Throughcare for
female offenders was the focus of a national forum hosted by the Australian
Capital Territory (ACT) Corrective Services. Approximately eighty senior
administrators and correctional practitioners from most Australian jurisdictions
and
New Zealand attended the forum which was held in Canberra on 14 and 15 November,
2001.
The Working with Female Offenders
Forum: Throughcare was opened by
Mr Ted Quinlan, Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister
and Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Corrections. Ms Rosemary
Follett,
ACT Discrimination Commissioner and Chair of the ACT Corrections Health Board
chaired the forum.
The forum provided participants with a valuable opportunity to hear a range of keynote speakers and to exchange ideas on successful strategies for the management of female offenders across custodial and community settings.
The forum strongly endorsed a Throughcare approach for the management of female offenders. Throughcare is defined as a coordinated, integrated approach to the management of offenders from the offender’s first point of contact with correctional services to their successful re-integration into the community and completion of their legal order. In some countries the term Integrated Offender Management is used.
Delegates attending the forum explored a range of factors involved in providing a continuum of care to female offenders. These factors include case management practices, provision of culturally appropriate services and programs designed to meet the specific characteristics and needs of female offenders, maintenance and development of family and community linkages and the availability of health and mental health services to female offenders.
Client information systems which support case management policies across correctional settings as well as the building of collaborative partnerships between correctional agencies and other government and non-government organisations, were considered to be essential elements in a Throughcare approach.
The forum was the second national forum to be held in Australia during 2001 to focus on female offenders. The earlier forum was held in Melbourne in July 2001 and focused on the management of women in custodial environments.
The Correctional Services Administrators of Australia and New Zealand sponsored the Working with Female Offenders forums and the development of the forum programs occurred under the guidance of a steering group comprising senior representatives from several jurisdictions.
To continue the valuable exchange of information between correctional staff from Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand, a third forum on the management of female offenders is being planned for 2002.
Photo
Caption: Director of Australian Capital Territory Corrective Services, Mr James Ryan AM (left) and Mr Ted Quilin, Australian Capital Territory Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Corrections, at the Throughcare for Female Offenders forum held in Canberra in November 2001.