Parole officers have long been a driving force of rehabilitation and reintegration at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). Since 1979, when the merger of the Canadian Penitentiary Service and the National Parole Service took place, parole officers continue to encourage and assist offenders to become law-abiding citizens while adapting to an ever-changing correctional environment – a daunting task due to the number of significant activities that have changed the way parole officers do business both inside the institution and in the community.

Parole Officers, whether inside the institution or out in the community, continue to be an integral component of ensuring public safety.

Perhaps the most influential report that affected parole officers within the last three decades was the 1977 MacGuigan Report, a parliamentary inquiry into the Penitentiary Service of Canada. It examined reintegration programs, among other correctional operations, and ways to increase the effectiveness of these programs. Essentially, this report redefined the way institutional and community supervision was conducted. For one, it meant that parole officers, who at that time reported to the National Parole Board, would now report to the Penitentiary Service. This amalgamation meant a new vision for the Penitentiary Service, which would focus on offender rehabilitation and reintegration interventions both in penitentiaries and in the community. It also led to a name change – the Correctional Service of Canada – in recognition of the new mandate.

This report introduced the concept of the correctional plan. It was suggested that the Service develop an “opportunities model” where offenders could plan their own rehabilitation program and be held accountable to meet those objectives.

“Like the Archambault Report of the 1930s, this paper really opened the door to a number of reviews of the correctional system, which examined the deficiencies of our system and provided recommendations,” explains Linda Brown, Manager in the Community Reintegration Branch at national headquarters, and a former parole officer.

In the 1980s, three prominent inquiries followed the MacGuigan Report, which helped change CSC’s operations: the Ruygrok Inquest, the Sentence Management Review, and the Pepino Inquiry, all of which heavily impacted policy surrounding offender supervision.

These papers highlighted five key themes:

1. Offender Case Management
   
2. Information Sharing
   
3. Conditional Release Decision-Making
   
4. Offender Supervision, and
   
5. Mental Health

The results of these reports were significant, and led to the development of significant new policies and procedures such as Integrated Sentence Management; Release Plans (which dictated offender community supervision requirements); the exchange of information on federal cases, particularly at the pre-release and supervision stages; and the creation of Conditional Release Supervision Standards. These changes emphasized the need for CSC to ensure continuity of the case management and reintegration process all the way from initial sentencing to Warrant Expiry, in support of ensuring public safety in Canadian communities.

“As a result of these reports, case preparation was moved inside institutions, introducing the institutional parole officer andeliminating the classification officer roles and responsibilities,” says Julie Keravel, Executive Director of Business Planning and Horizontal Initiatives. “They also promoted the need for effective communications between institutional and community parole officers when managing offenders, as well as standardized risk assessments and supervision standards.”

In 1992, the promulgation of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) was the next significant milestone to affect all of CSC, including parole officers. The Act came into effect on November 1, 1992 and replaced the Penitentiary and Parole Acts. The CCRA incorporated a number of modern legal developments, including administrative law, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and affirmed the Rule of Law. This groundbreaking legislation incorporated CSC’s mission statement and identified the principles that were to guide all correctional policies, practices, and decisions.

“The CCRA undoubtedly set precedence for parole officers across the Service,” affirms Brown. “Parole officers were now guided by relevant and contemporary legislation that focused on public safety, supervision and safe reintegration.”

More recently, in response to the changing offender profile and in response to its Transformation Agenda, CSC is improving practices to enhance the safety and security of staff. In the community, the policy framework has been strengthened, including staff safety assessments, tandem supervision requirements, and a soon-to-be expanded Community Staff Safety Program, using cutting-edge technology. In institutions, CSC has enhanced its clinical screening and mental health assessment processes at intake, and implemented significant drug detection strategies to help eliminate the flow of illicit drugs from entering its facilities. These resources will minimize impediments to correctional plan participation and support a focus on safe reintegration.

CSC continues to explore new methods, tools, and technologies to support parole officers, such as improved intake assessments, streamlining the case management policy framework and electronic monitoring of offenders on conditional release.

Today, the transformation of federal corrections is making its mark on institutional and community supervision as the focus emphasizes offender accountability, reinforcing offender engagement and participation in a correctional plan. The Transformation Agenda re-emphasizes the integration, horizontality and partnership between parole officers, correctional programs officers, Aboriginal liaison and community development officers, and other members of the correctional intervention team – both internal and external – all in support of safe reintegration and public safety.

One thing that hasn’t changed in 30 years, parole officers are an integral component of ensuring public safety. They are a professional, well-trained, dedicated group of employees who demonstrate personal and professional responsibility on a daily basis.

“I believe we will never remove the need for one-on-one interaction,” says Keravel. “Technology may make things a little easier, but it will never replace us. If you are going to significantly change a lifetime of crime and criminal behaviour it will be the human person that will do it, not technology. The Service will continue to grow with the Canadian public and their expectations. We are effective now, but will continue to better our efforts in the years to come.”