ASSESSMENTS COMPLETED BY THE COMMUNITY

STANDARD OPERATING PRACTICES (SOPs)
(700-03)

Authority

Sections 23 and 24 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act

Cross-references

Commissioner’s Directive 540 - Transfer of Offenders
Commissioner’s Directive 542 - International Transfers

Overview

1. From sentencing and throughout the entire sentence of the offender, the objective of assessments completed by the community is to provide complete, accurate and quality information to assist in every activity related to the offender's assessment in the correctional process.

2. Assessments completed by the community include:

1. the Preliminary Assessment,
2. the Post-Sentence Community Assessment,
3. the Community Assessment,
4. the Community Strategy.

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT

OBJECTIVES

3. The Preliminary Assessment process has the following specific goals:

• orient the offender to the federal system and respond to any questions by the offender;
• note any immediate and critical concerns;
• identify, as early as possible, the community contacts and provide basic information promptly to the designated parole office for the completion of a Post-Sentence Community Assessment;
• identify the release plan and relevant community contacts for completion of the Community Strategy in Accelerated Parole Review (APR) cases serving four years and under and for all other cases serving three years and under;
• ensure the collection of information for completion of the Intake Assessment and Correctional Plan.

PROCEDURES

4. Each region shall establish procedures and agreements by which it will be informed by provincial authorities of new federal sentences.

5. Offenders must be interviewed and the Preliminary Assessment Report completed within five working days of sentencing. The interview must be held while the offender is in the custody of the provincial authorities. In exceptional circumstances, where the offender is admitted to an Intake Assessment Unit quickly after sentencing, the Preliminary Assessment will be conducted by the Intake Assessment Unit.

6. When sentencing occurs in a remote area and it is not feasible for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to conduct the interview within the identified timeframe, the interview shall be held as soon as possible.

7. The interview will encompass the following activities:

1. Informing the offender about the federal correctional system and respond to questions concerning types of institutions, security levels, visiting, intake assessment, transfer process, release process, and the various services relating to case management, medical care, psychological treatment and programs.
2. Assessing the offender's immediate needs. If required, the appropriate referral must be done, and if necessary, a flag must be created in the Offender Management System (OMS).
3. Gathering basic data, including community contacts for the completion of a Post-Sentence Community Assessment, and potential release plan in the case of APR cases serving a sentence of 4 years or less and other cases serving 3 years or less.
4. Entering the information on the OMS on the screens relating to the Preliminary Assessment process.
5. Proceeding with the request(s) for Post-Sentence Community Assessment(s).

8. When the offender is a woman, the Parole Officer shall determine the security classification before the offender is transferred to a federal institution, by completing the Custody Rating Scale.

STANDARDS

Timeframe

9. The Preliminary Assessment shall be completed within five working days of sentencing.

Content Guidelines

10. Refer to Annex 700-03A, "Preliminary Assessment / Content Guidelines / Checklist for the Interview".

POST-SENTENCE COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

OVERVIEW

11. The Post-Sentence Community Assessment (PSCA) Report is an essential document in both the Offender Intake Assessment process and the correctional planning process. It must be completed as soon as possible after sentencing. With the information collected, the Parole Officer shall provide an opinion regarding the level and quality of the community support available to the offender and the proposed options and/or treatments/programs available in the community likely to maintain the risk at the lowest level possible, when the offender is eventually released in the community. Collateral contacts with the offender family and others for later supervision in the community can also be established through a Post-Sentence Community Assessment.

OBJECTIVES

12. The Post-Sentence Community Assessment Report must

• enhance the accuracy of the Intake Assessment;
• contribute to the offender's orientation and the appropriate management of the sentence.

PROCEDURES

13. Each region shall develop and implement mechanisms to implement these procedures.

14. When conducting an interview for the purpose of a Post-Sentence Community Assessment, the Parole Officer shall focus on obtaining only the information that will assist in the overall assessment of the offender. He/she must analyse all the gathered information and assess the contribution of the community in the offender's reintegration into society.

15. Initial Community Assessments conducted with the offender's close relations shall not normally be conducted by phone, as this does not permit verification of identity, living conditions, signs of abuse or neglect, or any other issues/concerns that may impact on the offender's reintegration potential. The first meeting with offender's close familial bonds is important, as it provides the opportunity for answering any questions regarding the offender sentence and incarceration.

16. As an exceptional practice, collecting information by phone may be appropriate in certain cases. For example, where the community contacts are well known to CSC staff or when information is collected from official contacts (Social Services, Probation, Police, Community Residential Facilities, etc.), information may be collected by phone. The Parole Officer shall ensure that the official documents follow, when available.

