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Correctional Investigator’s Message

As Canada’s federal prison Ombudsman offering independent oversight of federal corrections, the Office of the Correctional Investigator contributes to public safety nationally and the promotion of human rights by providing independent and timely review of offender complaints.  Its work aids public confidence in the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the correctional system by providing Canadians with a degree of assurance that the CSC is operating in compliance with its legal and human rights obligations. The work performed by investigative staff and their continued dedication to achieving fair outcomes for offenders, is rooted in the fundamental principle that offenders, like every other Canadian, must be treated with dignity.

Fiscal year 2009-10 marked the beginning of a transition for the Office and its important mandate.  Historically, operations have been organized to first and foremost respond to individual offender complaints at the federal institutional level. However, as a result of
experience and an ongoing strategic planning exercise, we have recognized that systemic investigations hold great promise for pointing the way to substantial and sustainable improvements to the correctional system. We are now moving to achieve a balance in managing the systemic nature of issues reviewed by our Office while still providing redress for individual offender complaints. In operating in this manner, we believe we can better serve Canadians.

Enhancing our level of public performance reporting capacity is still very much a "work in progress" as well as a management priority.  Improvements to address information management, storage and retrieval vulnerabilities, including closing the gap on the quality and consistency of internal data entry practices, have been implemented. Over the course of 2010-11, the Office will further refine its electronic database capability and improve its internal processes to more accurately and comprehensively report on performance-related information.

As our information recording and retrieval practices improve, there will be variation in reporting. This is evident with the 2009-10 data. Readers are advised that year-to-year comparisons will not accurately reflect performance or productivity during this period of transition.

It is expected that the introduction of a more rigorous procedure for intake screening and assessing offender complaints at the initial stages, increased attention to systemic issues and in-depth investigations and a more sharpened focus on key investigative priorities will influence the overall number of offender contacts with the Office. These changes in business practices and public reporting, which are consistent with the Office’s mandate to provide timely and accessible ombudsman services, are reflected in the tables within this report.

With this in mind, the number of recorded offender complaints during the reporting period is down slightly from the previous year.  It bears noting that the number of complaints registered by the Office and reported does not include follow-up calls from offenders or complaints received for the same issue by an offender. The 30,000 contacts made to this Office via the toll free telephone line is an indicator of the significant transactional volume managed by the Intake and Investigative teams. Unlike the last two fiscal years, the organization benefited from a full investigative staff complement for the entire second half of the fiscal year. This resulted in an increased number and frequency of staff visits to federal institutions across the country and a greater number of interviews with offenders.

Throughout the reporting period, the Office continued follow-up activities stemming from the release of two significant investigative reports: the Deaths in Custody Study and A Preventable Death. This work included the compilation of relevant statistical data and quarterly public reporting on the progress made by the Correctional Service of Canada in implementing recommendations contained in the reports.   

Finally, it is worth noting that after accessing temporary funding from Treasury Board’s Management Reserve for the last three consecutive fiscal years, the Office was successful in securing permanent program integrity funding to address increasing workload pressures primarily related to volume of complaints, complexity of cases and special reviews which are directly associated with several emerging trends in the correctional environment. This funding will also allow for a more robust delivery of corporate services and improve our ability to report to the Central Agencies of Government. The organization received a portion of this funding in 2010-2011.

 

Howard Sapers
Correctional Investigator

 

SECTION I: DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

Raison d’être

The Office of the Correctional Investigator provides Canadians with timely, independent, thorough and objective monitoring of their federal correctional system to ensure that it remains safe, secure, fair, equitable, humane, reasonable and effective.  Essentially, its oversight role is to ensure that the Correctional Service of Canada carries out its statutory mandate in compliance with its domestic and international legal and human rights obligations.

