❓ Mr. Love raises concerns about resource insufficiencies and assessment delays impacting parole eligibility. The government outlines steps taken by the Department of Justice to address these issues, including creating new positions, centralizing assessments, and implementing new programs.
AnsweredQoN 942Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Chairperson's Overview in the Prisoner Review Board's Annual Report 2022/23, and I ask: (a) Noting the Chairperson's comments that "Insufficient resources have led to delays in assessments and flaws in the treatment programme evaluation process", what steps, if any, is the Government taking to address this insufficiency highlighted; and (b) Noting the Chairperson's comments that "We have observed an increasing concern regarding the number of offenders reaching parole eligibility without undergoing assessment for their criminogenic treatment needs" and that "This issue is significant as delays in assessments have led to parole denials for offenders in the previous year", What steps, if any, is the Government taking to address this issue highlighted by the Chairperson?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
30 November 2023
Responded by
Minister for Corrective Services
Response time
9 days
1.
(a-b) The Department of Justice is undertaking considerable action to meet demand for assessments and treatment programs in prisons, including:
· Permanently creating a dedicated Treatment Assessment Manager and two Treatment Assessment Supervisors;
· Permanently creating 11.5 FTE for performing treatment assessments through realigning internal positions across 2022/23;
· Establishing the first two regional treatment assessment positions in Albany and Bunbury to perform treatment assessments at those sites, which commenced in April 2023. The remaining regional prisons continue to be serviced for treatment assessments through Offender Program staff.
· Centralising treatment assessments state-wide into a single clinical area (January 2023) to drive business improvements and ensure appropriate prioritisation of the treatment assessment case load;
· As a temporary initiative, a further four treatment assessors and an additional treatment assessment supervisor position commenced in February 2023 and are running until December 2024 to assist with assessments and an increased sentencing workload;
· Appointing a Chief Psychologist to drive the program of works to build contemporary offender programs and develop and implement a continuous improvement framework for clinical practice;
· Continuing to run a rolling recruitment drive and social media campaign for new clinical staff, including Senior Programs Officers, Supervisors and Treatment Course Planning Assessors (Treatment Assessors) to fill vacant positions;
· Establishing a Clinical Learning and Development area to coordinate training opportunities for clinical staff, enhance senior clinical supervision and establish stronger pathways for students into clinical roles within the Department;
· Operating the Parole in-reach Program, a pilot initiative which supports parole eligible offenders, generally on short sentences, to access family and domestic violence or alcohol and other drug interventions at two metropolitan prison locations.
· Establishing an Individual Management Plan (IMP) Taskforce (November 2022) to drive improvements in the timely and effective delivery of assessments across Western Australia. The Taskforce has regularly met through 2023 to implement both short term and long-term initiatives and respond to prisoner assessment related issues as they arise.
It is also important to note that with increases in sentencing rates, remand periods and a high number of short sentences, it is expected that a proportion of prisoners denied parole were not eligible for an assessment. These prisoners may access the Parole in-reach Program (noted above).
(a-b) The Department of Justice is undertaking considerable action to meet demand for assessments and treatment programs in prisons, including:
· Permanently creating a dedicated Treatment Assessment Manager and two Treatment Assessment Supervisors;
· Permanently creating 11.5 FTE for performing treatment assessments through realigning internal positions across 2022/23;
· Establishing the first two regional treatment assessment positions in Albany and Bunbury to perform treatment assessments at those sites, which commenced in April 2023. The remaining regional prisons continue to be serviced for treatment assessments through Offender Program staff.
· Centralising treatment assessments state-wide into a single clinical area (January 2023) to drive business improvements and ensure appropriate prioritisation of the treatment assessment case load;
· As a temporary initiative, a further four treatment assessors and an additional treatment assessment supervisor position commenced in February 2023 and are running until December 2024 to assist with assessments and an increased sentencing workload;
· Appointing a Chief Psychologist to drive the program of works to build contemporary offender programs and develop and implement a continuous improvement framework for clinical practice;
· Continuing to run a rolling recruitment drive and social media campaign for new clinical staff, including Senior Programs Officers, Supervisors and Treatment Course Planning Assessors (Treatment Assessors) to fill vacant positions;
· Establishing a Clinical Learning and Development area to coordinate training opportunities for clinical staff, enhance senior clinical supervision and establish stronger pathways for students into clinical roles within the Department;
· Operating the Parole in-reach Program, a pilot initiative which supports parole eligible offenders, generally on short sentences, to access family and domestic violence or alcohol and other drug interventions at two metropolitan prison locations.
· Establishing an Individual Management Plan (IMP) Taskforce (November 2022) to drive improvements in the timely and effective delivery of assessments across Western Australia. The Taskforce has regularly met through 2023 to implement both short term and long-term initiatives and respond to prisoner assessment related issues as they arise.
It is also important to note that with increases in sentencing rates, remand periods and a high number of short sentences, it is expected that a proportion of prisoners denied parole were not eligible for an assessment. These prisoners may access the Parole in-reach Program (noted above).
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