Reviewing Monitoring Information Reports - Corrections Department NZ

Guidelines - CW Hours Completed

The following table provides guidelines for actions to be taken in response to information provided by the CW Hours Completed Within Timeframe report.

Where the report indicates that to comply with the sentence length requirements…	then the following action should be taken:
the offender will need to complete 4 hours or less per week	record in casenotes that the information was reviewed and no action is required.
the offender will need to complete more than 4 hours per week, and the current instruction(s) to report (ITR) (excluding any ITR for BWLS) specifies more hours per week than the report shows are required, and compliance record is good	record in casenotes that the information was reviewed and no further action is required.
the offender will need to complete more than 4 hours per week, and the current ITR (s) specifies fewer hours per week than the report shows are required	senior community work supervisor/probation officer to meet with offender and revise the offender’s planned CW undertakings, and issue a new ITR to ensure the sentence length requirements will be met, or if agreed that the offender will be able to remedy any deficits before the end of the 6 month period, a new ITR is required (the offender should be informed that failure to remedy the deficit will result in enforcement action). If no solution can be agreed to, the senior community work supervisor/probation officer should consider enforcement action in consultation with the service manager. Reference: Volume 3a, Part VI, Chapter 5, Enforcement Guidelines. (please refer to the related links section on this page)

Guidelines - CW Hours Not Completed

The following table provides guidelines for actions to be taken in response to information provided by the CW Hours Not Completed within Timeframe report.

Review the offender’s file to see how many hours are outstanding, and if…

then the following action should be taken:

the offender can make up the hours within one month and still meet the next timeframe

consider what enforcement action may be required - taking into account pattern of compliance, hours remaining, if any penalty hours imposed, and
senior community work supervisor/probation officer to meet with offender and revise the offender’s planned CW undertakings, and
issue a new ITR to ensure the sentence length requirements will be met, or
if agreed that the offender will be able to remedy any deficits before the end of the next 6 month period, no new ITR is required (the offender should be informed that failure to remedy the deficit will result in enforcement action).

If no solution can be agreed to, the senior community work supervisor/probation officer should discuss with the service manager as to the appropriate course of action.

Reference: Volume 3a, Part VI, Chapter 5, Enforcement Guidelines.(please refer to the related links section on this page)

the offender cannot make up the hours within one month

Note: The offender is still required to complete the outstanding hours

breach action must be considered (decision should take into account pattern of compliance, hours remaining, if any penalty hours imposed), and
if required, issue an amended ITR to direct the offender to complete the remaining hours.

References: Volume 3a, Part VI, Chapter 4, Community Work Breaches and Cchapter 5 Enforcement Guidelines. ( please refer to the related links section on this page)

Review of performance

During the quarterly progress assessment review the following, and briefly summarise them in the assessment report:

the information provided in the IOMS monitoring reports and any action taken in response to this
general performance, and
any enforcement action taken during the quarter.

Review of BWLS

During the quarterly progress review, if the court has given CPPS authority to convert CW hours into BWLS, progress should be noted.

If authority has been granted but BWLS hours have not been planned, the following should be considered.

If the offender has been waitlisted:
- review the local programmes available
- consider if a suitable programme is now available, and
- review the offender’s interest in BWLS.
If the offender has requested to be reconsidered for BWLS, a new screening should be undertaken.

References: Volume 3a, Part I, Chapter 3 Work Placement and BWLS Assessment, and Part VIII Managing Basic Work & Living Skills.( please refer to the related links section on this page)

Record keeping

Specific details of information obtained from the monitoring reports, and any action taken in response to this information should be recorded in IOMS casenotes.

Where no action is required, this information should also be recorded.
Where there has been discussion with a senior probation officer or service manager with respect to the monitoring reports, this should be recorded.

Service manager oversight

Where the senior community work supervisor/probation officer is unclear as to the appropriate action to take in response to information gained during the quarterly progress assessment, they should discuss the situation with a senior probation officer or service manager.

Important: Where legal enforcement action is to be taken, this must be checked by the service manager.