Responsibilities

The mandate of the Office of the Correctional Investigator, as defined by the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, is to function as an Ombudsman for federal offenders.  The Office of the Correctional Investigator is independent of the Correctional Service of Canada and may initiate an investigation on receipt of a complaint by or on behalf of an offender, at the request of the Minister or on its own initiative. The Correctional Investigator is required by legislation to report annually through the Minister of Public Safety Canada to both Houses of Parliament.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

The only strategic outcome of the Office of the Correctional Investigator is: “The problems of offenders in the federal correctional system are identified and resolved in a timely fashion”.  Its main program activity is “Ombudsman to federal offenders”, which regroups the four operational priorities and identified investigative priorities outlined in the Summary Performance section of this report. The other program activity, “Internal Services”, supports the delivery of the Office’s Ombudsman role to federal offenders as well as its corporate obligations to the Central Agencies of Government.

 

Summary of Performance

2009-10 Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
$3,176	$4,079	$4,002

2009-10 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
24	28	4

The organization received temporary funding from the Management Reserve and was able to attract and hire additional employees in the investigative stream to assist with the delivery of its mandate.

Strategic Outcome: The problems of offenders in the federal correctional system are identified and resolved in a timely fashion.

Performance Indicators*	Targets	2009-10 Performance
1. Level of Service: Percentage of the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s responses to offender complaints.	1. 95%	Due to a full complement of investigative staff in the second half of the fiscal year, the Office was able to meet the level of service target in responding to offender complaints. All complaints received were addressed by the Investigative Stream.
2. Accessibility: Number of contacts, institutional visits and interviews (s. 169 of the CCRA).	2. 95% quarterly visits to maximum and medium security institutions and 95% semi-annual visits to minimum security institutions.	The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s investigative staff conducted 1,608 offender interviews during the reporting period. Investigators spent 333 days in institutions – a 30% increase over the previous reporting period. The target of accessibility was met as there were 9 days on average spent in maximum security institutions; 7 days on average spent in medium security institutions and 5 days on average spent in minimum security institutions.
3. Timeliness: The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s response time to offender complaints and referrals.	3. The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s timeliness standards: internal response = 90% within 5 days; inquiry = 85% within 15 days; investigations = 80% within 45 days.	With regards to the timeliness of the Office’s responses, although an improvement over the previous reporting period was noted, the organization did not meet a target which is a reflection of the shift towards allocating resources to more systemic investigations as well as adjustments being made to the data capture requirements relating to the closing of inmate files/complaints. Internal response: 64% within 5 days; Inquiry: 79% within 15 days; and Investigations: 77% within 45 days.

*The performance indicators identified in the 2009-10 RPP reflected these measures at the highest level of achievement. Those presented here are intended to provide the reader with a detailed assessment of performance (between 85% and 95%) as it applies to the level of service to offenders, accessibility and timeliness. These percentage targets are consistent from year to year.

($ thousands)

Program Activity	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-101				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Ombudsman to federal offenders	$3,532	$2,696	$2,696	$3,373	$3,306	Safe and Secure Canada The OCI’s main program activity provides independent oversight of federal Corrections and contributes to public safety by ensuring the timely review of offender complaints. In addition, it aids public confidence and assurance that the CSC is compliant with legal and human rights obligations.
Internal services		$480	$480	$706	$696
Total	$3,532	$3,176	$3,176	$4,079	$4,002

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

Operational Priorities	Type	Status*	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)
1. Investigate and resolve individual offender issues	Ongoing	Successfully Met	These four priorities stem from the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s mandate. As such, all are clearly linked to the organization’s only strategic outcome: “The problems of offenders in the federal correctional system are identified and resolved in a timely fashion”. They are also linked to the five investigative priorities identified in the last quarter of the reporting period. They are: conditions of confinement; access to physical and mental health services; deaths in custody; Aboriginal issues; and access to programs. In deliverying its mandate,  the organization provides Canadians with a degree of assurance that the CSC is operating in compliance with its legal and human rights obligations.
2. Investigate, resolve and follow-up on systemic offender issues	Ongoing	Successfully Met
3. Monitor, evaluate, and provide representations on CSC’s management of mandated issues (s.19 investigations and use of force incidents)	Ongoing	Successfully Met
4. Investigate, resolve and provide leadership on specifically identified issues (Women and Aboriginal Offenders, and Mental Health)	Ongoing	Successfully Met

