As was indicated in a previous web article, included in the current cuts announced as a result of the Conservative Government’s Deficit Reduction Action Plan was an increase in the number of offenders CSC Parole Officers must supervise.
For those members working within the Community Correctional Centres, the ratio has been changed to 1-13. Case management within the institutions has been mandated to change the case load ratio within minimum institutions to one Parole Officer to 25 inmates; medium will be one Parole Officer to 28 inmates and maximum will be one Parole Officer to 30 inmates.
Consultation on how this increase in workload can occur, given that our members consistently work countless hours of unpaid work to get the job done, continues. In an effort to bring some type of sanity to the situation, management has agreed to bring institutional and community parole officers to specific locations to deal with the institutional, community and CCC PO roles and responsibilities within case management activities. A review of case management Commissioner’s Directives must be performed to ensure that the PO work targets these when initiating and managing correctional intervention processes throughout the offender’s sentence, and ensure that community supervision is based on risk, need, responsivity and professional judgement. The purpose of these meetings will be to validate how a Parole Officer’s duties and responsibilities meet the above and, if not, could they be performed by another position within the case management group, or even eliminated completely.
USGE wants to be clear that this is not a rewrite of the work description, but rather a rewrite of the policy that governs work loads so that the new ratios can be achieved without overburdening our members more than they already are!
Meetings will be taking place as follows:
- Abbotsford, BC – October 30-31, 2012
- Kingston, ON – November 13-14, 2012
- Edmonton, AB – November 20-21, 2012
- Winnipeg, MB – November 27-28, 2012
- Moncton, NB – December 4-5, 2012
- Laval, QC– December 11-12, 2012
- Ottawa – To be determined.
USGE National President, John Edmunds and CSC Deputy Commissioner, Ross Toller will co-chair all meetings. Discussions between the National President and parole officer participants will occur prior to the joint meeting so that our members are aware of the issues and their obligations during these consultation sessions. Following these regional meetings, a National committee will be struck to consult and finalize the proposed policy changes.
For those parole officers who will not be in attendance at the regional or national meetings, you are encouraged to pass your comments, concerns and suggestions to your local president, your regional vice-president. You can also direct your comments to the USGE National Office using the online form.
As we learn more about how changes will affect those working in the Community, we will immediately post that information on this site.