and short rehabilitation programme for men (SRP-M) have been designed to address a wide range of rehabilitation needs for male offenders at medium risk of re-offending.
The short rehabilitation programme for women (SRP-W) is available for female offenders and has been designed to address a wide range of rehabilitation needs for female offenders with a risk of re-offending.
The programmes are delivered by specialised programme facilitators employed by CPPS to deliver these programmes in the community and in the prison environment.
Reference: For full details on eligibility criteria and referral/assessment processes please see Community-based Interventions booklet.
MIRP is the preferred option. It is delivered to groups of up to 10 offenders, over a period of approximately 13 weeks, and requires attendance at four sessions each week for 53 sessions. Each session is approximately 2.5 hours long, with the total programme taking approximately 134.5 hours.
SRP-M is available for offenders who are unsuitable for MIRP (due to responsivity barriers such as personality or behavioural difficulties or in locations where MIRP cannot be provided). It may also be offered as an alternative where there are not enough participants to make the full MIRP viable.
The SRP-M is delivered in groups of up to 3 offenders and requires attendance at 3 to 4 sessions per week for 18 sessions. Each session is 2.5 hours long with the programme taking 45 hours.
The SRP-W is delivered in groups of up to 3 offenders and requires attendance at 3 to 4 sessions per week for 16 to 18 sessions. Each session is 2.5 hours long with the programme taking up to 45 hours.
With the introduction of the SRP-W female offenders are no longer eligible to attend the MIRP
Offenders are eligible for MIRP if they :
Probation officers should assume that MIRP or SRP programmes are available unless they have specifically been notified otherwise by the regional manager (this notification will apply only to some isolated or rural areas).
If possible, the offender should be provisionally allocated to a specific programme and the dates of that programme included in the proposed special condition. If this is not possible, ensure the minimum sentence requirements to meet the conditions are mentioned in the report (at least 9 months) to provide enough time for a programme to be arranged and delivered.
Probation officers should recommend and refer offenders to the MIRP, unless there is a specific reason related to the offender (not the availability of the programme) that makes them suitable only for the SRP.
It is the responsibility of the programme facilitators/managers to divert the offender from MIRP to SRP. It is also their responsibility to ensure that SRP is provided where it is required.
The offender should not be assessed by the programme facilitator at this stage. This will be done if and when the sentence and special condition has been imposed.
The programme facilitators assess the offenders in the 6 weeks leading up to the start of the programmes. This assessment is done to:
If the offender is not accepted onto a programme, following this assessment, the probation officer must review the special conditions of the sentence.
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