Management Priorities	Type	Status*	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)
Information Management	Ongoing	Successfully Met	This initiative is clearly linked to the organization’s strategic outcome: “The problems of offenders in the federal correctional system are identified and resolved in a timely fashion”.  The work accomplished in the reporting period in restructuring the organization’s classification nomenclature will ensure the proper retention, search, retrieval and disposal of offender information maintained by the Office of the Correctional Investigator. Pertinent and relevant information will be available to investigators which will assist them in resolving offender complaints and perform systemic reviews.

*The status assessment of “Successfully Met” is indicative of the organization’s ability to manage these operational and management priorities and in achieving the mandate of the Office of the Correctional Investigator.

Priority 1: Investigate and resolve individual offender issues:

The primary program activity of the Office of the Correctional Investigator is the provision of accessible and timely Ombudsman services to federal offenders, mainly through the investigation of individual offender issues. The organization remains accessible to offenders and members of the public via a toll-free number. During the reporting period, a total of 30,222 calls were received by Intake staff. See link for toll-free number: http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/contact-eng.aspx.

Investigative staff also remained accessible to federal offenders in the course of institutional visits. During the reporting period, investigative staff spent 333 days at federal institutions in comparison to 206 days in the last reporting period. Over the course of those days, investigative staff conducted a total of 1,608 interviews with offenders as well as a significant amount of interviews with staff members, managers, stakeholders and committee members. Accessibility and visibility are key in achieving the organization’s mandate. Section 169 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act states that the Office will maintain a program of communicating information to offenders concerning:

• the function of the Correctional Investigator;
• the circumstances under which an investigation may be commenced by the Correctional Investigator; and
• the independence of the Correctional Investigator.

The number of interviews increased from 1,252 in fiscal year 2008-2009 to 1,608 interviews with offenders in the reporting period. The total number of complaints reviewed by the Office decreased from 6,059 to 5,483 which is reflective of the shift towards more systemic investigations as well as adjustments being made to the data capture requirements relating to the closing of inmate files/complaints.

In the fourth quarter of the reporting period, the Office of the Correctional Investigator was engaged in an extensive strategic planning exercise. As a result of these deliberations, the Office re-focused activities towards five key investigative priorities: offender access to physical and mental health services, conditions of confinement, deaths in custody, Aboriginal issues and access to programs in federal custody. Issues involving federally sentenced women are deemed cross-cutting and horizontal in nature. In order to prepare investigative staff to conduct more systemic investigations, members of the investigative stream participated in a three-day systemic investigation training session.

As outlined in the 2008-09 Departmental Performance Report, the Office of the Correctional Investigator witnessed unexpected staff-turnover in that fiscal year. During the current reporting period, the focus on recruiting, training and retaining a competent, professional, dynamic workforce was evident. Additionally, a number of staff members participated in investigations and reviews pertaining to deaths in custody, as well as the streamlining of many of the Office’s management and review practices.

Priorities 2 and 4 are combined and described as: Investigate and monitor systemic offender issues relating to the key investigative priorities: access to physical and mental health services, conditions of confinement, deaths in custody, Aboriginal issues, accces to programs and women offenders which is a horizontal priority:

As noted earlier, a strategic planning exercise conducted during the reporting period confirm the focus on five key investigative priorities. In the course of institutional visits, investigative staff members continued to respond to recurring complaints using innovative and proactive strategies to resolve systemic issues. Staff conducted a total of 35 systemic or indepth investigations in the reporting period.

Access to phyiscal and mental health services

Given that federal offenders are not covered by Health Canada or provincial health care systems, Correctional Services Canada (CSC) provides essential physical and mental health services directly to offenders. For many years now, delivery and access to health care has been the number one area of offender complaint to the Office. In fact, the organization responded to 700 complaints in the reporting period alone related to physical and mental health services.