17. The information gathered must be corroborated independently by other sources whenever possible.

18. For APR cases serving 4 years or less and for all other cases serving 3 years or less, where the Assessment for Decision is completed by the Intake Assessment Unit, the Post-Sentence Community Assessment shall include a Community Strategy. That Community Strategy will normally be valid for a period of six months. Where the Assessment for Decision is completed by the community, the Community Strategy will be completed upon a request from the Intake Assessment Unit, following the completion of the Correctional Plan.

19. When a Post-Sentence Community Assessment is being conducted in an Aboriginal community, the Parole Officer should take that opportunity to ensure the community knows of section 84 of the CCRA, and encourage the earliest appropriate development of release planning for that offender.

20. In cases where a number of persons have to be interviewed for the same PSCA, a single report, focusing on the analysis of all information available, shall be completed.

STANDARDS

Timeframe

21. All Post-Sentence Community Assessment Reports shall be completed within 40 calendar days from the date of admission to federal custody.

22. The Parole Officer in the community must ensure expeditious collection of information. If, for reasons beyond his/her control, the Parole Officer in the community is unable to enter the results of the Post-Sentence Community Assessment into the OMS within the required timeframes, he/she should consider contacting the Parole Officer in the Intake Assessment Unit and provide him/her with any relevant/urgent information to be used in the offender assessment.

Content Guidelines

23. Refer to Annex 700-03B, "Post-Sentence Community Assessment Content Guidelines".

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

OVERVIEW

24. It is essential that an up-to-date Community Assessment (CA) on the offender's personal resources (family, support, etc.) be on file at all times. An updated Community Assessment shall be completed any time the existing information is considered out of date or invalid where such information is required for decision or supervision purposes.

25. Except for the cases where the information required is very specific, the Parole Officer shall focus on obtaining only information that will assist in the overall assessment of the offender.

26. When the Parole Officer in the community receives multiple Community Assessments requests (for example: one for private family visits (PFV), one for UTA (unescorted temporary absence where no supervision strategy is required) and one for specific information in the community), he/she shall incorporate all the information in one Community Assessment report, using only the appropriate headings included in each CA content guidelines.

OBJECTIVES

27. Where additional information is required or will assist in understanding an offender's situation/progress, whether or not it is directly linked to a decision at the time it is requested, it can be obtained through a Community Assessment. For instance, additional police or victim(s) information received in the course of the sentence, the availability of programs in the community, the reaction of the surrounding community, or where clarification of information about the offender's financial situation or employment is needed.

PROCEDURES

28. Information can be obtained through a Community Assessment where the Parole Officer in the community interviews the resources in person or contacts them by telephone (only if appropriate), or, through telephone conversations initiated by the Parole Officer in the institution. The latter can also have direct contact with the offender's resources (for example at the time of a PFV, the Parole Officer can meet with them on a particular topic). The information obtained shall be recorded on the Community Assessment Report.

29. Where the objective is to develop a supervision strategy (day/full parole, statutory release, work releases where the offender will reside in a CBRF, UTA of more than 72 hours), the appropriate mechanism is not the Community Assessment. The information should be requested and completed by means of a Community Strategy, and reported in the Correctional Plan Progress Report.

STANDARDS

Timeframe

30. The Community Assessment Report should be completed as soon as possible, but no later than 30 calendar days from the date of request, to facilitate the case management process.

Content Guidelines

31. The content guidelines for the Community Assessment Report should be geared to the specific request. Refer to Annex 700-03C for the different types of Community Assessment Content Guidelines.

COMMUNITY STRATEGY

OBJECTIVES

32. The Community Strategy (CS) is an essential stage in the pre-release decision process. Its purpose is to plan a supervision structure which will be implemented when the offender is released and to identify the means by which the risk can be managed in the community, and maintained at a level that is not unacceptable for the protection of society.

33. The Community Strategy follows and is built upon the Correctional Plan Progress Report prepared by the institutional Parole Officer, which includes a Risk Assessment completed by the institutional Parole Officer. The role of the community Parole Officer is to develop a workable supervision stategy, by determining the way in which the various dynamic factors identified as problematic will continue to be addressed in the community, the way in which the offender will be monitored and determining the level of intervention (frequency of contacts) to be applied upon the offender's release to the community.

