PREFACE

In 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers completed their evaluation report on the Better Pathways strategy, the 2005-09 strategy of Corrections Victoria for women offenders and prisoners.

While noting significant limitations in relation to the data due to the two year time lag in measuring recidivism, the evaluation report was very positive about the Better Pathways Strategy, reaching the following conclusions:

Conclusion 1: Better Pathways has contributed to a reduction in the rate of imprisonment.

Conclusion 2: The responsiveness of the corrections system to women has improved.

Conclusion 3: Access to services has improved.

Conclusion 4: Some programs should be considered as key enablers, rather than initiatives in and of themselves.

Conclusion 5: Correlation to recidivism outcomes is unclear at this stage.

Conclusion 6: The range of tailored community and transitional support programs provided by Better Pathways have kept women out of prison.

The evaluator was unable to provide anoutcome analysis of program impact on offending/re-offending rates. This is attributed to insufficient data being available, particularly that related to individual women’s pathways through and between correctional programs.

A further limitation was that the evaluation was undertaken at a relatively early stage of the Strategy’s implementation due to the need to inform decisions about future funding. As a number of Better Pathways initiatives were operational for less than two years prior to the evaluation, insufficient time had elapsed to determine the Strategy’s impact on re-offending rates.

Responding to the evaluation

The evaluation report identified two areas for enhancing the effectiveness of Better Pathways:

  • Implementing a quantitative data set that tracks outcomes at the program level, and
  • A more coordinated approach across and between correctional programs through enhanced pathway planning linked to the Victorian Intervention and Screening Assessment Tool.

Corrections Victoria will address both of these areas to further enhance the success of the Better Pathways Strategy.

Statistical trends in women’s imprisonment will continue to be closely monitored. The period 2003-2008, which was the focus of the evaluation, saw a decline in rates for re-offending and imprisonment of women. However, more recently the number of women in prison has increased, largely due to increased numbers of women awaiting sentencing. This trend suggests that a key future challenge for Better Pathways initiatives will be to meet a growing demand for its services and programs.

Robert Hastings

Commissioner

Corrections Victoria

July 2009

Evaluation of the Better Pathways strategy, Corrections Victoria

Executive Summary

April 2009

Executive summary

Overview of Better Pathways strategy

The Better Pathwaysstrategy (Better Pathways, or, the Strategy) was launched in 2005 in response to a growing number of women entering the Victorian corrections system. For the purposes of the evaluation, a definition of the corrections system has been adapted fromthat used by the Productivity Commission in its Report on Government Services (ROGS).[1]

For the purposes of this report, the corrections system includes:

  • the sentencing courts
  • orders supervised by Community Correctional Services (parole and correctional orders)
  • women’s prisons
  • women on bail
  • support services and programs for women offenders and prisoners, both inside and outside prison (non-custodial sentences, parole and transition programs).

Between 1995 and 2005 the female prisoner population more than doubled, placing considerable strain on existing prison facilities. There was also concern about the short-term and ongoing impacts of female imprisonment or detention on the lives of their children.

Development of the Strategy was underpinned by consideration of:

  • the drivers of imprisonment and recidivism
  • key factors that cause women to offend and re-offend
  • examples of best practice in addressing these issues, both in Australia and overseas.

In addition, the Strategy provided an opportunity to address some key infrastructure issues at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (DPFC), the main women’s prison in Victoria. The increase in women prisoners had led to over-crowding, with adverse impacts on prisoner and staff morale, operational flexibility and delivery of key programs.

The Strategy was underpinned by a funding commitment of $25.5 million from the 2005-06 State Budget, for a range of programs over four years. These included:

  • infrastructure at DPFC
  • transitional programs, to assist women to adjust following release from prison
  • awareness raising programs, particularly aimed at the Magistrates’ Court and Community Correctional Services
  • diversionary programs.

The Strategy and its initiatives took a holistic approach, by addressing both the needs of women currently in the corrections system, and those at risk of entering or re-entering the system.

The two key objectives of the Strategy are to reduce the:

  • rate of imprisonment for women offenders
  • number of women who re-offend.

Review objectives and scope

The evaluation focussed on understanding the effectiveness and impacts of the Strategy and its programs.

The scope of the evaluation included assessing:

  • the Strategy as a whole
  • twenty two of 28 programs funded under Better Pathways, individually
  • combinations of programs that have been most effective.

The data presented in the evaluation represented that which was available during the development of the evaluation report (July 2008-April 2009). Key sources of data included Corrections Victoria (CV) and service providers.

There are significant data gaps and, as a consequence, the report does not contain as much quantitative evidence as is desirable.

Data creation and collection is an extremely resource intensive undertaking, and it is unfortunately not feasible for Corrections Victoria or service providers to collect some data. Examples of data that would have been useful include:

  • the number and type of referrals to a range of services at the prison before and after the new infrastructure was completed
  • for a sample of women, the capacity to track the number and type of service access and track the type of programs accessed to trends such as reoffending.

