Episode 2: Maximum to minimum, and everything in between

Kirstan: What happens after an inmate is sentenced? What's a security classification? And how do inmates actually transfer from one facility to another? These are all great questions that we're going to explore in this episode.

Welcome to Prisons/Inside Out, a podcast by the Correctional Service of Canada. Last episode, we went back to basics with CSC 101. We went over how our correctional system works and explored the different types of prisons that we manage. This week, we're taking a different approach. On today's episode, we're going to take a deep dive into all things security classifications and inmate transfers.

While security classifications are fundamental to our correctional system, they can be a bit complex to learn about. So, let's unpack them.

Kory Abrams is the Assistant Warden of interventions at Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba. Kory, can you tell me a bit about your title and what you do and where you work at CSC?

Kory: My title is Assistant Warden Interventions, I'm responsible for intake assessment, Indigenous initiatives, the Structured Intervention Unit and minimum security. You could consider me, I suppose, a department head. I supervise the middle managers that look into that, look after those areas.

Kirstan: I was wondering if you can explain once somebody gets sentenced through the courts, what happens next when they come into the Correctional Service of Canada’s custody?

Kory: Well, what happens typically is immediately after sentencing, the offenders are transported to the federal institution that's closest to where they were sentenced. In our case, in Manitoba, anybody sentenced in Winnipeg or the surrounding area would come to Stony Mountain Institution. And once they arrive at the institution, we immediately begin an interview process to determine needs, safety concerns, a need for maybe medications or anything else the offender might want to talk about. That interview process happens immediately when they walk in the door, and we determine what sort of identification they have with them and what their sentence entails. And then they're placed into an intake assessment unit. Typically, when we place somebody into the intake assessment unit, it's to assign them to a case management team that can look after their initial assessment and research all of their background and come up with a correctional plan.

Kirstan: How are these security classifications assigned? Once they go through that process of intake, how does that how does that work?

Kory: Well, the parole officer that's assigned to the case completes a very thorough... It's called an intake assessment, and it's a thorough review of the offender's history. It takes place over the first few months of them living in the institution. Typically, it takes all of this into account to develop what's called a correctional plan. The correctional plan is a road map, if you will, to guide the offender and their case managers through the sentence. It involves an assessment of what type of correctional programing might be necessary, where the areas of focus should be in terms of mitigating risk and ultimately guiding the offender towards conditional release.

Kirstan: So they've been there for a few months. They're assessed. And then what happens?

Kory: When the parole officer has gone through all of the intake assessment, like I just described, criminal profiling of the correctional planning and what's required. We're also taking into consideration things like that offender's behavior, over those few months and what the history looks like, possibly from information gleaned from previous incarceration periods and that sort of thing. And the parole officer ultimately makes a recommendation to the warden. What security level is appropriate. And which institution across the country might be the most appropriate placement option for that.

Kirstan: You've explained how CSC decides which institution to place an inmate to. And if you have to, you know, find a site that's more appropriate across the country. What if an inmate says: “I'd like to go to Stony Mountain. That's the only place I'd like to be.”?

Kory: Well, and that's certainly taken into consideration. Typically, we would hear that because maybe the offender has family in Winnipeg, for instance, and that's a strong consideration that we take into account when we're determining placement location, because we want to ensure the offenders are residing in a place that's as close as possible to their community supports. Naturally, that's something that plays a huge, huge role in our reintegration efforts. And so we want to obviously promote that. Another reason why an offender may request a specific institution is just based on how our national population management plays out. And that has a lot to do with safety concerns and involvement in security threat groups, because as I'm sure you can imagine, various security threat groups maybe don't get along with each other. And so that someone's involvement in a particular security type group may preclude their placement to certain institutions just based on the inherent safety concerns that could exist for them there.

Kirstan: And you talked about when an offender wants to be placed in a certain location, it could be for family reasons. But what about the victims? Say a victim lives in that area and they have an issue with the person being in their community?

Kory: Yeah, that's actually a really good question because we work very closely with the Victim Services Unit. And in doing so, we are always advising Victims Services Unit when we're looking at any sort of placement options, any type of movement between security levels or between institutions. And so that's a huge, huge part of our decision-making model in determining whether or not a place like would be appropriate given the rights as the victims in the communities that are our institutions exist in.

Kirstan: I was out in B.C. a few weeks ago and I noticed that there were quite a few ranges that couldn't be in the yard at the same time or couldn't mingle. How does that work practically when you work in an institution?

Kory: Well, it certainly can be complicated, and it's definitely a challenge we experience at Stony Mountain Institution. We have developed very intricate operational routines for the institution to ensure that everybody that's living there is getting equal access to time outside and recreational activities, access to program, things like that, while still maintaining a safe environment and making sure that our movement within the institution is happening in a safe way and that certain populations aren't mixing. So, it certainly is a challenge and it's something we pay a lot of close attention to in constantly readjusting our operational routine to ensure that it's happening in the most efficient way possible.

Kirstan: And is that at all levels of security?

Kory: It is, and it's a consideration at all levels of security. But I will say that in minimum security, it's less of a consideration because minimum security is one giant open population. And, you know, as I'm sure you can imagine, we have a certain set of expectations from those offenders in minimum security. It's really an expectation that security threat group dynamics, rivalries, those types of things are left at the door. If you're living in minimum security, it's a strong expectation that you're not participating in those sorts of dynamics. And we find that our minimum-security population is very manageable in that regard because of all of the assessment that goes into the process in determining eligibility for minimum security from the outset.

Kirstan: We know that, you know, a gradual progression from different levels of security is key for offender reintegration. Can you explain when and how an inmate security classification is changed to allow for that eventual release if, say, they are eligible eventually for a release?

Kory: You're absolutely correct. It's all about stepping stones and gradual reintegration strategies. So the case management team is very, very involved in ensuring that cases and offenders are moved gradually to lower and lower security levels in preparation for their eventual release into the community. It's in our best interest as working inside of prison. It's in the offender's best interest as part of his own or her own reintegration process, and it's in the public's best interest, quite honestly, to have a process in place, allowing an offender to gradually integrate and adapt to less and less restrictive security levels as they make their way out into the community.

Kirstan: Yeah, and you remind me of a story I heard from a fellow who was previously incarcerated, and he actually now works for an organization called Seven Step (Seventh Step Society of Canada) to help other inmates reintegrate. But he was saying that when he went through different security levels and then eventually was released at his mother's home, he opened the fridge and he just stayed there staring at the food because it had been so long since he'd seen a full fridge. And these little things we kind of take for granted. You know, you learn new behaviors, new routines, but then when you're in the community, sometimes the little things can be a bit of a shock.

Kory: At our minimum security unit, one of the key ideas there is that the guys purchase their own food. They're responsible for their own shopping lists. They're responsible for their own refrigerators in their houses, and they work together in small groups. You know, there's maybe six or eight offenders that live in a house together, and they're responsible for budgeting and purchasing their groceries and sharing their food and cooking together and eating together. And these are things that help prepare a person to reintegrate back into society where you are responsible for yourself. And we can expect that they are supported in learning these skills and relearning these skills as they transition out.

Kirstan: Yeah, and it certainly does take a village. I know we work with a lot of partners who work very diligently to help bridge that gap from the institutions to the community. And I just want to talk a bit more about, you know, because in the past months we've heard a lot about reclassification of inmates and transfers. And I was just wondering if you can explain, like different types of transfers, just trying to get a mental picture for how that works and how that rolls out?

Kory: Well, there's a number of reasons why we may need to transfer offenders between sites in between provinces even. Typically, you know, we discussed a lot about population management and safety concerns and things like that. And those will often lead to transfers. But we also transfer offenders for court purposes. For instance, when offenders need to appear a court or when offenders need access to a certain type of maybe specialized programing will affect transfers for that purpose as well and help an offender get access or earlier access to a program wherever we can.

Kirstan: Wonderful. And what happens when an inmate is transferred to an institution that's far away? Do we do we drive them there or do we do we put them on a flight? How does that work? How do we keep the public safe?

Kory: Well, what we do run an inter-regional flight, meaning that when we are transferring offenders over long distances, we have chartered aircraft that are security escorts, and the offenders are transferred from institution to institution across the different regions in the country. And that occurs maybe every month or every month and a half, but we also have more frequent transfers called ground transfers, and we will use CSC escorts for that as well. You know, secure vans and vehicles like that just to get a little bit more frequency in order to help support the reasons why different offenders might need to transfer to different institutions.

Kirstan: Okay, that's great. So they're not going to be on a commercial flight with Mom and Pop.

Kory: They will not, no. Those flights are transferred. And like I said, they are security escorts. So we actually put quite a few staff on those flights as well. And they're very they're very heavily coordinated. They're very tightly coordinated and they're very planned through the year, in fact. So we know the scheduled dates of those flights well in advance. And we're able to plan our transfers accordingly.

Kirstan: Great. And that should certainly help with, you know, public safety and people feeling reassured that there's careful planning and coordination. I was just wondering a bit about victims in all of this, because, you know, sometimes an offender has committed some very, very serious crimes and victims that live around or in the province or in the territory of where somebody is located and then, you know, they're transferring and they're going to be kind of on route somewhere. How does that work in terms of making sure those victims are notified and comfortable with all of this and have a say in the process?

Kory: Well, as I was explaining before, too, we do work very closely with the Victim Services Unit and they're a hugely valuable partners to us, because we are able to communicate with Victim Services Unit when we're planning transfer and we provide them with quite a bit of notice ahead of transfer wherever possible, just so that they can affect their process in notifying victims of what the plans are, locations, those sorts of things. And registered victims do have an opportunity to discuss their concerns with the Victim Services Unit, and we definitely take all of those concerns into account when we're making our decisions based on public safety, which is our primary goal in corrections. And what we're what we're here to do is to protect public safety and as part of public safety that naturally includes all of the victims, you know, the victims that live across this country.

Kirstan: Yeah. And sometimes victims don't know that at any time, you know, they can resubmit a victim statement, which I think is important because sometimes an individual is incarcerated for 20, 30 years. And, you know, that original those original concerns may have evolved logically, you know, over time. And so just something to note there that so we accept them and we do want that victim involvement to do proper planning and decision making.

Kory: Absolutely. And I actually I think it was not long ago that the victims were heavily, heavily considered in lawmaking. And so a lot of the victims rights have been expanded. And I think that's a really good thing for victims to be educated on what their rights are and to be in regular contact with our Victim Services Unit, because there's a lot that these victims are entitled to and should take advantage of just for their own peace of mind and for their own personal safety.

Kirstan: Great. And the yeah, of course, that Canadian Victim, Bill of Rights is super important and something that we live by in our work. Well, Kory, thank you so much. This was a really good explanation.

Kory: Well, thanks so much for having me. I really am excited about this podcast and what we're doing here. It's great to be a part of it, and I appreciate. I appreciate the phone call.

Kirstan: Wonderful. Thanks. Have a great day.

Kory: You too. Take care.

Kirstan: This brings us to the final part of the episode called Common Corrections. At the end of each episode, Common Corrections looks at a common misconception that Canadians may have about federal prisons in Canada. We'll do our very best to debunk the myths and set the record straight. This episode of Common Correction is… Is it true that there are no fences or barbed wire around minimum security prisons?,

While it's true that in general, minimum-security institutions are not surrounded by fences and barbed wire, there is a defined perimeter that inmates must respect. They are still in prison after all, and cannot come and go as they please. In fact, leaving the institution without prior authorization is considered an escape. As Kory explained, inmates in minimum security institutions are considered a lower risk to public safety.

This gradual transition helps inmates learn and demonstrate more responsible behaviors for their eventual return to our communities, for those who are eligible for release. Research supports that having inmates get used to living in a community setting, contributes to their safe and successful reintegration.

Do you have an idea for the next Common Correction? What's something you've always wondered about federal prisons? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook at the Correctional Service of Canada. A big thank you to today's guest, Kory Abrams.

This has been a production of the Correctional Service of Canada. And I'm your host, Kirstan Gagnon. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.