34. The Community Strategy shall be a quality document, in which the supervision plan shall be as complete and as precise as possible (for example, include the special conditions that are necessary, reasonable and the least restrictive to manage the risk), to avoid the need for the Parole Officer who will supervise the offender to revise/redo it.

STANDARDS

35. A Community Strategy shall be completed in the following cases:

1. Day Parole and Full Parole
   • All case reviews under the accelerated parole review procedure;
   • All case reviews for which a positive recommendation to the NPB is anticipated, regardless of the reintegration potential;
   • All case reviews where the reintegration potential is high or medium, even if a negative recommendation to the NPB is anticipated.
2. Statutory Release
   • All case reviews for statutory release.
3. Unescorted Temporary Absences
   • All case review for a UTA of more than 72 hours under CSC or NPB authority which represent a high or medium reintegration potential.
4. Work Release
   • Where the offender will reside in a community residential facility (CRC or CCC).
5. Upon Release
   • Where the Community Strategy proposed at the time of the pre-release assessment does not correspond to the specific expectations of the NPB or the offender's plans have changed significantly. (For example, no program or special condition were recommended by CSC but NPB imposed some; the offender's plans are totally different (in another area, different resources / use of time, etc), from the ones the proposed Community Strategy was based on.)

36. The Community Strategy will be completed within the Assessment for Decision in the following cases: Accelerated Parole Review; non-APR offenders serving 3 years or less who have applied for day and/or full parole during the intake process; statutory release with conditions; and day parole to day parole continued/full parole/statutory release where the same Parole Officer in the community is responsible for preparing both reports.

37. In all other types of review (ETA, transfer, work release not involving a return to a CBRF, private family visits, UTA of 72 hours or less), a Community Strategy is not required. However, a Community Assessment may be necessary, in order to obtain information required for a better understanding of the offender's situation or in the Assessment for Decision process.

Timeframe

38. The Community Strategy must be completed within 30 calendar days of the request to the parole office initially identified to complete the strategy.

PROCEDURE

39. Upon receipt of a Community Strategy request, if further information is required, the Parole Officer in the community shall communicate with the Parole Officer in the institution to discuss the case.

40. Where multiple reviews are required or where the release plan involves several stages, a single Community Strategy shall be drafted covering the principal elements of the release plans.

41. When preparing the Community Strategy to assess the possibility of release to an aboriginal community (according to section 84 of the CCRA), the Parole Officer should work collaboratively with the community representative(s) in developing a sound plan.

42. If the parole office who receives the request for a Community Strategy is not in a position to follow up on the offender's plans (for example, if no community residential facility will accept his application or if there is no program available which meets the offender's needs), responsibility for requesting another Community Strategy in another area lies with that office.

43. The choice of another destination for the Community Strategy will be reached after a case discussion with the Parole Officer from the institution, who will in turn interview the offender. The office which received the initial request for a Community Strategy will complete the Correctional Plan Progress Report, (Community Strategy section) indicating that it is impossible to proceed further with the offender's plans, and shall initiate a new request for a Community Strategy with the new area thus identified.

44. It is important that the parole office which receives a request for a Community Strategy process the request as promptly as possible, so as not to delay the Assessment for Decision process unduly, and especially in the event the Community Strategy must be redirected to another area.

45. Before finalizing the Community Strategy, the Parole Officer in the community shall contact the Parole Officer in the institution and discuss the supervision plan.

46. In all cases, it is the responsibility of the Parole Officer in the community to determine the special conditions to be recommended to the NPB. In case of disagreement between the Parole Officers in the community and institution, the recommendation submitted by the Parole Officer in the community will prevail.

47. The Parole Officer in the community shall only recommend the special conditions that are directly linked to the dynamic factors which have contributed to the criminal behaviour.

Contents

48. Refer to Annex 700-03D, "Community Strategy Content Guidelines".

Commissioner,

Original signed by:
Lucie McClung

ANNEX 700-03A
PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT/ CONTENT GUIDELINES/CHECKLIST FOR THE INTERVIEW Note: The information gathered for the Preliminary Assessment is mainly offender self-reported and is subject to confirmation.
1.	Name of Offender		Alias(es)
2.	Date of Birth		Place of Birth
3.	FPS Number	Gender	Male	Female
4.	Offender Location
5.	Electoral Information
6.	Marital Status	Married	Common Law	Separated
				Widowed
		Single	Divorced	Unknown
7.	Preferred official language	English	French	Need for translator
	Home Language
	Other Spoken Languages
8.	Citizenship	Canadian		Dual Citizenship
		Non-Canadian
		Unknown		Other Country
9.	Race		Status	Band #
10.	Religion
11.	Contact in case of emergency
12.	Offence for which currently sentenced:
	Type of offence
	Length of sentence
	Date of sentencing
	Police Force
	Waiver signed
13.	Eligibility for Accelerated Parole Review (to be confirmed by Sentence Management)
14.	Smoker		Non-smoker
15.	Offender version of offence (description, violence, weapon used,factors leading up to the decision to commit, and motive for, the offence(s), the part the offender played in the offence, the name, role and status of accomplices,the offender's attitude towards the offence and the level of remorse, etc.)

