Part 6: Managing the risks of reoffending

6.1
In this Part, we look at how the Department:

• monitors and manages risk in the community;
• manages risk in prisons; and
• manages high-risk offenders in the community.

Summary of our findings

6.2
The Department's staff often work in a fast-changing, or what the Department calls "dynamic", environment. Managing some offenders can be challenging.

6.3
The Department has a structured approach to manage offenders' progress and respond quickly to concerns. The Department manages community-based offenders in line with how likely they are to reoffend. High-risk offenders receive more monitoring and closer supervision. This includes using the Intelligence (Intel) and the high-risk response teams, multi-disciplinary teams, and global positioning system (GPS) monitoring.

6.4
The Department has developed a dynamic risk assessment tool to assess how likely an offender is to reoffend soon. The tool ensures that a comprehensive assessment of risk takes place. The success of using the tool in the community has led to a similar tool being created for prisons.

Monitoring and managing dynamic risk in the community

6.5
The Department manages community-based offenders in line with their risk of reoffending. High-risk offenders receive more monitoring and supervision. Offenders are also managed according to their sentence. There are nine community-based sentences and orders. Figure 3 lists these sentences and orders.

Figure 3
The nine types of sentences and orders that community-based offenders are managed under

Source: Department of Corrections.

6.6
All offenders managed on sentences and orders in the community are required to report to their probation officer or for community service work. The frequency of reporting and how long it is required for is based on the seriousness of the offence and the assessment of risk to the public. Mandatory standards help probation officers to ensure that offenders meet their reporting times.

6.7
Meetings between offenders and probation officers can take place at community probation centres, or probation officers can make home visits. An advantage of home visits is that probation officers can assess the environment that the offender is living in. For example, if alcohol and drugs are present, the probation officer might move the offender to other accommodation. The probation officer can meet the people the offender lives with and assess whether they provide pro-social support. If necessary, the probation officer can issue a non-association order.

Dynamic risk assessment offender re-entry tool

6.8
Probation officers work in a dynamic environment. The Department has developed the dynamic risk assessment offender re-entry tool (DRAOR). Probation officers use the tool to assess the changing risk of reoffending or causing harm to others an offender poses.

6.9
The DRAOR is built on the RNR model (see paragraph 2.29), which classifies interventions based on risk and changing needs. It measures an offender's risk against 19 stable, acute, and protective factors. Figure 4 lists the 19 risk factors.

Figure 4
Dynamic risk assessment offender re-entry tool

Source: Department of Corrections.

6.10
Stable factors take longer to change. They will usually only change with intervention or some work. They are factors in achieving what the Department calls long-term desistance from crime.³ The acute factors can change quickly and give the best indication of whether an offender is likely to reoffend soon. Acute factors can include a relationship break-up, losing a job, or starting drinking again. Protective factors are things that the offender cannot do on their own. They include having social or whānau support or getting (positive) advice from friends. Protective factors are important for helping the offender to remain free from offending.

6.11
The RoC*RoI (see paragraphs 3.8-3.10) identifies who is likely to reoffend, and the DRAOR indicates when someone might reoffend. The Department has used the RoC*RoI for many years. The DRAOR now complements it to provide a comprehensive assessment of risk.

6.12
Probation officers complete a DRAOR assessment after every session with an offender to check whether an acute risk has risen. The DRAOR uses a three-point scoring format (0, 1, 2) to score each factor, with 0 being low risk and 2 being high risk. These scores give an overall assessment of risk. The probation officer prioritises the factors that need the most attention for particular offenders.

6.13
The assessment process also includes identified risk scenarios. Risk scenario planning involves preparing several informed, plausible, and imagined alternative future events. It is not a prediction about what will happen but rather a projection. Probation officers use the assessment and identified risk scenarios to discuss real risk and the imminence of harm with the offender:

[We] used to say, "John is a high-risk offender," but you can't manage a label. But you can manage an identified high-risk scenario. This provides a structured way of discussing real risk with an offender and in deciding on how to manage the offender.

6.14
DRAOR scores are peer reviewed to ensure consistency between probation officers. Staff compare DRAOR scores and discuss them at fortnightly reflective practice sessions. These sessions help to mitigate any risk a probation officer might not see. District and practice managers regularly review trends in DRAOR scores and, together with practice leaders and service managers, work to improve practice.

