1. About Basic Work and Living Skills

Purpose

The purpose of providing basic work & living skills (BWLS) training programmes is to help suitable offenders to develop basic working and living skills. Providing people with basic work and living skills may help them to deal with some of the pressures that lead them to offend.

BWLS as a part of community-based sentences

While the primary focus of community work (CW) is completing CW hours, the BWLS option will be available to offenders who have been given authorisation for BWLS by the court.

The BWLS option may also be a special condition connected to other sentences/orders served in the community.

Legislative reference: Sections 52(2)(ba), 54I(3)(c), 66 (A), 66(B) and 66(C) Sentencing Act 2002.

Eligibility criteria

Reference: For the eligibility criteria for an offender to be considered for BWLS while subject to CW see Volume 3A, Part I, Chapter 3, Work Placement and BWLS Assessment. (Please refer to the related links section on this page).

No screening pre-sentence

Screening for BWLS needs and subsequent referral for assessment will be completed post sentence, following the authorisation of BWLS. No routine pre-sentence screening or assessment for BWLS needs will occur.

Mandatory completion

BWLS training is intended to provide encouragement and support for the offender to address their BWLS needs.

All the specified hours must be satisfactorily completed. If the specified hours are not completed and the offender has no reasonable excuse:

• none of the completed hours will be counted towards the sentence, and
• all of the sentenced CW hours, including any hours already completed as BWLS training, will need to be completed as CW.

Available programmes

A wide range of programmes may eventually be approved for use as BWLS programmes. The following three programme options will be available for referral from 1 October 2007:

• specified programmes already used by Work and Income for beneficiaries
• literacy programmes, and
• Tikanga Māori programmes.

Programme providers

In general, the programme providers of BWLS will:

• be already operating
• have a demonstrated track record in addressing the required skill or knowledge deficits
• be receiving government funding, and
• be available for the offender to attend as a member of the community.

Exception: Tikanga Māori programmes will continue to be funded directly by CPPS.

Which hours qualify as BWLS hours

All BWLS programme hours will be counted as BWLS hours, on an hour for hour basis except for time spent on lunch breaks.

If an offender is already attending a programme that could be treated as a BWLS programme, BWLS hours will begin to be counted once CPPS authorises programe participation and issues a BWLS instruction to report (ITR).

Note: On a programme requiring an overnight stay:

• the actual hours involved in programmed activities, up to a maximum of 12 hours per 24 hour day, are to be counted, and
• the offender must remain on-site until they have completed all the authorised BWLS hours.

Diagram

The diagram below shows the BWLS process. The usual CW processes will still apply and the offender must still meet their CW timeframes.