ARCHIVED - Correctional Service Canada

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Minister's Message

As Minister of Public Safety, I am pleased to present the Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) Departmental Performance Report to Parliament for the period ending on March 31, 2009.

The Department of Public Safety is responsible for the delivery of services and activities that directly contribute to public safety, including: policing and law enforcement; conditional release of offenders; emergency management; national security; crime prevention; the protection of our borders; and correctional services.

Fiscal year 2008-2009 was an exciting year at CSC. CSC continued working toward transforming the way it does business and its operations to improve public safety results for Canadians. In highlighting progress made in key priority areas over the past fiscal year, this report underscores the integral role that CSC played in enhancing public safety. This report also demonstrates how initial implementation of the recommendations of the December 2007 CSC Review Panel Report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety[1], through its Transformation Agenda, has helped CSC achieve progress with respect to its strategic priorities.

Consistent with the strategic priorities identified in the 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities, the Service continued to make progress in five key areas, which were developed to manage the changing offender population profile, while enhancing the Service’s contribution to public safety:

• Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community;
• Safety and security for staff and offenders in our institutions;
• Enhanced capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders;
• Improved capacities to address mental health needs of offenders; and
• Strengthened management practices.

The Government of Canada is committed to working towards ensuring that Canadians continue to feel safe in their communities. CSC’s key contribution to this endeavour is to successfully rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders back into our communities.

Section 1: Departmental Overview

1.1 Raison d’être

1.2 Responsibilities

Mandated by the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and related regulations[5], CSC contributes to public safety by administering court-imposed sentences for offenders sentenced to two years or more. This involves managing institutions of various security levels and supervising offenders on different forms of conditional release, while assisting them to become law-abiding citizens. CSC also administers post-sentence supervision of offenders with Long Term Supervision Orders for up to ten years.

In December 2007, the organization was given a new responsibility to strengthen Canada’s federal correctional system by transforming the way CSC conducts its business and its operations to improve public safety results for all Canadians.

After completing an in-depth review of the federal correctional system, an Independent Review Panel delivered its findings in a report entitled A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety. This report was endorsed by the Government in Budget 2008 allowing CSC to address some of its current and long standing challenges; better support its current priorities; and provide CSC with an opportunity to integrate transformation initiatives in a way that will contribute to improved public safety results for all Canadians.

As a result of the Review Panel’s report and recommendations, CSC initiated activities in each of the five key areas identified in the report:

• Offender Accountability
• Eliminating Drugs from Prison
• Employability/Employment
• Physical Infrastructure
• Enhanced Community Supervision Capacity

In general, CSC’s responsibilities include providing services across the country-from large urban centres with their increasingly diverse populations, to remote Inuit communities across the North. CSC manages institutions for men and women, mental health treatment centres, Aboriginal healing lodges, community correctional centres and parole offices. In addition, CSC has five regional headquarters that provide management and administrative support and serve as the delivery arm of CSC’s programs and services. CSC also manages an addictions research centre, a correctional management learning centre, regional staff colleges and a national headquarters.

CSC employs approximately 16,500 staff[7] across the country and strives to maintain a workforce that is reflective of Canadian society. Just over 47% of CSC staff are women. Slightly more than 5.5% are from visible minority groups, approximately 4.5% are persons with disabilities, and approximately 7.7% are Aboriginal. These rates are at or above labour market[8] availability with the exception of women where CSC is slightly below market levels.

Two occupational groups, for the most part exclusive to CSC, represent over half of all staff employed in operational units. The Correctional Officer group comprises 39% of staff, while another 16% of staff are in the Welfare Programmes category, the group that includes parole and program officers who work in the institutions and in the community. The remainder of CSC’s workforce reflects the variety of other skills required to operate institutions and community offices-from health professionals, to electricians, to food service staff-as well as staff providing corporate and administrative functions at the local, regional and national levels. All staff work together to ensure that the institutions operate in a secure and safe fashion and that offenders are properly supervised on release, with specialized initiatives and approaches for Aboriginals, women and offenders with mental health needs.

