Making Referrals

Introduction

The probation officer should:

make a referral for each special condition, and
record in IOMS casenotes that this has been done.

Offenders on OWS

For offenders included on the offender warning system (OWS), the first referral should be made within one week of the sentence/release, and all referrals should have been either actioned or scheduled in the offender plan within one month of sentence/release.

Steps to take to prepare a referral

Follow these steps to prepare a referral.

Step	Action
1	If the order/licence does not specify the intervention, match the offender to an appropriate agency or programme.
2	Provide the offender with information about the agency or programme requirements.
3	Explore and identify any barriers the offender may have to participating in an internal programme or external programme/counselling.
4	Where necessary, work with the offender to develop strategies to overcome barriers.

Steps to take to make a referral and record details

Follow these steps to make a referral and record the details in IOMS casenotes:

Step

Action

Use the table below to decide what referral process to follow.

If the referral is to…	then…
an external agency	follow the referral protocol including: discussing boundaries of confidentiality, and obtain service manager approval if required for funding.
an internal programme	follow the referral process for departmental programmes.
psychological counselling	follow the referral process for departmental psychologist.

Make an appointment time for the offender to report to the agency/programme/psychologist, and
inform the offender in writing of the details of the appointment.

Update the offender plan in IOMS and record in IOMS casenotes that:

the referral has been completed, and
if applicable, that an appointment has been made and the offender informed.

Where appropriate, arrange a three-way meeting with the programme provider, facilitator or counsellor.

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