This lack of data regarding individual women’s pathways through and between multiple programs particularly limits our capacity to comment on the effectiveness of clusters of programs. Any comment contained in this report about the effectiveness of clusters of programs is based on qualitative evidence and opinion from stakeholders, rather than a detailed understanding of women’s use of and experience of multiple programs and activities throughout the duration of their connection with the justice system.

A further key weakness of the evaluation has been the lack of data available at a program level prior to the implementation of Better Pathways. This has required a greater reliance than originally intended on qualitative evidence from stakeholders, including women in prison and other offenders.

Literature review

A review of the literature in relation to reducing reoffending and recidivism in female offenders was conducted. A summary of the literature review is contained in Section 3 of the report.

While a large body of evidence exists in relation to initiatives that work in reducing reoffending and recidivism in the general adult offender population, evidence specific to the female offender population is still emerging. Much of the evidence on ‘what works’ with offenders to reduce reoffending comes from the United States (US) and Canada, and to a lesser extent the UK, with a large focus on the general adult offender population. There are difficulties in generalising from these studies, because it cannot be presumed that their conclusions automatically apply to the Australian context. It is also important to note that few studies have been focussed on the specific needs of female offenders. And this group is also impacted by small population sizes.

In summarising the evidence behind elements that may be associated with effective programs to reduce reoffending, the literature review described a set of seven principles. Two additional principles were considered where there was emerging, but limited, evidence. The principles are outlined in table ES.1 below.

Where Better Pathways initiatives were focused on the delivery of services to female offenders (i.e. as opposed to infrastructure or staff training alone) an assessment of the initiative was conducted. A limited and targeted validation of the evaluation team’s assessment occurred through interviews with selected CV stakeholders.

Table ES.1: Program development principles

Program development principles
Principle 1: A thorough assessment of offender risk and need should be conducted
Principle 2: High risk offenders are more likely to benefit from interventions than lower risk offenders.
Principle 3: Effective intervention needs to be intensive and target behavioural change
Principle 4: Behavioural programs must target factors related to offending (criminogenic needs) that can be changed; where possible targeting multiple needs
Principle 5: For successful treatment, ‘responsivity’ should occur between program staff, offenders and program settings.
Principle 6: There must be integrity and fidelity in program implementation and delivery.
Principle 7: Program delivery should include a relapse prevention component
Additional Principles (with emerging evidence)
Additional Principle 1: Programs need to be based on a cognitive-behavioural approach. Appropriate types of intervention are typically skills-oriented (designed to improve problem solving, social interaction and other types of ‘coping skills) and draw upon cognitive-behavioural and social learning methods
Additional Principle 2: Community based programs and transitional support are important in reducing reoffending

Findings

Conclusion 1:Better Pathways has contributed to a reduction in the rate of imprisonment

Better Pathways has supported the ongoing reduction in the rate of imprisonment for women. Both absolute numbers of women in prison and rates of imprisonment have been trending down during the last five years. In particular:

  • the number of women prisoners in Victoria decreased by 15.3 percent, from 281 at 30 June 2003 to 238 at 30 June 2008
  • the number of sentenced prisoner receptions decreased by 19.3 percent, from 408 in 2002-03 to 329 in 2007-08
  • the rate of imprisonment for women aged 18 and above decreased by 20.0 percent, from 14.3 per 100,000 of the adult female population at 30 June 2003 to 11.4 per 100,000 at 30 June 2008
  • the rate of remand receptions per 100,000 women aged 18 and above decreased by 7.3 percent, from 18.5 in 2002-03 to 17.2 in 2007-08
  • the number of women on parole orders has increased by 18.3 percent, from 109 at 30 June 2003 to 129 at 30 June 2008.

These trends show a consistently reducing use of prison for sentencing purposes. While these trends were evident prior to the implementation of Better Pathways, they have continued and strengthened since the Strategy was introduced.

Better Pathways has contributed to the reduction in imprisonment in several ways. It has provided a range of support for non-custodial prison options, and made such options more viable than previously. Examples of how Better Pathways achieved this include the transitional housing initiative (which allows more women to meet bail conditions), and the Child Care and Transport Subsidy (CCaTS) program (which assists women to meet the requirements of parole and community correctional orders).

Better Pathways has a strong focus on transitional services, to support women moving from prison to the post-release environment. Key transitional services, such asthe Women’s Integrated Support Program (WISP), target women at risk of reoffending and provide access to services such as temporary housing and health services. This is consistent with “what works” identified in the literature review.

Conclusion 2:The responsiveness of the corrections system to women has improved

The introduction of Better Pathways has enhanced the responsivity of the Victorian corrections system to the needs of women. Responsivity refers to the need to:

  • take account of the motivation, cognitive ability, age, ethnicity and other characteristics of each woman in designing a programmatic response for each offender
  • ensure there is a match between the learning style of an offender, the approach to treatment and staff characteristics.

This conclusion is strongly supported by evidence gathered in consultation with practitioners and women offenders e.g. 69 percent of women prisoners interviewed reported the new medical centre was an improvement in terms of quality of service, privacy and waiting times; in addition, the Victorian Intervention Screening Assessment Tool (VISAT) has been developed to ensure prison-based programmatic responses are directed to those identified with complex needs and at high risk of reoffending.

