Intensive supervision is a sentence that requires the offender to comply with a range of standard conditions and special conditions imposed by the court. It is targeted at offenders convicted of serious offences, with severe and/or complex rehabilitative needs and a high risk of re-offending.
Intensive supervision can be imposed jointly with:
These combinations enable the courts to impose sentences that require the offender to make reparation and/or be punished, as well as providing for them to address rehabilitative and re-integrative needs.
It is anticipated that approximately one third of offenders currently (prior to October 2007) sentenced to supervision will be sentenced to intensive supervision under the new legislation. It is estimated that the average length of intensive supervision sentences will be twelve months, although it is expected that the full range (6-24 months) will be applied to individual offenders.
International evidence indicates that higher levels of intervention are required for offenders at higher risk of re-offending. The intensive supervision sentence has therefore been designed on the basis of extensive contact between the offender and the Department of Corrections. On average, probation officers will spend approximately 54 hours managing a sentence of intensive supervision.
Offenders will be sentenced to intensive supervision only after the judge has considered a full pre-sentence report. The preparation of a full pre-sentence report requires a detailed assessment of the offender, including a structured interview with the offender (averaging one hour) and independent verification of information provided by the offender.
Full pre-sentence reports, continued In a full pre-sentence report, the probation officer outlines key factors relating to the offender including their:
In a full pre-sentence report, the probation officer will recommend both the type and length of the sentence(s) to be imposed, and will include details of recommended special conditions. The full range of special conditions is available for this sentence.
If the probation officer has canvassed the possibility of an electronically-monitored sentence (CD or HD) during the preparation of the report, but does not recommend it as a sentencing outcome, this information will be included as an appendix to the full pre-sentence report so that the court has the necessary information to impose HD or CD should they wish to do so.
Probation officers may indicate in a full pre-sentence report that the court may wish to consider the use of the judicial monitoring provisions. However, they will not make a recommendation relating to this, or provide wording for a special condition.
Note: Standard wording for the relevant special condition has been agreed between the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Justice, and will be included in the court order drawn up for any offender for whom the court indicates that judicial monitoring is required.
Until the sentence is fully planned and the offender is familiar with all requirements, the offender will be required to report to a probation officer (at the relevant service centre) at least:
If the offender complies with all the requirements of phases I and II, they may progress to phase III. In this phase the offender is required to report at least once every two weeks.
A probation officer will also visit the offender at home at least once in phase I and in phase II, and at least every two months thereafter. Home visits are primarily used to confirm that the offender is living at the address, and to identify any actual or emerging risks. A home visit is also carried out to assess the suitability of any proposed new address.
Throughout their sentence, the offender will also be required to comply with any other special conditions requiring attendance at a particular place and time, for example programmes or counselling.
A probation officer will issue the offender with an ITR for each occasion on which reporting (to the probation officer or to a programme) is required. This ITR will specify the time and location of the report. Non-compliance with any ITR is a breach of the offender’s conditions, and may result in enforcement action being taken against them.
Time is being made available for probation officers to include the offender’s family/whanau in the planning and completion of their sentence. Probation officers will also be trained to work directly with the offender to address low motivation, and also trained in relapse prevention techniques.
The probation officer is responsible for planning the sentence to ensure that programmes are completed in an appropriate order.
Example: Programmes addressing responsivity barriers will be planned for completion before rehabilitation programmes addressing specific rehabilitative needs.
It is expected that most offenders serving a sentence of intensive supervision will have special conditions to attend:
As offenders sentenced to intensive supervision are expected to have severe and/or complex needs, it is also expected that many will require assistance and support to address reintegrative needs such as employment or housing, and/or responsivity barriers (e.g. literacy or cultural identity needs).
The probation officer is responsible for ensuring that the offender is referred to any programme imposed as a special condition. Once the offender has been accepted onto a specific programme, a probation officer will issue an ITR for each session the offender is to attend.
If the programme is not available for any reason a probation officer will refer their case back to the court for further consideration.
The probation officer is also responsible for establishing mechanisms to monitor compliance with these and any other special conditions (such as a non-association order, or a requirement to live at a particular address). These can include:
Failure to comply with any special condition is a breach of the offender’s conditions, and may result in enforcement action being taken against them.
If the offender’s circumstances change, it is essential that they advise their probation officer immediately. The probation officer will be able to advise the offender of the appropriate course of action to take.
If the offender does not obtain the approval of the probation officer prior to making changes (e.g. moving to a different area), the offender will be considered to have failed to comply with their sentence and enforcement action will be considered.
If an offender fails to comply with one or more requirements of the sentence, without good reason, enforcement action will be taken against them. A wide range of enforcement action is available and applied for instances of non-compliance.
Lower level infringements are dealt with by internal sanctions such as returning the offender to an earlier phase of the sentence, with an associated increase in reporting requirements.
More serious instances of non-compliance are dealt with by means of an application to the court. According to the severity of the non-compliance this could involve
If a probation officer charges the offender with a breach of their conditions, a preferred penalty will be recommended by the probation officer. This will vary, according to the severity of the breach. At the lowest level the probation officer may seek only to have the offender convicted and discharged, whereas at the most severe level a sentence of imprisonment may be recommended.
Most breach applications are expected to result in the offender being sentenced to CW or CD, with the sentence to be served concurrently with the intensive supervision sentence.
If the probation officer makes an application to cancel the sentence of intensive supervision and substitute it with an alternative sentence, the recommended sentence will usually be from a higher tier of the hierarchy. It is expected that most such applications will result in the offender being sentenced to HD.
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