Carrying out Home Visits

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Vol ume 1, Part I, Chapter 1, Reports General

Volume 2, Part III, Chapter 1, Minimum Reporting Requirements

Volume 2, Part III, Chapter 1, Scheduled Home Visit Requirements

Volume 2, Part VII, Non-compliance and Enforcement

Purpose

Home visits serve a variety of purposes, including:

confirming/verifying the offender’s address/residence
engaging the family, support people and other occupants into the sentence management process
assessing appropriateness of the domestic situation, especially the risk to and safety of other occupants, e.g. children and partners, and
assessing lifestyle balance including responsivity barriers.

Note: It is a minimum legal requirement (standard condition) of every sentence/order that an offender must advise CPPS of:

where they live
any changes of address.

Initial confirmation of residential address

In the absence of any more specific requirements (e.g. offenders on an electronically monitored sentence/order, or offenders on the OWS), the residential address of every offender must be confirmed by a home visit within:

phase 1, or
two weeks of transfer from another office.

Scheduled home visits

Scheduled home visits form part of the routine reporting requirements that must be met by the offender. An ITR should be issued in respect of all scheduled home visits (including the initial confirmation of a residential address). The successful completion of a scheduled home visit is counted against minimum reporting requirements.

The minimum frequency of home visits is determined by the offender’s sentence/order and by the phase the offender is currently in.

Reference: For more information on home visit requirements, see this Volume, Part III, Chapter 1, the topic Scheduled Home Visit Requirements.

Frequency of home visits

As well as the scheduled home visits required within each phase, additional home visits may be required:

when the offender changes address
prior to moving if there is a special condition related to residence
as part of the investigation of non-compliance, or
in response to concerns about emerging/escalating risk.

Reasons and timeframes for unscheduled home visits

The following table outlines the reasons and corresponding timeframes for conducting unscheduled home visits. These are required in addition to scheduled home visit.

General Reference: Volume 2 Part I Chapter 3 Minimum reporting requirements

Note: Home visits must also be carried out in response to certain instances of non-compliance.

Reason	Frequency and timeframe
Changes of address/ transfer from another office.	One home visit: within 48 hours, or prior to moving if approval is required for a special condition.
Non-compliance in respect of active monitoring	A home visit is carried out immediately by the monitoring service provider and a report completed.
Non-compliance in respect of retrospective monitoring	A home visit is carried out by a probation officer within 24 hours (or on the next working day).
Concern that the offender may no longer be living at the notified residential address	Discuss with SM and undertake a home visit prior to the next scheduled report-in.

Responding to concerns raised by a home visit

When undertaking a home visit, the probation officer may identify issues of concern.

Examples:

Evidence of substance abuse/cultivation
Indication of gang involvement/activities
Risks to the welfare of children and/or other occupants
Evidence that the offender is not living at the address.

In these situations, the probation officer should:

inform the service manager of the concerns, and
where appropriate, as soon as possible after the visit, complete a notification to:
- the police
- Child, Youth and Family (CYF)
- an appropriate agency.

Health and safety issues

It is important that staff carrying out home visits do so safely, and in accordance with local health and safety plans. Staff should carry a cell phone, and must ensure that at least one other staff member:

knows of planned visits for the day
is contacted (by the probation officer carrying out the home visit) before and after each visit is completed.

If it is considered that there are risks associated with visiting a particular offender or address, this is to be treated as a health and safety issue. Check the area health and safety plan for local strategies to manage these risks, and as a minimum take the steps outlined below.

Step	Action
1	Discuss the issues with the service manager.
2	Record the issues in IOMS case notes.
3	Take action to mitigate risk. Guidelines: Two CPPS staff visit together. Carry an office cell phone at all times. Advise the service manager of the scheduled visit times. When visiting the address, make phone contact with the service manager or delegated officer: on arrival and departure, or as otherwise arranged. Request police to accompany the probation officer to the address if risk is very significant.

No absolute right of entry into the residence

In most cases, offenders will be compliant with the home visit requirements of their sentence/order.

On occasions, an offender may object to the probation officer visiting their home address, and/or refuse entry to the property.

There are no circumstances under which CPPS staff (or staff working for an electronic monitoring company) have an absolute right of entry to the offender’s residence. Under no conditions should the probation officer force entry into an offender’s house.

