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Implementation of the Service Specification for “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” (transitional version)
This instruction applies to : / Reference :
All Prisons and Probation Trusts / PSI 14/2012
PI 08/2012
Issue date / Effective Date / Expiry Date
11 April 2012 / 1 April 2012 / 1 April 2013
Issued on the authority of / NOMS Agency Board
For action by / Governors/Directors of Contracted Prisons, Heads of Groups, policy leads. In this document, the term Governor also applies to Directors of Contracted Prisons
Contract Managers in Probation Trusts
For information / All staff in NOMS HQ
Contact / Miranda Wilkinson

Associated documents
-PI 14/2010 – Implementation of the Deliver Supervision Requirement Specification
-PI 15/2010 -Manage the Sentence for a Community Order and Suspended Sentence Order Specification
-PI 09/2012 Deliver Supervision on Licence Specification
-PI – Categorisation and Allocation
-PI 06/2012 Rehabilitation Services in Custody
-Implementation Guide for “MTCS: Manage the Sentence Pre and Post Release from Custody (transitional spec)
Audit/monitoring :
Public Prisons:
Deputy Directors of Custody (DDCs) will monitor compliance in their region with the mandatory actions set out in the associated Specifications.
Private Prisons
Monitoring of compliance will be through the standard contract management processes.
Probation:
Where there is an existing Probation trust contract in place Trusts are expected to comply with all aspects of that contract but actively work with the NOMS Agency to amend the contract in line with emerging new policy, mandatory actions and performance measures.
Compliance is monitored through Senior Community Managers.
Introduces amendments to the following documents: None

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CONTENTS

Section / Subject / For Reference by:
1 / Executive Summary
Background
Desired outcome
Application
Mandatory Actions
Resource Impact
Generic Roles in Custody
Outline of Case Management Responsibility
Screening of Offenders Sentenced to Under 12 Months / All staff
1.1 – 1.2
1.3 – 1.5
1.6 – 1.8
1.8 – 1.9
1.10
1.11 – 1.12
1.13 – 1.15
1.16
2 / Guidance for Staff
Generic Roles in Custody
Outline of Case Management Responsibility
Screening Offenders / All staff
2.1
2.3 – 2.5
2.6 – 2.10
3 / Strategic Links / All staff
3.1 – 3.6
4 / Service Elements / All staff
4.1 – 4.6
Annex A / Mandatory Outputs and Definitions / All staff

Executive Summary

Background

1.1Offender Management and Public Protection Group (OMPPG) policy leads have worked closely with colleagues from the Specifications, Benchmarking and Costing (SBC) Programme to develop specifications detailing the outcomes to be achieved in managing the custodial sentence of offenders. This instruction relates to the transitional version of the service specification for “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody”, and the Offender Management service outputs that will be commissioned in 2012/13. A further instruction will be published and issued in line with the planned implementation timescales for the full service specification for “Manage the Custodial Sentence” (MTCS).

1.2This transitional specification represents a step towards realising the delivery of the full MTCS specification, but it also allows sufficient time to ensure all supporting tools, including streamlined assessment are available in line with plans to implement the full version.

Desired Outcome

1.3The “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” Service Specification (transitional version) is to be delivered throughout England and Wales to achieve the mandatory outputs within it:

  • Prisons, Probation Trusts and other providersunderstand their responsibilities in delivering the specification
  • Staff responsible for delivering Offender Management understand and deliver the required outputs of the specification
  • Commissioners and providers monitor performance against the outputs in the specification document

1.4The Service Specification “Manage the Sentence; Pre and Post Release from Custody” (transitional version) is contained within the Service Specification document at:

1.5The key elements of change to existing practice during the transitionalperiod are:

Custody:

  • Extendcase management work (Offender Supervisor and Case Administrator roles) to all offenders sentenced to 12months or more in custody, and to all young adult offenders (aged 18-21) with more than four weeks left to serve, who are not already in scope for offender management.
  • Deliver screening and signposting activity to all offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in custody (except where previously screened on remand).
  • Identify indicative offender Tier using the tier identified by probation where available, or if not, by completing a short tiering matrix tool (available within the implementation pack issued to prisons alongside the specifications) within the first 5 days of custody – only for offenders sentenced to 12 months or more in custody, and to all young adult offenders (aged 18-21) with more than four weeks left to serve, who are not already in scope for offender management.

(The purpose of tiering offenders, is to clearly identify an offenders relative risk level and, therefore, the level of OM resource a prison or probation service should provide. It enables providers to differentiate levels of resources between cases using the principle, “Resources Follow Risk”)

  • Use the offender’s tier to differentiate OM service delivered to offenders
  • Deliver pre-release activity involving the Offender Supervisor, Offender Manager and offender to make preparations for all offenders being released on licence
  • Offender Supervisor and Offender Manager to take a proactive approach to addressing the recall and re-release of offenders. This includes prisons informing the OMwithin two days of an offender returning to custody.