Activities in this area included consultations and reviews pertaining to CSC policy, on-going meetings with national headquarters regarding self-harming women and recommendations that clinical management plans be developed for all offenders who have a significant mental health issue. In the next reporting period, the organization will focus on the disproportionate number of institutional security charges/violations incurred by mentally disordered offenders.

Conditions of confinement

The number of institutional visits in federal penitentiaries have led the organization to conclude that conditions of confinement are becoming more and more restrictive in terms of inmate movement. There continues to be a default to static security and a decline in dynamic security practices. The lack of meaningful and constructive interactions between offenders and correctional officers continues to be raised regularly with institutional and regional authorities. A considerable amount of work remains and concerns about the lack of dynamic security continue to be raised in Boards of Investigations into serious incidents such as deaths in custody, major disturbances and serious assaults.

Deaths in custody

As a follow-up to the investigation into the death of Ashley Smith, a young woman suffering with mental health issues who died in federal custody after a prolonged period of segregation, the Office of the Correctional Investigator continued to focus on identifying and addressing factors related to preventable deaths in custody. In fact, the Office worked at raising the profile of factors related to preventing deaths in custody, including the use of solitary confinement, suicide prevention and awareness, first response capacity and dynamic security.

At the request of the Minister of Public Safety, the Office conducted three quarterly progress reports/assessments of the CSC’s response to findings and recommendations of the deaths in custody reports/investigations. These progress reports were published on-line on both the Correctional Service of Canada and the Office of the Correctional Investigator websites. The fourth quarterly report will be released in the next reporting period. The organization will continue to work to produce updated and independent research on deaths in custody in Canada.

Aboriginal issues

Aboriginal correctional issues continue to be a key area of concern for the organization.  During the reporting period, the Office released an independent report authored by a recognized expert entitled Good Intentions, Disappointing Results: A Progress Report on Federal Aboriginal Corrections. The report documents the inequitable and differential outcomes for Aboriginal offenders, who are over-represented in correctional populations. It also highlights shortages in the areas of links to Aboriginal communities upon release, Elders and Spiritual Advisors within the prison system and of trained staff to deliver programs. In the upcoming year, it is expected that the Office of the Correctional Investigator will conduct a follow-up investigation to the Report.

Access to programs

Programs are intended to prepare offenders for release into the community and address their criminogenic needs. Although CSC has some of the most innovative and effective correctional programs in the world, on any given day less then 25% of the offender population is enrolled in “core” correctional programming which specifically addresses criminogenic needs. Access to programs continues to be a barrier to conditional release and some offenders are released to the community without ever completing or enrolling in correctional programs.

Female offenders

During the course of the reporting period, investigators spent 18 days in the regional women’s facilities; 103 interviews were conducted with federally sentenced women; and 330 complaints reviewed by staff. Staff members interviewed all women currently under the very restrictive regime of “management protocol”. Activities related to this horizontal priority included on-going meetings with national headquarters, participation in CSC consultations and presentations regarding federally sentenced women to key stakeholders.

Priority 3: Monitor, evaluate, and provide representations on CSC’s management of mandated issues (s.19 investigations and use of force incidents)

Section 19 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act requires that the Office of the Correctional Investigator review all investigations conducted by the Correctional Service of Canada following the death or serious bodily injury to an inmate (Section 19 Investigations).  The Office of the Correctional Investigator is also engaged in conducting reviews on all institutional incidents involving the use of force, in keeping with the recommendation of the 1996 Arbour Commission of Inquiry.

As in past years, the Office of the Correctional Investigator has monitored the timeliness and quality of the CSC's Section 19 Investigative process. In the last reporting period, 152 National Board of Investigation reports were reviewed by the Office, along with the Executive Committee (EXCOM) reviews of the reports and corrective measures implemented. The Office also reviewd 103 Mortality Review Process investigations – file reviews conducted by a nurse for the purpose of investigating “natural” deaths in custody. The Office of the Correctional Investigator expressed concerns about this “alternative” investigative process citing significant procedural and accountability gaps.

