Topic: A Broader View / Should jails implement more rehabilitation programs?

But, if by something that you do (or did) – be that a rehabilitation program, cognitive restructuring, up-skilling or facilitating further education to increase the possibility of employment, therefore reducing the likely hood of crime – you, your family, your neighbours or friends were not victims of a crime – would you do it? I suggest your answer will be Yes – therefore when do you give up trying?

Topic: A Broader View / Should jails implement more rehabilitation programs?

Swartz, I am sorry if this seems like sales information, but I have taken it from our Ministry of Justice website as I thought it may answer your question.
CATS has been developed by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS – part of the UK Ministry of Justice) to provide a web based case management tool that can also meet all requirements for a European Social Fund audit.

CATS is already in operation throughout 98 UK prison establishments, 38 probation trusts and 5 community based organisations, but can be tailored for use internationally to reflect the particular requirements of any purchaser.

Functionality

The case management process can be broken down into three phases:

• Initial – allowing the case manager to assess the offender, determine barriers to employment, levels of ambition and aspirations. From this, an action plan is completed
• Progress – the action plan is put into practice, the case reviewed and any ongoing activity is recorded
• Completion – at the end of the case management process all outcomes and achievements are recorded

The CATS main screen offers users options for managing caseloads:

• Search – allowing users to locate any case to which they have access
• Reports – all reports in the system can be pulled into one menu. More in-depth analysis can be carried out using a SQL query tool
• Information can be extracted and combined with other data to allow complex data analysis
• Movements – allows users to keep track of prisoner movements from their area of work and identify if any caseload has been moved
• Diary – allows the user to plan their work effectively without opening individual cases

Connectivity

The details below are relevant to the use of the system within the prison service but CATS can be adapted for other case management scenarios.

CATS links to other Ministry of Justice IT systems and allows the client to pull prisoner information including names, addresses and release dates from the central HMPS database. Data systems are synchronised overnight and additions/amendments will be reflected on CATS. This allows for the management of releases and transfers between prisons.

The case manager in the originating prison is alerted to the transfer and this enables them to contact the receiving prison. In the receiving prison, the transferee is flagged on the allocation list as an existing participant.

Release dates are automatically brought over to CATS – presented as a countdown to release. The grading (low-medium-high) changes as the prisoner gets closer to release, enabling the case manager to prioritise cases and actions.

The status of each case is indicated by the Red, Amber, Green (RAG) analysis and status bars on the screen. The Action Plan is broken down into sections corresponding with the assessment, making it simpler to track the progress of the actions.

I hope this answers your qusetion, but please let me know if you require any additional information.

Topic: A Broader View / Should jails implement more rehabilitation programs?

In the UK we refer to rehabilitation programs as interventions. This includes any element of an individual that requires to be addressed to assist in reducing re-offending (recidivism) and incorporates such things as education needs; employment; drug and alcohol misuse; mental and physical health; attitudes and self-control; institutionalisation and life-skills; housing-accommodation on release; financial support and debt; and family networks.
That said – The fundamental main issue is measuring the success of this work and therefore the impact on reducing crime, but we have developed a software solution (called CATS – Case Assessment & Tracking System) for such a purpose and it will be interesting as time goes on to see what impact this works delivers. But the other key issue to any success is that the offender has to want to change their life as much as having to take part, otherwise it is a complete waste of valuable staff time, money & resources.