Roles and Responsibilities

Sentence planners are the first point of contact for proabtion officers in the pre-release process. They:

• review an offender's progress while in prison
• interview the offender to ascertain and review their proposals for release on parole
• prepare the pre-release planning worksheet to be forwarded to CPPS
• liaise with other PS staff who are involved with the offender (eg, Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) staff, case officers)
• liaise with the probation officer
• provide to the probation officer information about an offender that may be relevant in:
• • planning for that offender's release on parole
  • assessing their suitability for parole
• prepare the PS sections of the parole assessment report.

The unit PCOs:

• notify the case officer when an offender plan review is due
• interview offenders about attending the NZPB and, when they choose not to attend, organise the 'Waiver of right to appear before the NZPB' form (A.13.01.F3)
• raise the possibility, with their Unit Manager, on whether or not an application is going to be made under Section 107 of the Parole Act 2002
• ensure actions identified in advice to staff are completed and sentence planners are notified.

Case officers are the primary point of day-to-day contact for offenders while they are in prison. They:

• manage the offender plan, to ensure that the activities within the plan are being carried out (eg, attendance at programmes, engaging in constructive activities within the unit)
• provide information about an offender to the sentence planner that may be relevant in:
• • planning for that offender's release on parole
  • assessing their suitability for parole
• complete actions requested by the sentence planner in the 'Advice to Unit Staff' form (SMP.6.F8).

Reintegration caseworkers:

• identify and address an offender's reintegrative needs
• develop a reintegration plan for the offender
• liaise with the probation officer to ensure that the reintegration plan is suitable and workable
• liaise with the sentence planner to ensure that the reintegration plan feeds into the offender's release proposal for parole.

Note: An offender is referred to a reintegration caseworker for an assessment to see if they require reintegrative assistance. The caseworker will typically liaise directly with the probation officer if they are working intensively with an offender. Otherwise, any assistance provided to the offender by the reintegration caseworker will typically be communicated to the probation officer via the sentence planner.

Other prison staff, typically:

• unit managers
• unit staff
• CIE staff
• social workers
• Work and Income prisoner reintegration team (based in prisons)
• whanau liaison workers
• programme facilitators
• drug dog handlers
• prison chaplain
• health staff

The responsibility of other staff is normally limited to providing relevant information to include in the release proposal or the parole assessment report.

They may also undertake activities at the request of the sentence planner (eg, Work and Income prisoner reintegration team who work with the offender to secure an appropriate benefit if they are released on parole; case officer asking offender for further details about their proposed accommodation).

 Probation officers:

• respond to the proposals put forward in the pre-release planning worksheet
• liaise with the sentence planner and reintegration caseoworker (where applicable)
• check and confirm the suitability and workability of the offender's release proposal
• interview the offender's family and/or support people
• prepare the offender's final release proposal
• ensure that the NZPB receives sufficient information about:
• • the appropriateness and workability of the release proposal
  • proposed special conditions
• ensure that proposed special conditions can be:
• • implemented
  • complied with
  • monitored effectively
• conduct enquiries with relevant agencies.

Service managers:

• allocate the pre-release planning worksheet, pre-parole liaison and parole assessment report to probation officers
• decide whether to initiate pre-parole liaison
• undertake quality assurance checks.

CPPS psychologists:

• prepare the psychological assessment report (as and when requested to do so by the NZPB)
• liaise with the probation officer to ensure that special conditions of parole related to psychological treatment and/or intervention are recommended appropriately
• • as and when the probation officer is considering recommending such a condition
  • where the psychologist is involved with an offender through treatment or assessment.

Administration officers:

• collate previous offender files (where held)
• distribute pre-release planning worksheet requests to appropriate service managers.