Policy Bulletin

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What is new/changed?

REVISIONS TO CASE MANAGEMENT STANDARD OPERATING PRACTICES

Why was the policy changed?

This bulletin is being issued to inform staff about all the changes made to case management in relation to Version 6.3 of the OMS. The following SOPs have been revised:

700-00 Correctional Intervention Process;
700-03 Assessments Completed by the Community;
700-04 Offender Intake Assessment and Correctional Planning;
700-05 Progress Monitoring - Institutions
700-06 Community Supervision;
700-07 Pre-Release Decision Process;
700-10 Post-Release Decision Process;
700-12 Private Family Visits;
700-13 Perimeter Work Clearance;
700-15 Transfer of Offenders
700-17 Work Releases;
700-19 Detention;
700-21 Long-Term Supervision Orders.

The specific changes to these SOPs are outlined in SOP 700-B.

OBJECTIVES OF CHANGES

• Make certain production timelines more reasonable and manageable.
• Reduce the number of reports to be produced.
• Amend the contents of certain reports in order to reduce duplication and strengthen analyses.
• Adjust policies following recent legal decisions and changes.

INTAKE ASSESSMENT

Separation of Correctional Plan and Criminal Profile

Joining the Correctional Plan and the Criminal Profile generated a long report that had to be reprinted each time the Criminal Profile was updated. This created a needless accumulation of papers in the file, and it sometimes made it appear as if the Correctional Plan had been changed when in fact it had not. Moreover, the original contents of the Criminal Profile were not protected during updates. To overcome these problems, the following changes were made:

• Following intake assessment, users can now print three separate documents: Intake Assessment, Criminal Profile and Correctional Plan.
• Instructions dealing with the development of the offence cycle have been amended to make them clearer.

Correctional Plan Timeline

Automation of this process, which was part of the implementation of the changes related to Operation Bypass, has now been completed.

Eligibility dates, referrals/assignments to correctional programs, and the various decisions made during the sentence will automatically be entered into the Timeline when the Correctional Plan or the Correctional Plan Progress Report (CPPR) is produced.

CASE MANAGEMENT IN INSTITUTION

Casework Records and Structured Casework Record (SCR)

There was some confusion with the various casework records. Moreover, the planned contents of the SCR were repetitive when compared with the CPPR and the Assessment for Decision (A4D). To improve this situation, the following changes have been made:

• Clarification of the various types of casework records and their uses.
• Amendment of contents of SCR to have it focus on the offender's performance (conduct, programs, work, recreation) and avoid needless repetition of information.

Correctional Plan Progress Report

Requirements relating to the production of the CPPR led to confusion as well as to overly frequent reports. The instructions were complicated and the production was difficult to control in a systematic way. The requirements did not take into account the annual review (every two years in the case of life sentences) of an offender's progress within the security classification review. The result was a great deal of repetition and the production of irrelevant reports. To make the work easier while ensuring good offender monitoring, the following changes have been made:

• Elimination of target dates and six-month review of CPPR for progress purposes.
• The CPPR for progress purposes is produced only when there are changes in one of the following ratings: static factors, dynamic factors, motivation, reintegration potential.
• A CPPR for decision purposes will be produced only if a Community Strategy or a Community Assessment is requested. Otherwise, the CPPR contents will be integrated into the A4D.
• In the case of CPPRs for decision purposes, a heading about risk assessment has been added to make it easier to develop the Community Strategy.

Assessments for Decision - Pre-Release

The requirements for the production of the CPPR having been changed, there was also a need to adjust the contents of the A4D. Moreover, comments from CSC and NPB staff as well as the results of the reviews undertaken revealed that the contents are still quite repetitive. Repetition often replaces analysis. In A4Ds, we find a number of excerpts from other reports (cut and paste) that have not been given a thorough analysis. To improve this situation, various measures have been taken:

• Amendment of contents of CPPR to improve information concerning risk factors as well as the activities carried out and the changes made by the offender.
• Addition to A4D of a heading, CPPR Update, for cases where it will no longer be necessary to produce a CPPR.
• Amendment of contents of A4D to eliminate repetition and focus on risk analysis information. The contents will include the following: probability of reoffending, gravity in case of reoffending, risk management in the community, offender's level of commitment, and overall risk assessment. The contents will be determined in such a way that the author can focus on the analysis and the findings of that analysis.
• Instructions have been added for the restricted use of excerpts from other reports.

