Effectiveness of the Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM) for Federal Offenders Identified as Perpetrators of Spousal Assault

Successful completion of ICPM reduces readmissions to federal custody of men identified with domestic violence

Why we did this study

The national implementation of Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM) represents a paradigm shift in correctional program delivery from multi-program sequencing or stacking to three distinct correctional program streams for men offenders: a multi-target program, an Aboriginal multi-target program, and a sex offender program, all of which include a maintenance component. ICPM is designed to enhance the overall continuum of support and risk management of offenders in institutions and in the community; enhance the management and efficiency of correctional programs; allow greater capacity for offenders to access and complete correctional programs, and to do so earlier in their sentences; address the individual needs of offenders in the most efficient, culturally-relevant and holistic way possible.

As with any change to correctional program delivery concerns may arise as to whether or not it adequately addresses domestic violence. Consequently, a comparative analysis between ICPM, the Family Violence Prevention Program (FVPP) and other National Recognized Correctional Programs (NRCP) was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of ICPM is in reducing returns to federal custody among perpetrators of spousal assault.

What we did

Post-release federal readmission (new offences and revocations) reflected in CSC’s Offender Management System (OMS) was extracted along with Offender Intake Assessment (OIA) and program completion information. The OIA standardizes the recording of an important family/marital domain indicator of perpetrated spousal assault (not necessarily convicted) at the case level. A 2012-13 admission cohort with the aforementioned indicator assessed (n=4,279) was examined. Among these offenders, 1,510 (35%) were identified as having perpetrated spousal assault and 1,247 (85%) of them had been released to the community. Average time at risk in the community for the entire follow-up group was 720.7 days. Among those released, available program data revealed that 254 had completed ICPM, 257 had completed FVPP and 736 had completed some other NRCP.

What we found

The percentage readmission in the ICPM group was 37.8%, the FVPP group was 40.5% and the other NRCP was 45.3%. Whereas the performance gap between ICPM and FVPP is relatively small (3%), the difference between ICPM and the other NRCPs is more than doubled (7.5%).

Relative to the readmission base rate of 42.8% for the entire follow-up group, the ICPM reflected a relative reduction in readmissions of 11.6% and the FVPP of 5.4%. On the other hand, the other NRCP programs performed above the readmission base rate.

What it means

A comparative analysis of program effectiveness between the new ICPM, FVPP and other NRCP for men has revealed that ICPM completion shows substantial improvement with respect to reducing returns to federal custody for offenders identified at intake as having perpetrated spousal assault.

For more information

Please e-mail the Research Branch or contact us by phone at (613) 995-3975.

You can also visit the Research Publications section for a full list of reports and one-page summaries.

Prepared by: Larry Motiuk and Ben Vuong