Community:

  • Continue to deliver Offender Management for all cases previously in scope of Offender Managementwithin Phase 2 and 3 of the Offender Management Model (includes OASys initial and review completion, and SP review responsibilities).
  • Continue to apply existing Community Tiering Framework to all cases.
  • Deliver pre-release activity involving the Offender Supervisor, Offender Manager and offender to make preparations for all offenders being released on licence
  • Offender Supervisor and Offender Manager to take a proactive approach to addressing the recall and re-release of offenders.

Application

1.6This specification covers all sentenced offenders, however not all mandatory outputs apply to all sentenced offenders. Annex A lists all outputs within the service specification and which type of sentence offender they apply to.

1.7Responsibility for delivering the outputs of this specification are for all staff involved in delivering, managing and monitoring Offender Management activity.

1.8This instruction covers the period from April 2012,however, it will be replaced by an instruction covering delivery of the full “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” Service Specification, in line with timescales for developing the required supporting tools, including streamlined assessment.

Mandatory Actions

1.8Prison Governors, Directors of Private Prisons and Contract Managers in Probation Trusts must ensure that the management of sentences in custody and on post-release licence are delivered in accordance with the“Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” Service Specification and this Instruction by end October 2012.

1.9Staff commissioning and managing the prison sentence therefore must ensure that the outputs in the service specification are met.

Resource Impact

1.10The direct service costs & assumptions paper and cost spreadsheet can be found at:

Contacts

Further information can be obtained from:

Offender Assessment and Management Section

Offender Management and Public Protection Group

Email:

Tel: 0300 047 5595

(signed)

Digby Griffith

Director of National Operational Services, NOMS

Guidance for Staff

Generic Roles in Custody

2.1The operating model for the “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” (transitional version) Specification is based on an effective model involving Case Administrators (CAs) in custody fulfilling a generic role, and moving away from specialisms. Whilst this is not mandatory, a CA delivering all administrative tasks for a specific case load has been shown to increase efficiency and effectiveness when staff have fully adapted to the new roles. This means CAs will need to be trained to competently deliver all processes, including:

  • Sentence Calculations
  • HDC/ROTL processes
  • Parole processes
  • OASys Clerk duties
  • Reception and Discharge processes
  • Public protection processes
  • Sentence Planning processes

2.2In moving towards generic roles, prisons need to ensure they have considered who is responsible for updating the ViSOR record and the sources of information which will be drawn on to do this.

Outline of Case Management Responsibility

2.3The Service Specification requires the extension of case management responsibility to all sentenced offenders with the exception of adult offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in custody. For this requirement, case management means each prisoner will have either an Offender Supervisor or Offender Manager responsible for the management of the sentence through a single sentence plan (dependent on whether they are in or out of scope of Phase 2/3 of the original Offender Management Model). The day to day delivery of the aims of that plan will be undertaken by the Offender Supervisor with support from the Case Administrator.

2.4The introduction of the extended determinate sentence and linked amendments to the management of existing IPP will lead to the introduction of compulsory sentence plans for these offenders. In these cases, sentence plans must be enforced. Further guidance on the implications of this will be provided when this is formally introduced.

2.5Management responsibility for cases under the “Manage the Sentence: pre and Post Release from Custody” (transitional version) Specification, is divided by prisoner type in the following way:

  • Offenders in scope of Phases 2 and 3 of the original Offender Management Model – Community Offender Managers
  • Sentenced to under 12 months – Custody-based OMU (screening and signposting only)
  • Sentencedto 12months+ - Custody Offender Supervisors
  • Lifers – Custody Offender Supervisors (Lifer Mgmt trained)

2.6Community Offender Managers must still be allocated to all cases (where they are subject to release on licence) at sentence commencement stage, and ensure engagement in pre-release tripartite activity to enable a smoother transition from custody to community.

Screening Offenders

2.7This requirement covers adult offenders sentenced to less than 12 months, and young adult offenders (18-21) with 4 weeks or less still to serve.

2.8The specification requires all offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in custody to have a screening, except for those that have already had a screening whilst on remand. The type of screening to be used is not specified. Currently,a number of prisons already screen short sentenced offenders to identify need. Many different screening tools are used, including:

- OASys Basic Custody Screening (BCS)

- LISART

-Passport

2.9For the purposes of delivering the transitional specification, any existing screening tools are acceptable, and prisons should continue to use what they have currently, or they should use one of the above listed tools (at 2.8).

2.10Following the screening of an offender within the first five days of custody, the offender must be sign-posted to a provider able to work with the offender on the identified priority need.

2.11Further guidance information on the key elements of the specification is available from the Implementation Guidance Document circulated alongside the publication of the specifications.

Strategic Links

3.1The “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” (transitional version) Specificationhas direct links and overlaps with other specifications. These strategic links are important to ensuring a whole system approach to managing an offender’s sentence. The following specifications have a particular relevance and should be referred to when planning for implementation:

-PI 14/2010 – Implementation of the Deliver SupervisionRequirement Specification

-PI 15/2010 -Manage the Sentence for a Community Order and Suspended Sentence Order Specification

-PI 09/2012 Deliver Supervision on Licence Specification

-PI – Categorisation and Allocation

-PI 06/2012 Rehabilitation Services in Custody

-PSI 12/2010 – Prolific and Other Priority Offenders

3.2The strategic purpose of the “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” Specifications (transitional from April 2012, and the full specification to be published in due course) is to enable NOMS to deliver an effective, rational and consistent Offender Management service for all sentenced offenders to reduce reoffending. Offenders will be managed to a level that reflects their risk of serious harm and likelihood of reoffending, rather than based on their sentence type and any defined scope of previous models.

