15th Reintegration Puzzle Conference

Corrections Victoria’s Reintegration Assessment

Measuring a prisoner’s reintegration needs – the practical and emotional supports they require to lead functional, personally fulfilling and responsible lives after release from prison – often falls outside the scope of prisoner risk and treatment need measures. While an assessment of prisoners’ reintegration needs enables prioritised access to relevant support services in accordance with identified needs, the availability of comprehensive Reintegration Assessment tools, both nationally and internationally, is extremely limited.
Throughout 2018, Corrections Victoria (CV) developed and implemented a new Reintegration Assessment tool – in the form of an interview guide which scores and prioritises need across 11 areas which are aligned to 7 critical reintegration domains. CV considers the increased system-wide visibility of reintegration need and service prioritisation created by the tool to be a significant advancement in reintegration practice.
Development of the tool involved a comprehensive literature review, engagement of Swinburne University to identify key needs to be captured, and extensive consultation and input from prisoners, prison staff and post-release support service providers. Reintegration Assessment development and implementation has highlighted a range of considerations and learnings associated with the tool structure and application within CV’s broader Reintegration Pathway for prisoners, support for staff administering the tool and application of tool scores and subsequent referral processes. These learnings are readily transferable to other jurisdictions looking to refine their reintegration assessment processes. CV would be delighted to have the opportunity to share the key learnings of developing and implementing a Reintegration Assessment tool at the 2019 Reintegration Puzzle Conference