Case management and planning
People in prison are assigned a case manager and a case officer after they arrive.
The case manager
Case managers work with people in custody to facilitate services and deliver active and caring support to prepare them to live an offence-free life and to ensure a successful transition to probation colleagues or directly into the community.
Case managers work with everyone to develop a comprehensive phased rehabilitation and reintegration plan. On sentencing the case manager completes a comprehensive assessment interview with the person to identify their rehabilitation and reintegration needs. Using this information the case manager then develops a sequenced, prioritised plan to meet the identified needs (responses to risks) for that person.
The case manager then manages the plan proactively throughout the sentence to ensure the offender is able to complete the required interventions, often by assisting the offender to resolve barriers to rehabilitation (eg, increasing an offender’s motivation to attend treatment) or facilitating external services to meet their needs (eg, accommodation provider).
The case officer
The case officer a corrections officer who is the day-to-day face for offenders. Case officers motivate and support the prisoner to work towards achieving the goals in their offender plan.
What is an offender plan?
The offender plan provides the basis for managing and monitoring an offender’s needs. The case manager assesses the prisoner to identify the prisoner’s needs in the areas of:
- Offending needs
- Behaviour, attitude and compliance
- Education and work
- Health, well-being, lifestyle and support
- Housing, finance and victim related issues.
Offender plans and remand prisoners
Offender plans for remand prisoners focus on reintegration needs such as, accommodation, or community support for their transition back into society.