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The Correctional Process from Start to Finish

BY Djamila Amellal, Ph. D, Communications Officer, Communications and Citizen Engagement Sector

The correctional process begins when the judge hands down a sentence. The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) oversees an offender’s correctional process through several stages until the offender’s warrant expiry date.

To administer the judge’s sentence and fully prepare the inmate for returning to the community, the CCRA requires CSC to carry out an extensive assessment of the case as soon as possible. Based on this assessment, CSC establishes a detailed correctional plan to help the inmate address his or her criminogenic factors.

The inmate will first be admitted to an assessment unit in a regional reception centre, which is part of a larger correctional institution. CSC has seven such units: three located in the Prairie Region and one in each other region. On average, the inmate remains at the reception centre between 70 and 90 days while correctional staff members collect all necessary information from various sources. This includes information provided by the court or relating to prior offences at the provincial level, or related to family, education, employment and other factors.

At the end of the assessment period, correctional staff put in place a correctional plan based on the inmate’s identified criminogenic factors, risks and needs. During this process, staff also determine the security classification (minimum, medium or maximum) corresponding to the risk that the inmate poses, as well as the penitentiary where the inmate will be incarcerated. The correctional plan is updated throughout the inmate’s incarceration.

At the institution, a new phase of the inmate’s supervision and management begins. The inmate meets the case management team (CMT), which includes the parole officer in charge of the case, correctional officers, health care professionals (such as psychologists), program officers and staff working in various institutional shops. At this point, it is imperative that the inmate commits himself or herself to the correctional plan. The CMT’s main objective is to help the inmate resolve his or her criminogenic problems and, subsequently, reduce the inmate’s security classification before release on parole.

As day parole or statutory release eligibility dates approach, case preparation begins in cooperation with members of the community into which the offender will be released under parole supervision. Community members often include family, friends, volunteers and members of circles of support.

The correctional process does not end with the inmate’s release — it continues in the community. Just like in the institution, inmates work with a CMT that includes a parole officer, health care professionals, volunteers and an entire network of support. During this stage, the parole officer will make use of the health care services and social services available in the community. This is another way for offenders to create ties with the community and integrate. The inmate follows the correctional plan, which is updated to indicate the inmate’s progress and compliance with the conditions established by the National Parole Board (NPB). CMT intervention continues to reinforce the inmate’s progress and mitigate the risk. The NPB intervenes only if an inmate commits another crime or breaches a release condition.

With the exception of lifers, who remain for their lifetime under CSC’s jurisdiction whether they are incarcerated or in the community, the correctional process ends on the inmate’s warrant expiry date or on expiry of a long-term supervision order, though in some cases, because of the nature of the offence, a judge may impose an order of five or eight additional years of incarceration.

Julie Keravel, Director, Institutional Reintegration Operations, Operations and Correctional Programs Sector, comments: “I continue to be amazed, even after 23 years, at the effect our staff’s interventions have on public safety and on offenders’ lives. In fact, 90 percent of federal offenders are admitted to CSC with previous youth or adult criminal records. One would expect that most would fail again, yet most never recidivate after conditional release or their warrant expiry date. To me, it is certain that we make a difference.” ♦