6.15
The Department is carrying out a study to assess the effectiveness of the DRAOR. The study looks, over two years, at 5000 offenders who have left prison and are being managed with the DRAOR. Early results show that reoffending occurred when there was an increase in acute factors and a decrease in protective factors. Conversely, reoffending went down when acute factors decreased and protective factors increased. Early signs show that the DRAOR is an effective tool for predicting when an offender might reoffend.

Managing dynamic risk in prisons

6.16
The Department has used the DRAOR for three years. The tool has become business as usual for probation officers. The DRAOR's success led to the Department developing a similar tool for prisons. The structured dynamic assessment case management tool (SDAC-21) was initially piloted at six prisons and has since been introduced to the other prisons.

6.17
Similar to the DRAOR, the SDAC-21 identifies stable and protective factors. However, the SDAC-21 does not include the acute DRAOR factors because imminent risk assessment is not relevant in prisons. Instead, the SDAC-21 identifies seven responsivity factors. These are important for identifying issues that might prevent an offender from engaging and addressing risk. Another difference is that "employability" is included as a protective factor rather than an acute factor, as it is in the DRAOR. Figure 5 lists the 21 risk factors.

Figure 5
Structured dynamic assessment case management tool

Source: Department of Corrections.

6.18
Case managers use the SDAC-21 to produce an effective individualised case management plan. They assess and score the 21 stable, responsivity, and protective factors based on the offender's history and current circumstances. Case managers then consider relevant risk scenarios to help identify priority, or "keystone", risks, based on the information from the assessment. Case managers then use this understanding of the offender and their needs to identify and prioritise rehabilitation and reintegration interventions for the offender's plan.

6.19
By using a common language and approach to risk assessment, the two tools improve consistency throughout the Department. The Department is confident that using the SDAC-21 will result in a more seamless transition of offenders between case managers and probation officers. We understand that no other correctional jurisdiction in the world uses dynamic risk assessments in both community and prison settings.

Managing high-risk offenders in the community

The high-risk response team

6.20
The Department has several approaches for managing high-risk offenders. The high-risk response team is responsible for overseeing the management of high-risk, high-profile offenders in the community. They are an extra support to probation officers.

6.21
The high-risk response team identifies, in consultation with psychologists, offenders that are eligible for extended supervision. Applications for extended supervision are made to the courts, and special conditions of the extended supervision order are imposed by the Parole Board. An extended supervision order allows the Department to monitor sex offenders for up to 10 years after their prison sentence. Currently, about 230 people are on extended supervision orders.

6.22
The Department is preparing for the first offenders who are due to come off an extended supervision order in 2014 but who remain at very high risk of reoffending. Currently, the Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Bill is before Parliament. The Bill empowers the High Court to issue a public protection order to detain an offender when, at the end of a prison sentence or an extended supervision order, they pose a very high risk of imminent and serious sexual or violent reoffending.

6.23
The high-risk response team is also responsible for identifying offenders for GPS monitoring and provides support to the GPS monitoring team (see paragraphs 7.19-7.21).

The intelligence team

6.24
The Department also has an Intel team. In general, intelligence is focused on high-risk sex offenders and offenders with a RoC*RoI score over 0.8. Historically, Intel focused only on prisons and putting together profiles of offenders of great concern, and the high-risk response team focused on probation.

6.25
Since the restructure, the two teams work closer together, and Intel now provides information to community probation. One Intel officer pointed out how difficult it is to measure the value of intelligence. However, everyone we spoke to who uses Intel, including the Police, commented on how valuable the service is. There is no doubt that Intel adds extra value to the Department's work in improving public safety by actively managing some high-risk offenders.

Multi-disciplinary teams

6.26
The Department also uses multi-disciplinary teams to monitor high-risk offenders. The teams can involve community probation staff, prison staff, Intel, the high-risk response team, case managers, psychologists, the Police, support people, whānau, and non-governmental organisations.

6.27
We observed several multi-disciplinary team meetings and gained an appreciation for how challenging it can be to manage some offenders. All the participants were committed to working together and dedicated to ensuring public safety. The meetings produced tangible actions that the Department's staff, the Police, or other participants had to carry out.

3: Desistance means the process of moving away from committing crime. For many offenders, it takes time to stop committing crimes. It starts with them committing less serious crimes before eventually stopping.