Part 1: About our audit

1.1
In this Part, we discuss:

• the purpose of our audit;
• our audit expectations;
• how we carried out the audit; and
• what we did not audit.

The purpose of our audit

1.2
We carried out a performance audit to examine how effectively the Department of Corrections (the Department) manages offenders on parole. Parole is the conditional release of offenders who have served more than two years in prison. While on parole, offenders are supervised and expected to comply with conditions to guide their behaviour in the community.

1.3
We looked at the Department's systems, processes, and procedures that cover the stages from preparing an offender for release from prison through to the end of that offender's period of parole.

1.4
Appendix 1 sets out the Department's structure, roles, and responsibilities in managing offenders on parole.

Our audit expectations

1.5
We expected the Department to prepare effectively before releasing offenders on parole. We looked at how the Department assessed the risk of offenders eligible for parole and checked for issues related to the victims of those offenders. We also looked at how the Department made arrangements for the release of offenders and how it identified those offenders who were at a high risk of re-offending.

1.6
We expected the Department to effectively supervise offenders on parole. We considered how the Department set expectations for offenders, prepared offender plans, maintained regular contact, and provided support for offenders while they were on parole. We also considered how the Department recorded sentence management information,¹ and how it provided training, guidance, and support for probation officers.

1.7
We expected the Department to monitor whether offenders complied with their parole conditions, and to take enforcement action when necessary. We looked at the Department's methods for overseeing how probation officers managed high-risk offenders, how the Department reviewed whether offenders complied with their parole conditions, and how the Department took enforcement action.

1.8
We also looked at how the Department notified victims on its Victim Notification Register² (referred to in this report as "registered victims") about the non-compliance of offenders on parole, and how it evaluated the progress offenders had made at the end of their parole.

How we carried out the audit

1.9
To assess how effectively the Department manages offenders on parole, we examined relevant documents and spoke to staff within the Department, including:

• head office staff and management from the Community Probation and Psychological Services group (CPPS) and the Prison Services group;
• Prison Service staff involved in preparing offenders for release from prison at Auckland Women's Prison, Waikeria Prison, and Christchurch Men's Prison; and
• regional managers, area managers, service managers, probation officers, and psychologists involved in preparing offenders for parole and supervising and monitoring offenders on parole within four CPPS areas – Taitokerau, Auckland, Waiariki, and Christchurch.

1.10
Figure 1 provides an overview of the number of offenders and probation officers in the four CPPS areas visited as part of the audit.

Figure 1
Offenders and probation officers in the four Community Probation and Psychological Services areas visited as part of the audit, as at 31 May 2008

* Probation officers are responsible for sentence management and also for providing information to the courts and the New Zealand Parole Board.

1.11
We spoke to representatives from other agencies that have an interest in the management of offenders on parole. The agencies included the New Zealand Parole Board, New Zealand Police, Office of the Ombudsmen, Victim Support, New Zealand Prisoners' Aid and Rehabilitation Society, Sensible Sentencing Trust, Howard League for Penal Reform, and Prison Fellowship New Zealand.

Reviewing the files of 100 offenders

1.12
We examined the case files of 100 offenders on parole to ensure that we had sufficient evidence to form a view about the Department's compliance with its requirements for managing offenders on parole. We deliberately included 52 offenders who were considered to pose a high risk to themselves or others and were therefore listed on the Department's Offender Warning Register (the Warning Register).

1.13
The 100 offenders were on parole between 1 May 2007 and 4 May 2008 within the four CPPS areas we visited. The sample included offenders who were at different stages of their parole, including some who had completed their parole within this time period. Where necessary, we checked how offenders were managed against the sentence management requirements that were in place before 1 October 2007. Our sample of offenders did not include offenders on life parole, or offenders on parole in the witness protection programme.

1.14
We used these 100 cases to assess the Department's sentence management practices against the CPPS operations manual, which contains the Department's requirements for managing offenders on parole. Our review of case files also focused on other aspects of our audit expectations, including notifying registered victims and providing support for offenders.

1.15
Our findings are based on the evidence contained in the Department's information system and its hard copy files, the interviews we carried out, and the documentation we reviewed.

What we did not audit

1.16
We did not audit:

• how the Department managed specific parole cases that have previously been reviewed or investigated;
• the appropriateness of any decision by the New Zealand Parole Board to release an offender on parole;
• any part played by the New Zealand Police in carrying out any enforcement action or registering victims;
• the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes and support for offenders on parole provided by other agencies; or
• how the Department manages high-risk offenders not on parole or offenders on any other community-based orders or sentences.

1: Parole is an order that is imposed on offenders by the New Zealand Parole Board. Orders follow a prison sentence, and reflect conditions set for offenders on their release from prison. Orders are not sentences as such, but require sentences to be carried out in a particular way. The expression "sentence management" in this report covers the management of offenders on parole, and reflects the Department's usage.

2: The Community Assistance section of the Department's website (www.corrections.govt.nz) explains the Victim Notification Register, including how people are registered, the circumstances that would lead to a victim being notified, and how the register is managed.