Obtaining Consent for BWLS Assessment

Introduction

This topic outlines the steps required to obtain consent from the offender to be referred for an assessment of their BWLS training needs.

This procedure is only to be used with offenders who have already been screened for BWLS needs and who have BWLS authorisation.

Steps to take

The following table outlines the steps to take to obtain consent from the offender for them to attend a BWLS assessment with a programme provider or Work and Income.

Step	Action
1	Issue the offender with the BWLS information booklet and make sure that the offender has been informed about BWLS. Answer any further questions that they have about BWLS training or assessment. Note: The offender should already have had BWLS explained to them, including the process of being referred for an assessment. This should have occurred as part of the work placement and BWLS assessment process.
2	Check with the offender that they are willing to proceed to an assessment of their BWLS needs identified as part of the BWLS screening.
3	Where the offender has more than one type of BWLS need, consider: prioritising the BWLS needs and referring the offender to the provider to address the highest priority, or where the offender is highly motivated and has sufficient BWLS hours available, referring them to more than one provider. Advise the offender of the: BWLS need, and the provider or agency that they will be referred to for the assessment.
4	Inform the offender that: attending a BWLS assessment does not mean that they are consenting to complete a programme, this will be required following the assessment, and referral for BWLS assessment does not guarantee that there will be a suitable programme available within the required timeframe.
5	Request that the offender consent to: The programme provider or Work and Income (as appropriate) collecting information about them from CPPS. The programme provider or Work and Income providing CPPS with information about their BWLS assessment, training needs, and programme details. In the case of a referral to Work and Income this consent includes information that is already held on Work and Income files and/or gathered from a new assessment.
6	Is the offender willing to proceed to an assessment of their BWLS needs? If yes, go to: step 7 if the referral is to Work and Income, or step 8 if the referral is to a programme provider. If no, tell the offender that they will not be referred to BWLS training, and will complete their CW sentence as CW hours, and update IOMS casenotes to record the reason(s) why the offender was not referred to a BWLS provider.
If the referral is to Work and Income…
7	advise the offender: that Work and Income: may already have an assessment on file that they can use, in which case Work and Income may not require the offender to come in for a new assessment, and will send them a letter to confirm the date, time and place if they need to attend a meeting for a new assessment. if the offender does not attend a scheduled BWLS assessment with Work and Income, they can not be referred to a BWLS programme, and go to step 9.
If the referral is to a programme provider…
8	advise the offender: that the programme provider will send them a letter to confirm the date, time and place for an assessment of their BWLS needs, and if they do not attend a scheduled BWLS assessment with the provider, they cannot be referred to a BWLS programme, and go to step 9.
9	Advise the offender that: the results of their assessment will be provided to CPPS for review following a review of the assessment, they will be advised of the result of the BWLS assessment. If a suitable training programme is available, the senior community work supervisor or probation officer will arrange for them to come in to confirm the details of the BWLS training.

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