Enchancing implementation of the White Paper on Corrections

In a Centre of Excellence the ideals of the White Paper will only be achieved in measurable and sustainable fashion if the following aspects are in place

• Integrated Offender Management System: A Centre of Excellence must be managed in line with unit management principles to enable adequate attention to each offender. Every Centre of Excellence must have a structured day programme to account for daily activities and every inmate in a Centre of Excellence must have a case file and a correctional sentence plan. Each inmate should have been involved in a comprehensive offender assessment & risk profiling process. Factors associated with offending behaviour must be targeted through needs-based rehabilitation programmes and services delivered in a holistic and integrated fashion. Programmes and services can be unpacked in offence-specific and offence-related programmes and/or services.
• Centres must be appropriately staffed and trained Case Management Committees must be established. The identity, roles and performance levels of external service providers must be clearly related to the service delivery areas and philosophy of the DCS. The independence of the CMC should be maintained, it should not form part of the intervention team, they can only come in when the offender is not agreeing with the intervention team and therefore can take a decision.
• Comprehensive Offender Assessment & Risk Profiling: Assessment of why offences may have occurred and what problem areas needs and/or risks must be dealt with during intervention. Assessment guides intervention and informs the correctional official, professional staff and the case management committee what they need to know to help and manage the offender effectively both in a correctional centre – and community corrections setting. Without accurate assessment, the correctional official, professional staff and case management committees are left to fumble around using trial and error until they find an effective method of helping and managing the offender. The following aspects form part of the admission assessment:
  • An assessment of risk level, for the purposes of security classification
  • Risk of self-harm and harm of others
  •  Offence-specific (correcting offending behaviour) and offence-related (providing care and development) program needs,
  •  Readiness-to-change in terms of motivation to engage in programs,
  • Any special needs e.g. medical, dietary, etc.
  •  An initial Exit Plan focused on needs upon release and social integration services
• Provision of Needs-based Rehabilitation Programmes / Services: Factors associated with offending behaviour must be targeted through needs-based rehabilitation programmes and services delivered in a holistic and integrated fashion. Programmes and services can be unpacked in offence-specific and offence-related programmes and/or services:
  • Offence-specific programs that address offending needs and risks like violent offending, sexual offending, and drug and alcohol programs in order to deal with offences committed, offences suffered and harmful addictions
  • Offence-related programs address areas related to offending like family support, harm from drug use, accommodation needs, development, care, education and employment as well as sports and recreation

Value & Integrity Driven Staff:

•  The ideal correctional official should embody the values that the DCS hopes to instil in the offender as it is this member who is to assist and facilitate the rehabilitation processes of the correctional clients. An attitude of serving with excellence, a principled way of relating to others and above all a just and caring attitude are essential ingredients of the behaviour of a correctional official.
• The desire to achieve a level of excellence in any field through self and team development; desire to encourage a focus on productivity and efficiency through the implementation of best work methods, procedures and systems in order to lead to efficiency in service delivery; to recognise the need to take responsibility for assigned tasks and to be accountable for one’s own omissions or actions; the appreciation of security through vigilance of the need for ensuring the safety of employees, correctional clients and the community should inform the competencies of the ideal correctional official.
•  The Department has asserted that “every member is a rehabilitator” and shown that the manner in which each and every staff member performs his or her task either contributes to creating a rehabilitation-encouraging environment or militates against rehabilitation and the correction of offending behaviour.
• Staff who interact with the correctional clients must treat them with decency, humanity and fairness, ensure that all offenders are safe, ensure that dangerous individuals do not escape, ensure good order and control in correctional centres and provide offenders with opportunities to use the time that they are incarcerated positively so that they will be able to reintegrate into their communities when they are released.

Excellent Human Resourcing:

The organisational structure of an ideal correctional Centre of Excellence must be characterised by:

• The filling of all vacant posts within three months of them becoming vacant;
• The existence of performance contracts and job descriptions for all employees;
• The existence of accurate records on management of inmate complaints and requests;
• Sufficient allocation of resources
• Effective management of relations with service providers.
• A working environment that generates minimal grievances and disciplinary processes

Partnership with the Community

•  The rehabilitation of offenders can only be truly successful and their reintegration into the society meaningful, if all stakeholders are allowed to participate in the process. To this effect the participation of the community in strengthening and enhancing rehabilitation is crucial. The needs of the Department shall have to be marketed to the community so as to enable it to know what expertise and services it can provide. An environment that encourages and promotes the participation of community-based service providers must be created. Entry into the Department for purposes of rendering services must be regulated yet made easy through effective quality assurance processes. Structures/systems that facilitate ease of access into the department need to be put in place.