Implementing The Life Line Concept: Report Of The Task Force On Long Term Offenders

Meaningful Sentence Planning for Lifers and Long Term Offenders

Time-Framed Sentence Planning

The need for time-framed sentence planning for lifers and others serving 10 years or more before their earliest full parole eligibility date was described by Dr. Bill Palmer, Psychologist at Warkworth Institution, in the early 1980's. This need has been re-affirmed by Timothy J. Flanagan in his 1996 book: "Term Imprisonment: Policy, Science and Correctional Practice". Correctional Service of Canada endorsed the concept within the context of the sentence stages identified in the 1991 report of the Task Force on Long Term Offenders. This model is as follows:

• 1. adaptation - coming to grips with the reality of confinement;
• 2. integration to the prison environment - living within the context of that reality;
• 3. preparation for release - preparing for release in a progressive manner; and
• 4. reintegration into the community - assuring a coherent and continuous process leading to safe reintegration.

The model was fully described in the 1991 report, which also set out the specific needs of offenders at each stage, and what specific action or response would be required at each stage to deal with these needs.

It is common that lifers and long term offenders who are not close to their possible release date find themselves at the bottom of the priority list when it comes to opportunities for program participation. The purpose of the correctional strategy is to guide operations in determining the relationships and priorities among the components of programming directed at groups presenting different needs. The Correctional Service of Canada's correctional strategy is meant to:

There is an unintended competition for limited resources within institutions that places immediate priority on the needs of those most likely to be released in the short term, while leaving the needs of those who have little probability of release to the distant future. This approach was not intended to exclude long term offenders from programming, but flows rather from a practical realization that correctional objectives must be attained within the context of restricted resources. The problem that frequently arises for long term offenders is that the possibility for program participation does not materialize until the issue of pending release becomes a reality, and by that time much development potential may be lost for both the offender and the Service. In the case of lifers, this means that they will be well into the second or third decade of imprisonment before their possible release.

Another reality negatively affecting lifers is the turnover in case management personnel both within a single institution and when transferring to new institutions. The 1991 Report identified critical needs to be recognized and addressed, including the need for personalized case management (e.g., more often than just meeting judicial review and pre-release target dates) and for continuity in case management. The Report addressed these needs in part with recommendations for comprehensive regional assessment and a correctional program strategy adapted to these needs. Within this context, the 1991 Report also cited the need for long term offenders to take part in the institutional life in a useful way. A major component of the time-framed sentence planning and management, then, should include the concept of correctional careers.

Role of Lifers and Long Term Offenders

Recognizing these realities, the concept of lifers and termers participating in correctional careers offers a constructive alternative to allowing offenders to drift within the system for ten or fifteen years before they become the focus of real attention. These offenders can support and assist staff in the conduct of their correctional work while at the same time contributing significantly to their own personal growth. They should have the opportunity to acquire and practice the skills to contribute to society while incarcerated. The concepts of "lead hand" in the industrial or services sector, co-facilitation and peer counselling in the program domain, AIDS/HIV worker in the health arena, and In-Reach assistants are examples of employment opportunities that hold promise of mutual advantage for staff, offenders, and ultimately the community.

These concepts are neither new nor radical since they have been happening to one extent or another throughout most correctional jurisdictions. One critical issue is how offenders carrying out these roles relate to the other offenders in the institution with whom they will be working. They hold an important role of leadership and informal authority, for example, while tutoring ABE-8 students, leading a discussion in the Breaking Barriers program, or providing support to another offender as a Peer Support Team member. In this way, they can positively influence other offenders, and make a constructive contribution to the "society" that operates within a correctional institution, without having to cross a line that would place them in the uncomfortable position of holding formal authority over other offenders.

The correctional career concept promotes the dignity and potential of offenders as well as contributing to the probability of successful reintegration. Correctional careers must be, by definition, consistent with the offender's correctional plan and must directly and measurably contribute to the reduction of risk. One common problem that must be avoided is that observed when an excellent inmate worker, or a skilled inmate tradesman such as a plumber, electrician, or baker, is seen as so "critical" to a particular facet of institutional operation that everyone benefits from the services the inmate provides, while the criminogenic factors that brought the offender to prison go unaddressed and the risk to society remains unabated. It follows therefore that not only must correctional careers be based on providing employment skills and abilities that are transferable to the community on release, but also they must be part of a plan that is based on effectively reducing the presenting criminogenic factors.

The idea of correctional careers has been put forward in many previous studies, and while the Service has agreed to the concept, it has not pursued it with vigour. Today long term offenders are peer counsellors, co-facilitators of programs, and In-Reach Workers.

It follows from the model of sentence staging adopted by Correctional Service of Canada in 1991 that the correctional career does not begin in stage one, before the offenders have come to grips with the fact that they are serving a life or long sentence, but rather during the second stage, when the correctional plan is actioned and the offender can launch a plan to develop the skills required to undertake various types of correctional careers and put them into use. These skills would also be useful in the community after release, but the correctional career concept is flexible enough to allow for the continued use of such skills whether or not the offender is released.

Areas where Correctional Service of Canada may wish to concentrate would be in the development of careers in the Health Care field as well as program co-facilitators. Peer workers are now involved in AIDS education but could be extended especially with respect to the care of the ageing and handicapped offender.

There is further reason to believe that the capacity for offenders to become involved in business has far greater potential than has been currently explored. It may be worthwhile to explore such an idea with a community agency or third party from the community as a partner. The current Commissioner's Directive on offender business needs to be reviewed to determine if it poses more of an impediment than an encouragement to such ventures.

Existing agencies such as the Prison Arts Foundation may bring a capacity to market products on behalf of offenders operating a business that they themselves are unable to develop because of their confinement. Additionally, such projects may enable offenders to find employment opportunities in the community where the labour market is limited. Greater efforts should be expended in bringing outside industry into institutions for the purpose of sponsorship of employment programs targeted at long term offenders.

Even with the larger number of federal facilities for women than existed in the past, the option of moving women among the correctional institutions to provide variety in the environment during long periods of incarceration is more limited than for men. This will likely mean that even more effort has to be made at each institution to find a variety of ways to make constructive use of time. In doing so, creativity must be exercised, as these small institutions should not be expected to set up career or job opportunities in a way that costs more than the benefits they provide to the women. One of the most fruitful avenues is to find ways the women can contribute to the community through volunteer activities.

Individual offenders and especially various offender groups and clubs enjoy speaking to youth and other groups to contribute to crime prevention. They have also developed newsletters and some have produced videos. The usefulness of this work in contributing to public education should be better recognized, and more attention should be paid to the development of organizational and technical skills required to do the work effectively.

The areas to examine identified in this report are neither exhaustive nor exclusive, as local staff and managers will find many other areas of equal usefulness, especially as they know more about the individual needs and skills of offenders they work with. This list is provided as potential new areas to move into, as the needs of the overall offender population and the community will change over time.

It is recommended that Correctional Service of Canada develop standard operating practices to provide an operational reality for the correctional career concept, and develop this within the sentence stages model accepted in 1991, examining in depth the following areas: