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Managing Offender Information in the 21st Century

Safe transition of offenders into the community

BY the Information Management Services Communications Team

A parole officer working in an institution is reviewing her caseload and work plan. She notes that she has several annual security classification reports coming due. In the past, the parole officer would have used an automated tool held outside of the Offender Management System (OMS) and copy the information from this tool into the decision document within the OMS. The tool in question is the Security Reclassification Scale (SRS).

Sound cumbersome and time consuming? It was! The Security Reclassification Scale is one example of an external application that will now be part of the Offender Management System and this will assist in streamlining documentation processes.

OMS was originally created to automate case management processes. It has evolved since its inception into a comprehensive system housing offender information related to all aspects of their sentence that assists us in meeting our mandate. It is a valuable tool and deemed a mission critical system by our organization.

The vastness of information currently in the system, the vision to incorporate even more automated processes in the future, and the number of users accessing the system, necessitated a review of the ability of the technology used for this application to sustain CSC’s needs. This review revealed that the platform—the very basis of the application—was teetering under the volume of information it carried and was incapable of providing some of the modern convenient time-saving solutions now available.

As of May 2006, with the migration of the system, all users of OMS will be able to navigate information quickly and easily within the application, relying on their customized menu in OMS—with all the necessary information at their fingertips. This more technologically advanced system will provide a one-stop application with all critical information available at the click of a mouse!

Ready for a Change

After more than a decade with the legacy OMS, it became apparent that it was time for a change. The result was a clear path for the renewal of OMS, an important step of which is migrating all the information in the application to a new Web-based user interface. This has taken extensive development work and the Web base will allow access to a host of stakeholders.

“Modernizing the Offender Management System ensures that CSC staff has access to the most up-to-date technology tools to play their key role of re-integrating offenders into society,” says Fraser McVie, former acting Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Operations and Programs. “Staff here make recommendations and decisions on offenders every day and it is important that those decisions be made with the most accurate information, accessed as quickly and easily as possible. Migrating the OMS is the first step in delivering that capability.”

User Interface

While enabling the information to be accessed by partners is vital, this migration also affects the almost 10,000 users that already use the application to manage offender information—sometimes on a daily basis.

Updating the user interface on the application allowed an opportunity for improvements. So the Offender Management System Renewal (OMSR) team canvassed partners and users. “What kinds of access to information could improve how you do your job?” they asked. “What features or functions would make things faster or easier to get information?” Then they delivered on the requests.

While maintaining the same business functionality, the newly migrated OMS has a user interface that allows users to navigate screens using a mouse—pretty standard stuff for modern applications but simply not possible for users of the legacy system.

It also means that up to eight modules of information that previously had to be accessed separately will now be accessed through the new OMS user interface. You need a photo from 2002? It’s here. You need information on gangs? Yup. Need to complete the security level of a new woman offender assigned to your caseload? Got that tool, too. In the past, information had to be updated and accessed through a myriad of different modules, forcing CSC staff to toggle back and forth among applications.

Looking Forward

More important is the setup for the future. While the migrated environment will have many Web-based features, it will not be the final renewed OMS. It is an interim measure required to enable the technical work of the renewal process to continue.

“The migration of OMS is one of the key steps in the renewal of the application,” says Fraser McVie. “Completion of this project will improve public safety through the easy availability of more accurate information and improve the process of successful reintegration of offenders into society.”♦