Commissioner's directive 750: Chaplaincy Services

Application

Applies to staff, contractors and Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) volunteers responsible for chaplaincy services in CSC institutions

Roles and Responsibilities

1. The Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, has the authority and responsibility to develop guidelines relating to the provision of religious and spiritual services to inmates.
2. The Head of Chaplaincy Services at National Headquarters will ensure:
   1. measures are in place to ensure all inmates can access chaplaincy services
   2. measures are in place to assess the consistency and quality of chaplaincy services provided to inmates
   3. an Annual Chaplaincy Service Delivery Plan is developed for each institution.
3. The Institutional Head will:
   1. ensure inmates in all areas of the institution have access to chaplaincy services and, correspondingly, Chaplains have access to inmates in all areas of the institution
   2. facilitate integration of Chaplains in the institution through their participation on interdisciplinary teams, within the parameters of professional practice, policies and procedures
   3. support the recruitment, screening, oversight, and security orientation of CSC volunteers involved in chapaincy, pursuant to Commissioner's Directive (CD) 024 - Management of Correctional Service of Canada Volunteers
   4. designate, furnish and maintain an accessible and safe interfaith sacred space, which is exclusively reserved for inmates' religious and spiritual activities pursuant to Guidelines (GL) 750-2 - Management of Interfaith Sacred Space
   5. ensure adequate accessible space, such as offices and rooms for chaplaincy management and private religious and spiritual care, is made available to Chaplains
   6. ensure inmates have access to religious supplies, resources and sacred items, per CD 566 12 – Personal Property of Offenders, GL 750-1 – Inmate Religious Accommodations, and GL 750-2 – Management of Interfaith Sacred Space
   7. ensure Healing Centres/Healing Lodges provide inmates with access to chaplaincy services upon request
   8. ensure Chaplains have access to offender information databases as appropriate (i.e., the Offender Management System), receive training for their use and are included on appropriate distribution lists so they are aware of inmate new admissions, transfers and releases
   9. designate an institutional manager, not below the Assistant Warden level, to work in consultation with Chaplains and Regional Chaplains to implement the Annual Chaplaincy Service Delivery Plan, and to provide other operational support as required.

Procedures

4. In addition to normal access to chaplaincy activities, CSC will offer chaplaincy services to inmates in response to crisis situations.
5. Upon request and as appropriate, CSC will provide chaplaincy services to inmates in situations which may involve:
   1. security and non-security escorted temporary absences
   2. hospitalization outside the institution
   3. participation in parole hearings.

Religious and Spiritual Practices

6. Inmate religious accommodation requests will be managed pursuant to GL 750-1 – Inmate Religious Accommodations, and GL 880-3 – Religious Diets.
7. Inmate religious and spiritual activities will be managed pursuant to GL 750-2 – Management of Interfaith Sacred Space.

Family Participation in Religious Celebrations

8. Every reasonable effort will be made to facilitate inmate contact with their faith community supports, including family, subject to operational and Correctional Plan considerations. The Institutional Head is responsible for determining the level of external participation, including by the inmate’s family, in religious or spiritual celebrations held at the institution.

Death of an Inmate While in Custody

9. Actions taken around the death of an inmate are governed by CD 530 - Death of an Inmate: Notifications and Funeral Arrangements. In addition, institutions may have relevant Standing Orders and the Institutional Head may request assistance of Chaplains with some of their responsibilities.
10. If the death is anticipated by Health Services, CSC will facilitate ritual requirements in accordance with Palliative and End-of-Life Care Guidelines or GL 800-9 – Medical Assistance in Dying. Prior to releasing the body, staff must check the inmate's religious affiliation on the Offender Management System and consult with chaplaincy to ensure the religious ritual requirements have been met.

Enquiries

11. Strategic Policy Division
    National Headquarters
    Email: Gen-NHQPolicy-Politi@csc-scc.gc.ca

Commissioner,

Anne Kelly

Annex A - Cross-references and Definitions

CROSS-REFERENCES

CD 024 – Management of Correctional Service of Canada Volunteers
CD 087 – Official Languages
GL 253-2 – Critical Incident Stress Management
CD 530 – Death of an Inmate: Notifications and Funeral Arrangements
CD 700 – Correctional Interventions
CD 702 – Indigenous Offenders
CD 703 – Sentence Management
CD 705-6 – Correctional Planning and Criminal Profile
CD 710-1 – Progress Against the Correctional Plan
CD 711 – Structured Intervention Units
GL 750-1 – Inmate Religious Accommodations
GL 750-2 – Management of Interfaith Sacred Space
CD 767 – Ethnocultural Offenders: Services and Interventions
CD 800 – Health Services
GL 800-9 – Medical Assistance in Dying

CSC Palliative and End-of-Life Care Guidelines

Memorandum of Understanding Between the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy (IFC)
United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules)
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, section 42
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, section 18

DEFINITIONS

Annual Chaplaincy Service Delivery Plan : a plan developed by the chaplaincy team at each site, in collaboration with institutional leadership, to communicate to administrators, staff and inmates the type of services to be provided at the institution, and a general schedule of the use of the sacred space for the upcoming year.

Chaplain: a qualified professional official representative (QPOR) of a religious or spiritual community who provides and/or facilitates religious/spiritual services and care in an institutional context (i.e., health care, military, correctional, police, fire). In the CSC context, as an external contracted resource, a Chaplain, while a QPOR of a specific faith tradition, is responsible to ensure the religious and spiritual needs of all inmates are met.

Chaplaincy Services: activities provided or facilitated by Chaplains in response to the religious and spiritual needs of inmates regardless of their beliefs. Chaplaincy services are delivered or facilitated exclusively by external persons designated as QPORs. These services are supported by Canadian faith communities, and aligned with the principles of restorative justice and successful community reintegration.

Crisis situations: mental health crises resulting from traumatic events, such as suicide or attempted suicide, grief due to death or loss, relationship difficulties and/or endings, parole denial, assault or other harm, and witness to, or experience of, trauma.

CSC volunteer: an individual who gives time without remuneration to risk-assessed, approved and supervised CSC volunteer activities. Refer to paragraph 1 of CD 024 – Management of Correctional Service of Canada Volunteers for a complete definition. Individuals that do not meet the requirements for a CSC volunteer are considered official visitors and their access to the institution will be per CD 566‑1 – Control of Entry to and Exit from Institutions and CD 559 – Visits.

Interfaith sacred space: a functional, hospitable and adaptable space, within the institution or on the institutional grounds, separate from Indigenous program space and Indigenous sacred grounds, that is designated exclusively for the purpose of individual or communal worship, celebrations, rites, meditation, prayer, reflection, study and other communal and individual spiritual observances for inmates of all or no religious or spiritual affiliation.

Operational support: includes input into the development and implementation of the Annual Chaplaincy Service Delivery Plan and activities required to ensure integration of chaplaincy services delivery within the institutional environment as described here, as well as per GL 750-1 – Inmate Religious Accommodations, GL 750-2 – Management of Interfaith Sacred Space, and the contract statement of work for Chaplains.

Qualified Professional Official Representatives (QPOR): individuals who are formally recognized, and approved, by their religious or spiritual community to perform services (rites, rituals, education, etc.) on behalf of that community.

Religious and spiritual practices: include religious rites and spiritual rituals as prescribed by a recognized faith group. Normally, inmates practice to the same level as what is available and normal in the community. These practices can also include individual religious or spiritual observances and practices based on freedom of conscience as upheld by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.