If the offender refuses to allow access into the residence

If the offender is on CD, HD or parole/ES with RR, it is an offence for the offender or any relevant occupant to refuse entry to the specified address.

If the offender is subject to a special condition requiring them to comply with home visits (including entry to the home), it is a breach of sentence/order to refuse entry.

If the offender is not subject to a special condition requiring them to comply with home visits (including entry to the home) but the probation officer has reason to believe that the failure to allow access may have significant implications, it may be considered to be evidence of a breach of the sentence/order.

Note: The probation officer has no legal authority to enter the offender’s property. Under no circumstances should the probation officer attempt to force entry into the home.

The following tables outline the actions to be taken if an offender refuses to allow access to the residence.

If the offender is present at the address but refuses to allow the probation officer to enter, and...	then...
discussion with the offender identifies a reasonable excuse for refusing entry at that time (first time refusal)	reschedule the home visit as soon as possible (before the next scheduled home visit and not more than one week after this visit) consider whether the refusal may indicate an increase in risk of re-offending and if any other immediate action is appropriate.
the offender identifies a reasonable excuse, but this has happened previously (i.e. an emerging pattern of refusals)	reschedule the home visit as soon as possible (before the next scheduled home visit and not more than one week after this visit). consider whether the refusal may indicate an increase in risk of re-offending and if any other immediate action is appropriate if the offender has a special condition to comply with home visits, consider enforcement action if the offender has a special condition to live at an address approved by the probation officer, consider enforcement action on the basis that the address is no longer able to be approved. Reference: This volume, part VII Non-compliance and Enforcement.
discussion with the offender does not identify a reasonable excuse for refusing entry, or the offender refuses the probation entry on repeated occasions	discuss with the offender the reason for failure/refusal and attempt to resolve the issue consider whether the refusal may indicate an increase in risk of re-offending that may be addressed by an increase in reporting frequency and/or other monitoring consider enforcement action continue to reschedule home visits attend the address (even if restricted to the street).

Enforcement options

If an offender continues to refuse access, without reasonable excuse, consider whether enforcement action is required.

The available enforcement actions vary according to:

the nature of the sentence/order the offender is subject to
any special conditions imposed on the offender,
the nature and extent of any risk considered to be associated with the offender’s refusal to allow entry.

The following table outlines the available options.

If the offender...	then ...
is subject to an electronically monitored sentence or order	consider prosecuting the offender (and/or other occupants) on the basis that it is an offence to deny entry to the residence/address and reschedule ITR. Legislative references: Section 80T Sentencing Act 2002 (HD) Section 69H Sentencing Act 2002 (CD) Section 72 Parole Act 2002 (parole and extended supervision with RR)
has a special condition requiring the offender to comply with home visits, including allowing the probation officer access to the residence	consider taking breach action on the basis that the special condition has been breached by the refusal to allow access, if it is considered that: there is a significant risk that the offender is not complying with the special condition, and/or other risk factors are emerging. Note: Such a special condition will usually have been imposed because access to the home is considered essential to enable effective monitoring of a special condition (e.g. non-association, or a requirement to live at a specific residence).
is not subject to either of the above, and it is considered essential that access to the residence is allowed	consider making an application for a special condition requiring the offender to allow access to the residence. For more details see section on special conditions relating to residence. Reference: (Vol 1 Part I Ch 1 – Reports General).
is not subject to either of the above, but does have a special condition requiring them to live at a specified address	consider taking breach action on the basis that the special condition has been breached by the refusal to allow access, if it is considered that there is a significant risk that the offender is not living at this address.
is not subject to any of the above, but is on parole	consider making an application for recall if it is considered that the offender’s refusal to allow entry is evidence of a significant risk to the safety of the community and/or any individual.
is not subject to any of the above, but is on extended supervision	consider taking breach action if the probation officer considers (with or without other evidence) that the offender’s refusal to allow access indicates a significant risk that the offender is not complying with any standard or special condition (e.g. non-association with children under 16, restrictions on access to computers, etc.)
is not subject to any of the above	consider taking breach action on the basis that the offender has failed to comply with a lawful ITR. This action should only be taken if it is considered that there is a significant risk associated with the offender’s refusal to allow access, and this risk must be clearly documented in the breach action. Note: This action can only be taken if the offender was issued with an ITR for the home visit. Before laying a breach on these grounds, the case must be discussed with the operations help desk.

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