Many of the programs in Better Pathways have been designed specifically to meet the needs of women, rather than simply adapting program from the men’s system. Examples of these programs include:

  • CCaTS, a program designed specifically to assist women with childcare responsibilities and travel restraints, to enable them to keep appointments
  • bail transitional housing, which funds and quarantines 10 transitional houses for women only. Prior to Better Pathways there were around 40 houses available. These were, however, connected with the Court Integrated Services Program and CREDIT Bail, which are dominated by men.

In addition to the responsivity to women in the corrections system having increased, the general appreciation among practitioners of the need for a different approach for women offenders (from that of men) is also evident.

Conclusion 3:Access to services has improved

A key achievement of Better Pathways has been to improve access for women to services, both within and outside prison. In particular, access to in-prison services has been significantly enhanced through the infrastructure developments at DPFC and the concomitant increase in the scope and quality of services offered. Key evidence that access has improved includes:

  • the Marrmak unit – which has greatly enhanced the access of women at DPFC to acute and out-patient mental health services. Marrmak has increased thedepth of services and refined the service mix, which has led to reduced need to transfer patients to ThomasEmblingHospital
  • the Vietnamese Liaison Officer (VLO) – Vietnamese women reported that, as a result of this new role, they have greater access to programs and an improved understanding of program offerings and content. This view is supported by comments from prison staff about the effectiveness of the VLO
  • ProgramsBuilding – while there is no comparative data available regarding the number of programs that took place in the old programs building at DPFC compared to the new, or the number of women who benefitted, all stakeholders including the women interviewed agreed the new programs area has facilitated access, as the new building:

–layout allows for more privacy, and women are more likely to make appointments and attend them

–provides a waiting area as well as an orderly approach to managing the flow of appointments. This has also made women more likely to make and attend appointments

–has increased programs space, which has meant a greater number of sessions can be held simultaneously

–allows program sessions to be held without interruption by other prisoners, which has enhanced the quality of existing programs delivered in the ProgramsBuilding

–has provided opportunities for new programs

–has the space and facilities to deliver programs and interviews in different ways, such as using videos and conducting group sessions

  • Education Centre – a number of factors have enhanced access for women, including:

–the upgraded facility has enhanced the capacity to deliver accredited programs. In 2001-02 the Centre employed 5-6 staff and offered 7 programs, whereas it now employs 13 staff and offers 14 programs

–the new kitchen, which has provided opportunity for teaching of food preparation and handling

–a language centre, which offers tuition in literacy and English as a second language

–a better quality environment (less noisy, more space) which is more conducive to learning.

The women interviewed were overwhelmingly positive about the impact of the new infrastructure on access to, and quality of, services.

Conclusion 4: Some programs should be considered as key enablers, rather than initiatives in and of themselves

The review of Better Pathways identified several programs that would be better categorised as “enablers” rather than initiatives i.e. tasks that support the objectives of other programs, but which are unlikely to have easily identifiable outcomes in their own right. Programs that fall into this category include:

  • working with the judiciary to provide information to judges and magistrates on the effectiveness of sentencing orders for women offenders
  • sharing research on women offenders with defence lawyers.

Outcomes for both of these programs are difficult to measure. Their value lies in encouraging practitioners to seek alternative approaches offered through Better Pathways, e.g. encouraging the use of transitional housing as a way of obtaining bail for women, rather than remand.

Conclusion 5: Correlation to recidivism outcomes is unclear at this stage

It is too soon since the implementation of Better Pathways to determine definitively whether or not it has had a positive impact on reoffending among women. Measurement of the change in the recidivism rate has a significant time lag. For the evaluation of Better Pathways, the lags include:

  • the definition of recidivism, as noted above, is two years of not reoffending post-release or following the successful completion of an order
  • as many Better Pathways programs were implemented in the 2006 and 2007 calendar years, many of the women using them have either not yet been released, or have not yet been out of prison for two years.

The most recent data for recidivism is for women released from prison or completing orders in 2005-06. As many of these women would have had little or no opportunity to access Better Pathways programs, recidivism outcomes for 2005-06 do not reflect the impacts of the Strategy programs.

Conclusion 6: The range of tailored community and transitional support programs provided by Better Pathways have kept women out of prison

The definition of recidivism, availability of recent recidivism data and the short duration of the direct impact of programs, mean that the direct impact of Better Pathways on the overall recidivism rate cannot be measured at this point. However, there is strong evidence that initiatives which provide tailored support for the specific needs of women have kept women out of prison. The women supported by these support programs (WISP, CREDIT Bail Housing and Women 4 Work) are the most complex cohort, with multiple needs. The women offenders and prisoners interviewed identified accommodation and family reunification as their highest priorities. Health, education and employment were subsequent to these needs. Initiatives that focused on providing supports to women in these areas or facilitated contact with family had the greatest impact. Impacts include: