A.04.03.R1 General Guidelines for Structured Day Management

Eligibility Criteria

Prisoners who have been:

• Remanded in custody pending sentencing or other court matters, or
• Sentenced to a term of imprisonment, preventive detention.

Entry Criteria

Accused Prisoners

Accused prisoners who volunteer to take part in a structured day.

Sentenced Prisoners

All prisoners who have completed a prisoner management plan.

Exceptions to Entry Criteria

A prisoner is not eligible when:

• Undergoing punishment / off privileges.
• Segregated as a precautionary measure.
• Health and / or disability issues have been identified.
• Classified as being at risk.

Exit Criteria

This service ends when a prisoner is:

• Lawfully released on completion of their sentence, or
• Discharged from court, or
• Released on bail, or
• Escapes or dies, or
• The subject of a certificate issued under s45 of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

Unlock hours

Unlock hours are defined within the WDP Cluster Model and correspond with prison or unit needs. The Prison Manager may vary unlock hours from time to time, either for groups of offenders or individual offenders, in accordance with activity planning requirements. This will be on a case-by-case basis.

Factors to be Considered when Scheduling Prisoners to Undertake Activities

The following factors must be considered when determining the type and nature of activities being scheduled:

• Remand status.
• Settling in to prison, awaiting assessment or security classification.
• Offender Management Category
• Security Classification.
• Segregation status.
• At-risk status.
• Functional support status.
• IDU status.
• Other scheduled activities.
• Religious / cultural beliefs.
• Pregnancy or baby-care requirements.
• Approval to mix youth prisoners with adult prisoners.
• Approval to mix remand and sentenced prisoners.
• Managing risk.
• Safety and security of the prisoner or the prison.

Exceptions to Prisoners Undertaking Activities

Strategies to enable prisoners to undertake activities whilst affected by the factors set out above are to be identified, e.g. provision of suitable work for prisoners with High Security Classifications.

The following exceptions to prisoners undertaking specific activities scheduled on the sentence plan are allowed when the prisoner is:

• Certified as medically or physically unfit.
• Excluded from undertaking activities whilst undergoing misconduct-related regime.
• Removed from a specific activity by the Activity Provider once the appropriate process has been implemented e.g. Formative Assessment or misconduct.

However, while these exceptions may exclude a prisoner from participating in a particular structured activity (i.e. from working outside the wire or operating machinery) it does not necessarily follow that the prisoner is prevented from participating in other structured activities. Where a prisoner is prevented from participating in a scheduled activity, the Case Officer, PCO / Supervision Officer and the Sentence Planner are responsible for finding suitable alternative structured activities that the prisoner can participate in to ensure 90 percent of the prisoner’s unlock is occupied on structured activities.

Decisions to be documented

Where a decision is made to exempt the prisoner from an activity on the basis of one or more of the above factors, that decision and the reasons for it must be documented. This documentation must be available on request to be viewed at any time by an Inspector of Corrections, Auditor or other departmental official.

Special Treatment and Focus Units

Specific requirements for activities in special units are to be managed within the Structured Day framework, e.g. prisoners in the Youth Unit are still required to carry out set periods of Education and Reintegration Activities, and Employment Activities.

Special Treatment and Focus Units include:

• Violence Prevention Unit
• Sex Offender Treatment Unit
• Drug and Alcohol Treatment Unit
• Young Offender Unit
• Maori Focus Unit
• Faith Based Unit
• Self Care Unit
• Pacific Island Focus Unit

Resolving conflicts

• In general, conflicts about prisoner availability need to be resolved at the lowest level practicable.
• Disputes should be resolved consistent with the objectives of this PPM section (i.e. ensuring prisoners are occupied in structured activities for 90 percent of their time)
• Ultimately, the Prison Manager, Manager Programmes and the CIE Site Operations Manager must resolve conflicts arising out of prisoner availability and scheduling.

Monitoring, Recording and Reporting of Structured Day Activities

IOMS Scheduling Tool

All prisoner activities must be scheduled within the IOMS scheduling tool to enable the Department to monitor, record and report on Structured Day activities.

Minimum recording requirements

Visits

Visits will be scheduled as required around other activities in the prisoner’s Structured Day.

Most visit times are scheduled for the weekend or evening, when Offence-Related Intervention Activities, Education and Reintegration

Activities and Employment Activities have been completed for the week by the prisoner.