Assessment for Decision Addenda

After the changes made in 1999, it was no longer possible to produce an A4D without attaching a recommendation. However, in various situations, it is necessary to forward information to decision-making authorities where recommendations remain unchanged by them. In these situations, the vehicle was the CPPR, and this led to the printing of long documents just to transmit a small bit of information. Requirements relative to the transmission of any new information to decision-making authorities have not been changed, but the vehicle has been amended as follows:

• Creation of an Assessment for Decision Addenda which will make it possible to forward additional information to decision-making authorities without any changes being made to the recommendations. This addenda will have to be attached to a regular A4D.
• In cases where new information does change the recommendation, a regular A4D must be used.

CASE MANAGEMENT IN COMMUNITY

Community Strategies

The contents have been slightly amended in order to clarify the structure.

Correctional Plan Progress Report in the Community

Changes have been made to these reports for the same reasons as identified for CPPRs in institutions.

• The CPPR for progress purposes will be produced only in cases where there are changes in the ratings (static factors, dynamic factors, motivation, reintegration potential), and in the frequency of contacts.
• When the post-suspension process is carried out in an area other than the supervising area, the supervising area completes a CPPR (if ratings must be changed) or a casework record (if ratings are not changed) summarizing the highlights of the supervision. The CPPR or casework record will be produced within five days of the execution of the suspension. The office where the offender was apprehended will complete the A4D.
• It is no longer necessary to produce a CPPR for any post-release decisions (day parole continued, full parole, statutory release).

Post-Release Decision Process

The current processes generate several reports, whereas the information can be integrated into a single one. There is also some confusion about the production of the Community Strategy for post-release decisions. These points have been amended as follows:

• Since it is no longer necessary to produce a CPPR for post-release decisions, the heading "Offender Progress Under Supervision" has been added to the A4D.
• In the case of direct revocations, the A4D Addenda will be used to transmit results of post-revocation interviews.
• The Community Strategy is integrated in the A4D for a release following the post-suspension process (including the preparation of a statutory release following a revocation), or for case preparation for day parole, full parole or statutory release. In cases where information has to be obtained from another sector, a case conference or a Community Assessment may be completed.
• Since section 135 (9.1) of the CCRA on automatic revocations has been found unconstitutional, changes to the procedure have been made, pending legislative amendments. Thus, in cases of new convictions with incarceration sentences, the regular post-suspension process will apply.

OTHER CHANGES

The title of SOP 700-00 has been changed from "Introduction to the Reintegration Process" to "Correctional Intervention Process". This was done to make it clear that correctional intervention is what we do to achieve safe reintegration.

The accelerated parole review eligibility description in the SOP on Offender Intake Assessment and Correctional Planning has been revised in line with new legislation, Bills C-24 (organized crime) and C-36 (anti-terrorism).

SOPs on Offender Intake Assessment and Correctional Planning, Pre-Release Decision Process and Detention have been revised to reflect Interim Instructions.

SOP on Pre-Release Decision Process have been revised to include NPB policy change on hearings for statutory release with residency condition.

The objectives in the SOPs on Community Supervision and Pre-Release Decision Process have been clarified.

SOP on Private Family Visits have been amended to strengthen the links to the offender's Correctional Plan and to CSC's contraband control policy.

How was it developed?

Following the major changes made in February 1999, a group made up of several representatives of the various regions conducted a review of the changes, and agreed on a number of additional changes that would make the process still more streamlined. Some of these could not be implemented without making further significant changes to the OMS. The ADCOs endorsed the changes, including the changes to the OMS.

In her report on Case Management Review (December 2001), Elizabeth Van Allen, Director of Community Reintegration Operations, said that all the planned changes would provide a response to numerous annoying points raised during her tour of the regions.

Accountability?

All operational managers and staff responsible to carry out the requirements of SOPs covering their work.

Who will be affected by the policy?

All operational staff, managers and offenders.

Expected cost?

None.

Other impacts?

TRAINING

Training covering the changes to the OMS was delivered prior to the implementation of Version 6.3. A similar training plan will be implemented prior to the effective date of the revisions to Standard Operating Practices.

Implementation Date

June 3, 2002

Note: As of June 3 2002, the Interim Instructions 700-04 dated 2001-03-30 and 700-07 dated 2000-05-12 have been incorporated in the relevant Standard Operating Practices.