3.3There will be a change to the current practice model in that the OMU in prisons must be the central hub, and focal point of all activity relating to the sentence whilst the offender is in custody, for the model to be effective and deliverable.The operating model is based on an effective approach, making the roles within the OMU Hub generic in that they deliver all processes to a caseload of offenders, rather than work in silo specialisms.

3.4The intention is that each sentenced prisoner will have asingle plan covering all aspects of their sentence. Other providers of services to offenders or interventions aimed directly at behavioural change will work to this overall plan. Their involvement with each offender should be driven by assessed individual need and risk rather than a blanket service to all (although some services, such as healthcare, will remain universal).

3.5This transitional specification represents a step towards realising these strategic links, but full benefits will not be realised until the full “Manage the Sentence: Pre and Post Release from Custody” specification is implemented from April 2013.

3.6Further information and guidance can be found within the Implementation Guidance document circulated alongside the publication of the specification.

Service Elements

(Note: for more detailed information on service elements, please refer to the specification documents at

4.1Those elements which are universal to all offenders are:

  • sentence calculations are completed
  • public protection policy and practice requirements are complied with
  • assessments and reviews are completed for ROTL where applicable
  • release from custody is managed – early release is applied for where suitable (e.g. HDC or Early Removals Scheme for foreign nationals), arrangements are made for release (including licence preparation where appropriate

4.2Those elements which are universal to offenders sentenced to 12 months or more (including all indeterminate sentence offenders) and young adult offenders (aged 18-21 with more than 4 weeks left to serve) during the transitional period from April 2012 are:

  • The sentence is managed end to end – the case is managed by an offender manager/offender supervisor (depending on whether the offender is in scope of Phase 2/3 of the original Offender Management Model), the offender is engaged in his/her sentence plan, public protection arrangements are met, data is provided for performance monitoring purposes
  • The sentence is commenced – the case is created on relevant information systems and allocated to an offender manager/offender supervisor, and the offender is made aware of the sentence requirements, confiscation orders are identified and processed as required
  • An assessment and sentence plan are prepared – risk of serious harm, likelihood of reoffending and criminogenic needs are identified using prescribed assessment tools, a plan is prepared and the offender is assigned to appropriate tier of service
  • The sentence plan is implemented - agencies are notified, the offender is referred to services as appropriate and the assessment and plan are reviewed as needed
  • Where a sentence is subject to compulsory sentence plans, through the forthcoming changes for IPP and the new Extended Determinate sentence, sentence plan requirements must be enforced.
  • The custodial term of the sentence is managed – the offender manager is informed when a prison transfer takes place,
  • Release from custody is managed – parole is considered, third parties are informed of the termination of NOMS involvement where the sentence has ended

4.3Those elements which are universal to all offenders sentenced to less than 12 months (except those previously screened whilst on remand) are:

  • Prepare an agreed screening output, and signpost to appropriate priority need provider (screening only required where one was not completed whilst offender was on remand)
  • Exchange of relevant information and signpost to lead professional, Integrated Offender Management (IOM) approach or Prolific and other Priority scheme (PPO) on release.

4.4For cases which will be subject to a licence period post-release, the following elements apply:

  • Licence management is commenced – agencies are notified, the pre-release plan is reviewed and additional assessments are completed if necessary, the public is protected through compliance with inter-agency procedures and protocols
  • The offender is monitored and compliance promoted – enforcement action is taken as needed, recalled offenders are prepared for re-release
  • The sentence plan is reviewed and the case is terminated – a final review of outcomes takes place, third parties are notified of the termination of the case.

4.5Those service elements which are contingent upon offender characteristics, events or circumstances are:

  • Inter-agency public protection procedures
  • Case transfer
  • Enforcement

4.6Elements out of scope of this specification (but covered by other specifications):

  • Remand Prisoners (covered by the Rehabilitation Services Specification)
  • Immigration, repatriation and removal services
  • Victim Liaison work
  • Staff training and supervision
  • Reception, First Night and Induction processes
  • Health Screening on Reception
  • Pre sentence assessment and report preparation for court work
  • Prisoner escort form process
  • Initial observation and categorisation is complete
  • Immediate and priority offender needs are identified and dealt with or communicated to OMUs
  • Cell Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) to be completed and communicated to residential and OMU staff
  • Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) assessments are completed where needs are identified and communicated to residential and OMU staff
  • Pre-release practical arrangements – clothing, personal effects, escort to gate, etc.

PSI 14/2012 – PI 08/2012UNCLASSIFIEDISSUE DATE 11/04/2012

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Annex A

Outputs

The outputs relating to each service element are listed below and a definition provided where the output is not sufficiently clear.