Volunteers continue to be essential contributors to public safety by enhancing the work of CSC and creating a liaison between the community and the offender. CSC benefits from the contributions of over 9,000 volunteers active in institutions and in the community. CSC volunteers are involved in activities ranging from one-time events to providing ongoing services to inmates and offenders in the community, including tutoring, social and cultural events, faith-based services and substance abuse programming. CSC also supports the involvement of volunteer Citizen Advisory Committees at the local, regional and national levels to provide citizen feedback on CSC policies and practices.

1.3 Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)[9]

CSC’s entire Program Activity Architecture is depicted in the following chart as a single Strategic Outcome with five Program Activities.

To achieve the Strategic Outcome, offenders are maintained in "Custody" in institutions. Those who become eligible are transferred to communities under various types of conditional release where they are managed under "Community Supervision"[11]. In both the institution and the community, offenders receive "Correctional Interventions" to help them assume their accountability to become and remain law-abiding citizens. Some interventions begin while the offender is in the institution and continue or are maintained once the offender returns to the community, thus having a positive impact on their social reintegration process. For example, the offender may learn employment-related skills in the institution and then participate in job placement programs once in the community.

CORCAN, a Special Operating Agency of CSC, provides work and employability skills training to offenders in institutions in order to enhance job readiness upon their release to communities, and to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration. CORCAN also offers support services by 53 counsellors across Canada to assist offenders on conditional release in securing employment. CORCAN’s services are provided through partnerships internally and externally with other government organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and private enterprises.

The Internal Services Program Activity entails all corporate and administrative services that support the effective and efficient delivery of operational programs and activities across the organization, such as human resources management services, financial management services and information management services.

1.4 Summary of Performance - Financial

Approximately 75% of CSC’s 2008-2009 Annual Reference Level[13] was dedicated to the provision of care and custody of offenders in institutions and in communities, which includes fixed and semi-fixed costs for security systems, salaries for correctional staff, facilities maintenance, health services, food services, and capital. Approximately 20% was allocated to correctional interventions which includes case management and offender programs. The remaining 5% was dedicated towards community supervision, which includes community-based residential facilities and community-based health services.[14]

1.5 Summary of Performance - Operational

In 2008-2009, CSC contributed to public safety by meeting its targets of reducing the number of escapes from institutions, as well as the numbers of violent and non-violent re-offending by offenders. These are the results of the immediate interventions initiated by CSC as it was launching its Transformation Agenda in response to the recommendations of the Independent Review Panel report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety. Target results for offenders granted parole at earliest possible parole date are still to be achieved.[17]

Although Safety and security in institutions has been maintained in institutions, targets to reduce the number of inmate deaths by other than natural causes and assaultive behaviour by inmates, as well as targets to increase the percentage of offenders granted discretionary release and release at earliest parole date possible are still to be achieved. This is due to CSC’s ongoing challenges to respond to a changing offender profile. CSC recognizes that it must continue its efforts and investments to transform the way it meets these challenges. Some strategies have produced an immediate impact, while others will need time to show measurable results.

While the prevention of deaths in custody has always been a priority for CSC, there is a need for improvements in several key areas. In a letter to the Correctional Investigator in February 2009, CSC indicated that it was fully committed to finding and implementing appropriate and effective measures that will assist in minimizing and preventing, where possible, deaths in custody. CSC also recognizes the difficult reality that no matter what measures are introduced, that some deaths in custody are inevitable, and the Service will continuously identify opportunities to improve its ability to anticipate and respond to these incidents.

The variance between total authorities and actual spending is principally related to the reprofile of resources into future years as a result of the Strategic Review, Carry Forward and CORCAN's Revolving Fund.

1.6 Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

On an average day during the 2008-2009 fiscal year, CSC was responsible for 13,287 federally incarcerated offenders and 8,726 offenders in the community. However, over the course of the year, including all admissions and releases, CSC managed 19,959 incarcerated offenders and 16,744 supervised offenders in the community. [20]

CSC has five over-arching priorities to advance its Strategic Outcome. The five priorities and their contribution to CSC’s Strategic Outcome are described in the following pages. Initiatives presented in A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety[21] are also represented in CSC’s plans through its Transformation Agenda.

As an immediate response for advancing the Transformation Agenda, CSC undertook numerous rapid initiatives, that could be quickly implemented and create the energy and momentum for implementing the Transformation Agenda. Despite a challenging and rapid transformation pace, CSC maintained focus on its other responsibilities.

