Transforming Rehabilitation (TR)
Probation is full of acronyms, so before we start, to help guide you through, we have created a useful free document that you can download to help you throughout this course and whilst working within probation.
The probation service has always historically been owned and managed by the public. However, TR was an initiative developed by Government and saw the formation of the National Probation Service (NPS) managed by the public sector and the formation of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) managed by the private sector. We also saw the introduction of new legislation which will be covered in the next chapter. But how does the relationship work?
Effectively the NPS became responsible for:
•All MAPPA cases
•All High and Very High Risk of Serious Harm Cases
•Cases where there is exceptional public interest
•Where Risk Serious Recidivism (RSR) score is above agreed threshold
•Deferred sentences
•Foreign National Prisoners
•Most sex offenders
All other cases were and are managed by the CRC.
Note: In 2020 / 2021, there are plans for all offender management to be moved back into the public sector. The CRC’s will still exist but will soon only be responsible for: (a) Accredited Programmes (b) Unpaid Work (c) Offering Rehabilitation Activity Requirement interventions. With this said, the relationship is as described by this module until stated otherwise.
Despite the changes ahead, at present, each CRC is owned by a private company. There are a number of different companies managing different areas (e.g. Sodexo and Interserve). Each company operates their own delivery model but all have the same targets to meet. All CRCs sell their services (e.g programmes and unpaid work) to the NPS.
Currently, the NPS will determine at Court if the Service User (SU) should be allocated to the NPS or CRC. To do this, they will use a tool called a Case Allocation System or CAS. A CAS can however also be completed at:
(a) Point of a youth transitioning to adult services
(b) Transfers from outside the UK.
A CAS consists of three main parts. These are:
(1) A risk of serious recidivism tool
(2) Risk of serious harm assessment
(3) CAS criteria checklist.
It is not within the remit of this course to consider how to complete a CAS and RSR however if this is required of your role, your should talk to your manager in the NPS.
The Offender Journey
The journey an SU will travel through the justice system now is usually as follows:
(1) Convicted at Court
(2) PSR completed (mainly Oral Reports)
(3) SU is allocated to the NPS or CRC.
(4) Induction
(5) Meet allocated officer
(6) Complete risk assessment and sentence plan
(7) Sentence delivered
(8) Sentence completed.
At present, most cases are sentenced with s Pre Sentence Report (PSR). This will always still be prepared by a Court Officer of the NPS. However, whilst previously many of these reports have been written reports, they are now mostly oral reports. If you are planning on becoming a Court Officer for the NPS, here is a useful probation instruction that you can download:
Following sentence, all SU’s will receive a notification of when their induction is. When at this induction, SU’s will then be given an appointment to meet with their allocation officer. The officer will then work with the SU to complete a risk assessment and sentence plan that contains various objectives that need to be completed over the course of the sentence.
Both the NPS and CRC have to adhere to various targets and standards. To help, we have prepared some hints and tips booklets / downloads below.
To download your CRC hints and tips booklet click the link below:
To download your NPS hints and tips booklet click the link below:
