Offender Management
The Department is responsible for managing offenders serving their sentences in both custody and in the community.In both these settings, the Department aims to reduce rates of re-offending by effectively managing offenders from their first point of contact to the completion of their legal orders and their transition to law-abiding community living. We call this process: Throughcare.
Throughcare has two central tenets:
- All information about an offender's management is recorded and accessible at all stages of their contact with the Department enabling a whole of sentence approach to the offender's case management
- Offenders access appropriate community services while under the supervision of the Department and transitional support on completing their sentences in regard to income, employment, housing, health care and family connections.
To support this second requirement, the Department has strategic relationships across the community to meet the health, employment and accommodation needs of offenders under supervision in the community and for those being released from both community-based and custodial supervision.
Offender Management in the Community
The Department's priorities in managing offenders in the community are to effectively supervise offenders in the community while working towards successful order completion, and promote successful re-settlement through partnerships with other agencies and community groups.
Offender Management in Custody
The Department's priorities in managing correctional centres are to achieve safe custodial environments, meet the care needs of those in custody, and promote effective participation in offender programs.
Offender Policy
To ensure offender management is in line with corporate goals, and compliant with legislation and New South Wales Government policy, the Department has developed four-year Corporate Plans. These are underpinned by an Operations Procedures Manual and a Community Offender Services Policy and Procedures Manual, which provide offender-related policy, procedure and service frameworks.
Offender Services and Programs
To reduce recidivism, the Department offers a range of support services and offence-related transitional and resettlement programs to offenders whose needs are identified through a number of assessment processes.
Community Engagement
Community engagement is extremely important to the Department. Almost all our operations touch the community at some level: with correctional centres boosting local employment; community reparation providing unpaid work; partnerships with remote communities maximising the use of resources in these areas; and the Community Funding Program assisting the integration of released offenders.
Corrective Services Industries (CSI)
CSI is a Government Business Enterprise and an organisational unit of the Department of Corrective Services, which allows inmates to participate in work programs to assist their rehabilitation and enhance their opportunity for post release employment. A large amount of CSI budget is directed to offset the Department's budget.
Restorative Justice
The Department's Restorative Justice Unit (RJU) addresses the needs of victims of crime and encourages custodial and community offenders to face up to the consequence of their offences, thereby reducing the likelihood of their reoffending.