Immediate Needs

Medical

As much as possible, a value must be entered for each indicator (yes-no-unknown)

  Is taking medication

 Has allergies

 Has health concerns which require immediate attention

  Has other special needs

  Has an upcoming medical appointment

Comment (for any checked indicator, explain)

Mental Health

As much as possible, a value must be entered for each indicator (yes-no-unknown)

  Appears mentally disordered

 Reports having emotional or mental health problems

 Has history of treatment for emotional or mental health problems

 Has emotional or mental health problems requiring immediate attention

  Requires immediate medication for mental health problems

  Requires immediate special cell placement for observation and mental health interventions

Comment (for any checked indicator, explain)

Security

As much as possible a value must be entered for each indicator (yes-no-unknown)

  May be affiliated with organized crime/gang

  Concerns exist regarding incompatibles

  Current offence(s) involves explosives

  Has a history of arson/fire setting

  Case has attracted extensive media attention

 May be subject to deportation

  Has outstanding charges

 May be security literate

 Current offence(s) involves use of computer technology

 Protected or confidential information exists

 Previous institutional adjustment concerns exist

  May be gas reactant or unaffected by gas

 Physical disability may preclude the use of certain types of force

Comment (for any checked indicator, explain)

Suicide Risk

It is mandatory that a value be entered for each indicator(yes-no-unknown) as it will impact on the determination of the CMS group.

  May be suicidal/has suicidal thoughts

 Has plan for suicide

 Has previous suicide attempt(s) in the last 5 years

  Has had recent psychiatric/psychological intervention/hospitalisation

 Recent loss of relationship, death of a close relative/friend

  Excessively worried about problems

  Influence of alcohol or drugs, signs of withdrawal

  Shows signs of depression/hopelessness

Comment (for any checked indicator, explain)

ASSESSMENT OF RELEASE POTENTIAL

Potential Release Plans (APR cases serving a sentence of 4 years or less and other cases serving 3 years or less):

U.T.A.:

Support Systems :

Day Parole :

Residence Potential :

Support Systems :

Full Parole :

Accommodation :

Employment Plans:

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CONTACTS FOR POST-SENTENCE C.A.

(For all cases )

Name:
Relationship:
Contact Type:
Address:
Telephone:

Name:
Relationship:
Contact Type:
Address:
Telephone:

Name:
Relationship:
Contact Type:
Address:
Telephone:

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS : (Any other relevant information, i.e. officer's impression of the offender, offender's attitude regarding his conviction, particular situation, intent to appeal, education, previous convictions, unlawfully at large, etc.)

Completed by:
Title:
Date:

ANNEX 700-03C

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT CONTENT GUIDELINES

OFFENDER'S NEW SOURCE OF SUPPORT OR COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT UPDATE

WORK RELEASES (NOT INVOLVING A RETURN TO A CBRF)

To determine the extent of support for the proposal from the person or organization for whom the offender wishes to work or perform community service.

NOTE 1: Depending upon the nature of the work release (e.g. shovel snow vs. work in a factory) and its duration (e.g. one day vs. a 60 day program), it may not always be necessary to complete a formal Community Assessment. For some structured work release programs, information and supervision plans can be standard for all offenders and already available to the case management team. In some instances, it may be more efficient to use alternative methods to collect the information (e.g. telephone or person-to-person contact). The information obtained shall be recorded in a Community Assessment Report.

NOTE 2: Where the work release permits that the offender reside in a community-based residential facility, a Community Strategy shall be completed (see Annex 700-03D).

TRANSFERS (INTER-REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL)

PRIVATE FAMILY VISITS

NOTE: If not already initiated by the institution, the completion and signature of the forms CSC 530 and CSC 531, as well as required photographs, should be obtained from the participants. The rules and regulations of the Private Family Visits Program should also be explained to the participants.

POST-SUSPENSION (where a cancellation of the suspension is anticipated and the offender's release plan is in another area)

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