1.7 Risk Analysis

During fiscal year 2008-2009, CSC continued to face significant challenges in mitigating various risks that impact on delivering effective correctional services which lead to public safety results for Canadians.

The offender population profile continues to change. Offenders sentenced to federal custody have criminal histories involving violent offending, mental health problems, substance abuse problems, gang and organized crime affiliations and higher rates of health issues such as infectious disease. These challenges were recognized in the CSC Review Panel Report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety [45].

CSC’s Corporate Risk Profile identifies various risks and strategies for mitigating them in the areas of:

• Sustaining an aging physical infrastructure;
• Addressing potential pandemic readiness;
• Reducing re-offending and violence;
• Implementing the CSC Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management and introducing Deployment Standards for correctional officer positions;
• Responding to offender physical and mental health issues;
• Creating the capacity to meet the needs of Aboriginal Offenders;
• Effectively managing financial and technological resources;
• Building and sustaining partnerships and relationships; and
• Fostering a responsive and adaptive organization.

To mitigate the risks it faced in 2008-2009 and to support executive decision-making, CSC monitored progress against its Corporate Risk Profile and mitigation strategies through a quarterly review by the Executive Committee (EXCOM).

To further meet the challenges posed by the current offender population and to respond to the 109 recommendations from the CSC Review Panel Report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety[46], CSC continued implementing its long-term Transformation Agenda launched in February 2008. The first part of fiscal year 2008-2009 was dedicated to engaging staff and partners across the country in discussions on the observations and recommendations contained in the Review Panel’s Report. These discussions focused on developing a vision and strategy for change and assisting staff in establishing and aligning their thinking and gaining a commitment to transformation. As 2008-2009 progressed, CSC undertook numerous rapid initiatives that were quickly implemented creating the energy and momentum for implementing the Transformation Agenda. CSC made real progress in many areas, including safety and security, correctional assessment and program interventions; mental health, community corrections and victim services. More initiatives materialized as the end of 2008-2009 got closer, including the identification of an Integrated Correctional Program Model[47] and new communications products in support of eliminating drugs from institutions.

As it headed into the Phase 2 of its Transformation Agenda, CSC developed additional project plans, building on its short-term initiatives. These plans are reflected in CSC’s 2009-2010 Report on Plans and Priorities[48].

Like many government departments, CSC continued to face the risks posed by the retirement of many experienced staff and strong competition in the labour market to attract diverse professionals and skilled workers. Attracting and retaining a skilled workforce that is able to succeed in a difficult working environment continued to be a challenge in 2008-2009. CSC continued to manage these risks through its Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management. The organization continued to place emphasis on recruitment and retention strategies for health care professionals, trades, and other occupational groups. This included pursuing strategies to improve the recruitment and development of Aboriginal staff members and other employment equity groups in addition to new actions to improve workplace health and nurture effective labour-management relationships (consistent with the Public Service Modernization and Public Service Labour Relations Acts). The Service has implemented the Correctional Officer deployment standards, effective April 1, 2009[49]. CSC also continued to develop and implement learning and developmental strategies for staff and approaches to establish interdisciplinary teams to support the diverse supervisory requirements specific to the work of correctional officers.

As a next step toward Integrated Risk Management, CSC launched an exercise in 2008-2009 to create a Functional Risk Profile. Based on the Program Activity Architecture it focuses on key risks with implications at the operational and activity levels. It is a single alternative to multiple national and regional risk profiles. The Functional Risk Profile should further position CSC to manage organizational and strategic risks proactively and meet the Management Accountability Framework requirement for integrated risk management.

1.8 Expenditure Profile

The overall growth in expenditures is mainly attributed to increased salary costs stemming from collective bargaining adjustments, compensation for inflationary increases and from additional funding provided in Budget 2008 to address several challenges. These included elements such as the "rust out" of CSC’s institutional facilities, maintenance of basic safety and security within institutions, meeting basic legal and policy program obligations, improving results in the areas of community program delivery and increasing control of its institutions.

[D]

The variance between actual spending in 2008-2009 and 2007-2008 is mainly due to the following factors: inflation costs, collective agreements increases, and implementation of initiatives linked to the provision of additional resources from Funding Integrity projects and Transformation initiatives.

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