FOLLOW-UP PERFORMANCE EXAMINATION: Implementing and Managing Community Based Sentences

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FOLLOW-UP PERFORMANCE EXAMINATION: Implementing and Managing Community Based Sentences

Report No 2 - May 2005

Community based sentences (CBSs) can be issued to adult offenders by courts as an alternative to fines, imprisonment or other options. A CBS involves one or more of four elements: unpaid community work, treatment programs, supervision and curfews. In Western Australia (WA) about 5 000 new CBSs are issued each year and about 4 000 are in force at any one time. Offenders are managed by corrections staff at the 16 branches and 13 sub-offi ces of the Department of Justice's Community Justice Services (CJS) directorate.

This report reviews how the Department of Justice (DoJ) has progressed since the May 2001 performance examination Implementing and Managing Community Based Sentences.

Key Findings

Case management of adult offenders serving CBSs has improved. It is better resourced at the branches, better supported and monitored at the centre, and places public safety as the top priority.
The proportion of successfully completed CBSs has remained stable in recent years. More than 40 per cent of offenders fail to complete their orders and are returned to the courts for re-sentencing.
New information and performance measurement systems are still under development. Until they are fully implemented at the end of 2005, or later if there are delays, CJS will be limited in measuring the effectiveness of its operations and outcomes.

What Should Be Done

DoJ should carry forward its initiatives relating to CBSs with particular attention to:

reducing the proportion of contract, casual and acting community corrections staff
staffing branches according to the case workload and supervision ratios
providing and evaluating more rehabilitative treatment programs
auditing case management for consistency and compliance
measuring the quality of services and their impact on offenders.

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