Commissioner's Directive
Date:
2008-06-16
Number:
715-5
Community Supervision of Women With Children
Issued under the authority of the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada
Policy Objective
1. To direct and support the work of staff in their supervision of women with children in the community. For women who have had a child/children living with them while in custody, issues of accommodations during gradual release are addressed to support a continuation of the mother-child relationship.
Authorities
Cross-references
3.
Definitions
4. Mother means biological or adoptive mother, legal guardian or step-mother.
5. Step-mother includes one who is married to the biological parent of the child and who has assumed the role of parent following the marriage. To be considered a step-mother, one must be, or have been, in the role of parent who provides the necessities of life to the child.
Principles
6. The significance of a woman's parenting role in the post-release period is a key element to her stabilization and community reintegration.
7. The need to link women who have parental responsibilities with appropriate community services and resources during this period is essential to the safety of the community and the successful reintegration of offenders.
8. The best interests of the child is the paramount consideration in all decisions. The best interests of the child include ensuring the safety and security as well as the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the child. Community resources with expertise in child welfare must be consulted and engaged to assist and/or intervene when necessary.
9. Preparations for establishing relevant community connections are started at the pre-release stage and continue throughout conditional release, including planning for accommodation requirements for women who are pregnant or with child/children while in custody to support a day parole release at the earliest appropriate time.
Responsibilities
District Director
10. District Directors will develop partnerships with community services and agencies that support stable mother-child relationships to assist women in their transition to the community.
11. District Directors will maintain an inventory of facilities meeting CSC standards that will consider referrals of women with children, and strive to maintain or develop options in their network of residential services (including private home placements) that can accommodate this need.
12. District Directors will ensure that a process is in place by which the safety of the environment for a child is assessed.
13. District Directors will provide support to address the mother's basic needs through maintenance allowance when her requirement to reside at a facility might deny her access to certain benefits otherwise available to her (i.e. via social service benefits) if she were living independently in the community.
Institutional Parole Officer
14. Release planning includes a review of the financial, social, residential and other supports required for the mother and child to continue to live together.
15. The institutional Parole Officer (and the Institutional Mother-Child Program Coordinator, where applicable) will identify reintegration issues related to a woman's relationship with her child/children, including accommodation needs, at the earliest stage in a woman's sentence and prepare and plan with her to meet these needs, in consultation with the destination parole office.
16. During the intake process, the institutional Parole Officer will identify any child custody issues, ensuring that these are documented and that the status is kept up to date throughout the pre-release period.
Community Parole Officer
17. The community Parole Officer will consider the needs identified by institutional staff in relation to a woman's parental role in the community and will indicate in the Community Strategy resources that can be engaged to address them. These details will be confirmed in communication between the institutional Parole Officer, the community Parole Officer and the inmate at least two weeks prior to release (as per paragraphs 31 and 32 of CD 712-4 - Release Process).
18. The community Parole Officer must be assured of the custody status regarding a woman's child/children and confirm any related outstanding legal matters prior to her release.
19. The community Parole Officer will assist the mother to develop and maintain links to the appropriate social service networks in the community, including referrals to resources such as public health nurses, legal assistance for custody issues, pre and post-natal counselling services, nutrition specialists, parenting courses, mother-to-mother mentoring programs, respite care, child care services, safe housing and culturally-specific resources.
20. In situations where an Aboriginal community has become engaged in release planning with a woman (section 84 of the (CCRA), the Parole Officer and the Aboriginal Community Development Officer or Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer, where applicable, will work closely with that community and encourage culturally appropriate support for the woman and her child/children throughout the supervision period.
21. The community Parole Officer will ensure the mother is aware of municipal, provincial/territorial and federal benefits (including financial assistance) as well as possible services/funding from a First Nation community for which she may be eligible as a parent upon return to the community. This includes coverage for health care services normally available to a child through municipal/provincial/territorial sources.
22. The community Parole Officer must ensure emergency contact numbers for potential alternate caregivers are identified and documented in the Offender Management System. In addition, the Parole Officer will ensure that consent to disclose this information (form CSC/SCC 0487) is completed by both the offender and the individual identified. This information will assist child welfare authorities in assuming their responsibility for assessing and arranging placement if necessary, and limit the extent of possible disruption for the child/children involved.
Shared Responsibility
23. 1. It is the legal responsibility of both residential facility staff/private home contractors and supervision staff to report any suspicion of child neglect or abuse to police and/or child welfare authorities without delay. Action taken in this regard will be documented and shared as soon as possible between residential and supervision staff.
24. The Parole Officer Supervisor will ensure that a protocol between the residence and the supervision unit is established to clarify how the information (reported abuse/neglect or concerns) will be shared, between whom and how it will be documented.
25. Developments in a woman's adjustment to the community, including reference to her relationship with her child/children, will be discussed on an ongoing basis as part of the inter-agency liaison and case management process. This regular communication is also important to identify possible harm prevention or supportive measures to enhance the mother-child relationship and overall community transition, engaging other resources as appropriate.
Community-Based Residential Facilities
Admission criteria
26. The facility's independence in deciding eligibility and the terms for accepting mothers with children (e.g. age of a child) is respected. Specific admission criteria will be determined by each individual facility.
27. For those facilities that do consider accepting women with children, each case will be considered individually and involve the Director or designate of the facility, the Parole Officer, the woman being referred and consultation with a child welfare official if one is already involved. The results of this consultation will be documented. A child welfare official, a Psychologist or a child care expert may also be engaged for independent input if considered necessary in making this determination.
28. Attention is also needed in considering other candidates for admission, specifically those with restrictions regarding child access, when a child is living or expected to be living in the same residence with his or her mother.
29. As part of the release planning process, the Director or delegate of the community-based residential facility will articulate the expectations for a woman who wishes to have her child/children with her at the facility and the terms under which accommodating the child/children would be terminated and/or reviewed.
Parental Support
30. A woman with custody of her child/children living in the community at a residential facility is fully responsible for the care of her child/children. Residential facility staff and parole staff will encourage and support her in fully assuming this responsibility in a non-intrusive/non-interventionist manner. This support would include linking her to community resources for child care services as required.
Financial Considerations
31. While a woman is living at a community-based residential facility with her child/children, she will assume financial responsibility for her child. If unemployed, she will receive a level of financial support for her basic needs as a parent in accordance with community standards (i.e. parity with social assistance discounting room and board considerations - see paragraph 13).
32. Normally, there is no significant additional financial impact to a facility directly related to accepting a woman with a child, given that responsibility for providing for the child rests directly with the mother and would involve her directly receiving the resources to be expended for the care of the child.
33. Most facilities have single rooms or apartments which can accommodate the mother and her infant or young child with her; however, in some circumstances there might be a direct financial impact on operations resulting from the admission of a woman with a child/children (e.g. loss of revenue due to high demand and double occupancy rooms only). A special per diem rate for the woman referred may be negotiated to consider any actual variable costs incurred by the facility to accommodate the woman with her child/children.
Private Home Placements
34. The policy specific to admission, parental support, and financial consideration described within the context of referrals to community-based residential facilitiesapplies equally for referrals to private home placements, with the necessary modifications.
Commissioner,
Original signed by :
Keith Coulter