Audit at a Glance—Report 6—Preparing Male Offenders for Release—Correctional Service Canada

Audit at a Glance Report 6—Preparing Male Offenders for Release—Correctional Service Canada

What we examined (see Focus of the audit)

This audit focused on the timely delivery of correctional interventions to offenders in custody to prepare offenders for safe release into the community. This audit is important because Correctional Service Canada is mandated to assist offenders to successfully reintegrate into the community.

Why we did this audit

The mission of Correctional Service Canada (CSC) is to “contribute to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure, and humane control.” One of CSC’s main legislated responsibilities is to assist the reintegration of offenders into the community.

To support this reintegration, CSC provides correctional interventions for offenders who are in custody or under supervision in the community. In the 2013–14 fiscal year, CSC spent about $531 million, or 20 percent of its annual expenditures, on programs to rehabilitate offenders. Correctional programs are designed to reduce an offender’s risk to reoffend; they address criminal behaviours involving violence, substance abuse, and sexual abuse. Other programs are intended to improve offenders’ level of education and employability skills.

What we concluded

We concluded that Correctional Service Canada provided correctional interventions to offenders in custody to support their rehabilitation and safe reintegration into the community, but did not ensure that these interventions were provided in a timely manner. Most offenders did not complete their programs by the time they were first eligible for release. Although CSC has improved the timeliness of delivering correctional programs to offenders, it has not ensured that offenders were assessed for earlier release on parole. CSC has not developed guidelines to prioritize the delivery of other correctional interventions, such as employment and education. Nor has it developed structured tools to objectively assess the impact of these interventions on reducing an offender’s risk to reoffend and his readiness for safe release.

What we found

Assessing when to recommend an offender for early release  

Overall, we found that Correctional Service Canada officials were making fewer recommendations for early release to the Parole Board of Canada in the 2013-14 fiscal year than in the 2011–12 fiscal year. This is the case even for offenders who had been assessed as a low risk to reoffend. As a result, lower-risk offenders were released later in their sentence and had less time supervised in the community before their sentence ended.

This is important because the more time offenders have to gradually reintegrate into the community under CSC supervision before the end of their sentence, the more likely they are to reintegrate successfully. Furthermore, CSC data consistently shows that low-risk offenders who serve longer portions of their sentence in the community have more positive reintegration results. As such, the supervised release of offenders who have demonstrated responsibility to change contributes to public safety and the successful reintegration of offenders into the community. There are also significant costs to longer periods of incarceration, as it is three times more costly to hold an offender in custody than to supervise him in the community.

  • More offenders are being released directly from medium- and high-security penitentiaries

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should investigate the reasons for the increases observed in the waivers and postponements of parole hearings, particularly by offenders assessed as low risk.

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should assess the risks associated with offenders being released directly into the community from medium- and maximum-security institutions.

Delivering correctional programs  

Overall, we found that Correctional Service Canada has improved the timeliness of delivering correctional programs to offenders in custody. However, many offenders—about 65 percent in the 2013–14 fiscal year—still did not complete their programs before they were first eligible for release. We also found that many low-risk offenders were not referred to correctional programs while in custody, despite having identified risks to reoffend. CSC had not developed tools to objectively assess the benefits of other correctional interventions—such as employment and education programs, and interactions with institutional parole officers—in preparing offenders for release.

This is important because CSC can influence the successful reintegration of offenders through the timely delivery of correctional programs. CSC analysis indicates that offenders who participate in correctional programs during their time in custody are less likely to reoffend upon release.

  • Delivery of employment and education programs is not targeted or timely

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should develop guidelines to prioritize the timely delivery of its other correctional interventions, such as employment and education programs, to offenders, and structured tools to assess their impact on an offender’s progress toward safe reintegration into the community.

Determining offender risks upon admission into custody

Overall, we found that federal offenders were being assessed for their custody level and required correctional programs within required time frames upon admission, but these assessments are often based on limited information. In many cases, official documents, such as the offender’s updated criminal record, were not obtained by the time the intake assessment was completed.

This is important because Correctional Service Canada is required to use objective and verifiable information to assess an offender’s custody level and correctional plan to ensure the accuracy of these assessments.

  • Key documents needed to assess offender risk are not defined

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should clarify which documents are required, at a minimum, for the integrity of its initial assessment of an offender’s security level and the development of an appropriate correctional plan, and work with its partners to obtain these documents in a timely manner.

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should strengthen the controls that it has in place to ensure that assessments of an offender’s security level and correctional plan are updated as soon as official documents are obtained for offenders in custody.

  • Guidelines to demonstrate the impact of interventions on an offender’s identified risks are not clear

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should monitor the use of the Custody Rating Scale to ensure that an offender’s security risks are appropriately weighted and officers are properly certified in its use.

    Recommendation. Correctional Service Canada should develop structured tools to assess both static and dynamic risk factors to prioritize the interventions assigned to offenders that are most likely to bring about positive change and support their timely reintegration.

Entity Responses to Recommendations

Correctional Services Canada agrees with our recommendations, and has responded (see List of Recommendations).

Related Information

Report of the Auditor General of Canada
Type of product Performance audit
Topics
Audited entities
Completion date 24 November 2014
Tabling date 28 April 2015
Related audits

For more information

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The Auditor General’s Comments

Correctional Service Canada is not ensuring the planned and gradual re-entry of offenders into the community
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