For many years now, the Office of the Correctional Investigator has maintained that the timeliness and quality of CSC's investigative process, including meaningful analysis of the findings and sharing of lessons learned, was absolutely critical in lowering the level of institutional violence.  As noted in last year’s DPR, the quality of investigative reports has generally improved. However, the Office of the Correctional Investigator continues to be concerned with both the timeliness of the CSC process for reviewing in-custody deaths and the extent to which the Service has used the results of those reviews to measurably improve its operations.

The Use of Force team at the Office of the Correctional Investigator continued to identify practices and procedures where the force used was not consistent with the least restrictive measure, did not respect the Situation Management Model or where excessive force was used. It documented several instances of non-compliance, including those related to health care monitoring post-use of force. The Office of the Correctional Investigator is currently developing a database which will enable it to report on local, regional and national use of force trends.

In total 1,423 use of force files were reviewed by the Office of the Correctional Investigator during the reporting period. Of these, 10% were subject to an initial level review. A full use of force review was conducted for the remaining 1,281 files. The Office has continued to engage CSC on a regular basis with respect to the problematic applications of force and has made recommendations that placements in four or five point Pinel restraints and displays of firearms be appropriately reported and reviewed. 

Management Priority - Information Management

During the reporting period, a standard classification structure was developed in consultation with primary stakeholders; the new classification structure was replicated on the organization’s shared drive; a user manual was developed; physical files restructured; and, information management training sessions were provided. The organization is now positioned to move into the next phase of this project which is electronic record keeping and the staffing of a Chief, Information Management indeterminate postion.

Risk Analysis

The Office of the Correctional Investigator functions in a complex operational environment. As in years past, it is with the resolution of the individual offender issues at the institutional level where the Office has achieved its best performance in terms of expected results and its strategic outcome. Although this focus will continue, it has been expanded to include five investigative priorities which will be reviewed from a systemic perspective.  

The operational challenges for the organization are rooted in the maintenance of an independent and objective review process within the correctional environment where it has virtually no control over either the number of complaints or the extent of the required investigative response.

In addition, the Office of the Correctional Investigator has seen the complexity of complaints increase over the last few years. Systemic issues including deaths in custody, correctional practices for the mentally ill, use of force and Aboriginal corrections issues, demand more investigative attention. The realignment of resources from daily operations to special topical reviews also impact on the ability to meet the mandate. This recognition resulted in the identification of five systemic investigative priorities.

Finally, because of the size of its investigative complement, the organization has to remain responsive to staff turnover with a view to ensuring continuous services to Canadians while minimizing disruption to operations. In this regard, senior management has committed to annual anticipatory staffing processes that will result in the establishment of pools of qualified investigators from which indeterminate positions will be staffed.

Expenditure Profile

For a five-year period, from 2005-2006 to 2009-2010, the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s expenditures remained stable averaging just over $3 M annually (see Spending Trends table below). The organization was successful in the last three fiscal years in securing temporary funding from the Treasury Board’s Management Reserve to address workload pressures resulting in a noticeable increase to its budget authorities especially in 2008-2009.  Beginning with 2010-11, the organization was successful in securing permanent incremental funding to address workload pressures in both the investigative and corporate streams. In year three of this funding, the organization will see its appropriation increase by $995K which represents the most significant resource increase since the establishment of the Office in 1973. 

Voted and Statutory Items
($ thousands)

Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2007-08 Actual Spending	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-10 Main Estimates	2009-10 Actual Spending
45	Program expenditures	$2,754	$3,058	$2,696	$3,596
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	$435	$473	$480	$406
Total		$3,189	$3,532	$3,176	$4,002

The variance in actual spending between 2008-09 and 2009-10 is primarily due to funding received from the Management Reserve which allowed the staffing of several incremental investigative positions.

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