Policy bulletin 592

Guidelines (GL) 720-1 – Guidelines for Education Programs

Commissioner’s Directive (CD) 726 – Correctional Programs

GL 726-1 – National Correctional Program Standards

GL 726-2 – National Correctional Program Referral Guidelines

GL 726-3 – National Correctional Program Management Guidelines

These policies and guidelines were amended following a series of recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General’s report entitled “Preparing Indigenous Offenders for Release”, on three main themes:

• releases into the community
• access to culturally specific correctional programs and interventions
• consideration of an offender’s Aboriginal social history.

The Criminal Risk Index (CRI) was implemented for correctional program referrals for all offenders sentenced on or after January 8, 2018, thus replacing the Revised Statistical Information on Recidivism Scale (SIR-RI) for non-Aboriginal men offenders and the Custody Rating Scale (CRS) for both women and Aboriginal men offenders. There will be no requirement to reassess correctional program needs for offenders sentenced prior to this date.

Additionally, significant changes were made to CD 726 and its associated guidelines to reflect the full national implementation of the Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM), as well as the implementation of the new Inuit Integrated Correctional Programs (IICP).

The following outlines the key changes to the policy and guidelines:

GL 720-1 – Guidelines for Education Programs

• Non-Aboriginal men offenders will now be prioritized for participation in education programs based on their reintegration potential. Inmates with low to moderate reintegration potential will be the priority candidates over inmates with high reintegration potential. Reintegration potential will not be considered when prioritizing women or Aboriginal men offenders for participation in education programs.
• An exception was added that inmates who have been inter-regionally transferred may be required to complete courses from a previously completed Adult Basic Education level in situations where there are significant differences between provincial education curriculums. This particularly applies to inmates transferred in or out of the Quebec region.

CD 726 – Correctional Programs

• Responsibilities of senior management at the national and regional levels have been amended to add a requirement to consult with their counterparts in the Women Offender Sector for matters relating to women offender programs.
• The responsibility of the Regional Deputy Commissioner to ensure availability of correctional programs for offenders has been strengthened to specify that they must also ensure the availability of Aboriginal and women offender correctional programs.
• The responsibility of the Institutional Head/ District Director to provide a secure and appropriate environment for correctional programs has been expanded to include providing a culturally appropriate environment for Aboriginal correctional programs.
• The definition of Aboriginal correctional programs has been updated to clarify that these programs include specific programming for Inuit men offenders.

GL 726-1 – National Correctional Program Standards

• New requirements were added for staff at the national and regional levels to consult with staff in the Women Offender Sector for matters pertaining to women offender programs.
• Responsibilities were added for the National Program Manager and Regional Administrator, Assessment and Interventions, to ensure that the established timeframes for initial training evaluations and quality reviews are adhered to.
• Clarification was added that National Correctional Program Trainers are also subject to the training, quality review and certification process.
• The responsibilities of the National Correctional Program Trainer were updated to reflect that they may be required to deliver initial correctional program training and/or conduct quality review of Correctional Program Officers/ Aboriginal Correctional Program Officers.
• Clarification was added that for programs where no train-the-trainer training exists, the Regional Program Manager/National Correctional Program Trainer will co-facilitate their first initial training with a certified National Correctional Program Trainer in lieu of a train-the-trainer training.
• A requirement was added for Regional Program Managers/National Correctional Program Trainers to complete Women-Centred Training prior to the delivery of initial training and/or conducting quality review for women offender correctional programs.
• New paragraph 45 specifies that when a certified Correctional Program Officer/ Aboriginal Correctional Program Officer performs quality reviews of other Correctional Program Officers/Aboriginal Correctional Program Officers through a developmental assignment at level, they will not conduct quality reviews of staff at the same site as their substantive position, or for known contentious cases.
• A new section entitled “Elder Involvement” was added, which outlines the minimum requirements for Elder involvement in correctional programs.

GL 726-2 – National Correctional Program Referral Guidelines

• The CRI will be the primary determinant of correctional program intensity for men, women and Aboriginal offenders. For male sex offenders, program intensity will be determined based on the combination of the CRI, Static-99R and Stable-2007.
• Pursuant to paragraph 10b, the Parole Officer must indicate on the Identification of Needs for Correctional Programs (INCP) screen in Offender Management System (OMS) whether or not an Aboriginal offender has a preference for Aboriginal-specific programs. If the offender does not wish to participate in Aboriginal-specific programming, the reason(s) must also be documented.
• Additional clarification with regard to restrictions for repeating correctional programs at the same or different program intensity level has been added.
• The referral criteria for the previous cadre of men offender programs have been removed from the guidelines, and new referral criteria for the IICP have been added. Information regarding the ICPM hybrid programs has also been added to the guidelines.
• New criteria for overrides to higher intensity have been added to paragraph 37 for men offenders. Offenders whose offence caused death or serious harm or who have risk factors present to believe they are likely to commit an offence causing death or serious harm may be overridden to moderate intensity. As well, sex offenders who have a diagnosis of a sex offence related paraphilia in a psychiatric or psychological assessment may also be overridden to moderate intensity.
• Clarification has been added that overrides from moderate to high intensity should only occur in exceptional cases where the criteria for gratuitous violence and/or persistent violence are met.
• The previous override criterion relating to Aboriginal offenders who score maximum on the CRS has been replaced by a new criterion in paragraph 40a pertaining to Aboriginal social history considerations, contextualizing risk, that warrant a reduction in program intensity level.
• For women offenders, clarification was added that they must complete an engagement program before participating in a main program.
• In paragraphs 57 to 61, the override criteria for women offenders from engagement only to moderate intensity have been revised. Clarification has also been added that overrides from moderate to high should only occur in very exceptional circumstances when the criteria for gratuitous and/or persistent violence are met. As well, criteria for overrides to lower program intensity have been added.
• Additional information on referrals to self-management programs for women offenders has been added in paragraphs 64 to 66.
• The list of violent offences for referral to a general violence prevention program that was in Annex C has been removed from the guidelines, as the previous cadre of men’s program is no longer offered.
• Annex B has been replaced by a new annex that provides guidance on combining the Static-99R and Stable-2007, based on the revised coding rules.
• The program referral tables in Annex C and D have been updated to reflect that referrals are based on the results of the CRI.

GL 726-3 – National Correctional Program Management Guidelines

• The responsibilities of the Correctional Program Officer Assessor have been updated to reflect that they will complete a draft of the Criminal History Record in order to obtain the CRI score. The Criminal History Record will be finalized by the Parole Officer as part of the Static Factors Assessment.
• The requirement to maintain an 18-month correctional program schedule has been changed to 12 months for greater consistency with annual program planning and reporting activities. As well, the requirements to create new continuous program schedules has been changed to once every 24 months, unless there are changes to the schedule information.
• Clarification has been added of the process for determining sex offender program needs for offenders who refuse to participate in the Stable-2007 assessment at intake.
• A requirement for the Parole Officer to complete the Identification of Needs for Correctional Programs (INCP) screen in OMS prior to finalizing the initial Correctional Plan for men offenders has been added under paragraph 46.
• Information regarding certificates for the primer portion of hybrid programs has also been added.

The policy and guidelines were developed by the Correctional Operations and Programs Sector, in collaboration with the Policy Sector, Women Offender Sector, and Aboriginal Initiatives Directorate. Full consultations were held with internal and external stakeholders.

Staff involved in correctional program development, management, monitoring, referrals, and delivery.

Roles and responsibilities are detailed in the policy documents.