Determining Eligibility for BWLS

Introduction

This section outlines the process for determining whether an offender is eligible for consideration of BWLS.

If an offender is not eligible, they should not be considered for BWLS unless specific needs are observed during the management of the CW sentence.

Authorisation

An offender can considered for BWLS if:

• the court has authorised BWLS, and
• the sentence is for 80 hours or more.

Factors for exclusion

Once it is established that an offender has authorisation for BWLS, exclusion factors need to be considered.

These factors will make the offender ineligible for direction to BWLS training and they should be noted in the screening section of the workplace and BWLS assessment form.

The following are factors for exclusion:

• there are no programmes available in the area, and
• any risk factors that preclude the offender from participating in programmes with members of the general public.

Note: If unsure, check this with a service manager.

Service manager approval

If an offender is identified as on the offender warning system (OWS), service managers approval will be required to progress BWLS.