Inspection Programmes: HMI Probation
Offender Management Inspection Programme
The Offender Management Inspection (OMI) Programme entails visits to all 42 NOMS areas over a three-year period from May 2006. The inspection programme was developed with the assistance of HM Inspectorate of Prisons.
Its primary purpose is to assess the quality of start to end offender management, both in custody and the community, against HMI Probation’s published criteria (see below), in relation to assessment, interventions and initial outcomes. We assess this by taking a sample of cases to be read by a team of inspectors and assessors (including staff from the area itself) who then conduct interviews with offender managers. This is the primary source of evidence for OMI. In addition there are meetings and group interviews with service users and other staff. The supporting management arrangements in each area are assessed via a mixture of written evidence and meetings.
Offender Management Inspection in the Community
We look at 110 - 160 individual offender cases, made up of licences, community orders and custody cases. The main strands of our methodology are:
Offender Management Interviews
An offender manager is normally interviewed about a case for between one and two hours. It may also be appropriate for the offender supervisor to attend as well, if they have had significant input to the case. Offender managers should be prepared to discuss the case in depth and are asked to explain their thinking and to show where to find supporting evidence in the record. As part of any custody case interview, the offender supervisor will be invited to take part in a telephone interview.
Groups
Whilst the offender manager has responsibility for the supervision of each offender, other people from a range of organisations can contribute significantly to the management of each case. This starts before the court process, and with agencies whose role is to address offending related issues such as substance misuse and accommodation needs. A selection of key workers delivering an intervention for or on behalf of probation, or case administrators, are invited to attend group meeting. These groups are designed to provide HMI Probation with representative views about the front-line operation of offender management.
We use individual interviews to access the views of offenders and victims.
Meetings
Those who are: chief officers, senior managers, board members, middle managers, strategic heads/leaders of a partnership agency, may be invited to attend a meeting. These meetings are designed to provide HMI Probation with evidence about the management and leadership of the area.
OMI Criteria Phase 2
Published in February 2007, to reflect phase 2 of the Offender Management Model, these form the basis of our inspection of offender management and include the inspection of high priority cases with a custodial element. They give a high priority to the diversity agenda and to work relating to risk of harm to others. The criteria can be downloaded here
OMI scoring methodology
A note setting out the scoring methodology used in OMI is here
OMI Toolkit
The toolkit provides offers explanatory notes to help assessors form judgements in the assessment of cases for OMI. These notes are cross-referenced to the questions in the OMI Cases Assessment Tool. They do not make those judgements but rather inform them. They provide contextual details needed by assessors to form conclusions.
These notes have a potential second use. They can act as a reference point for those doing probation work with offenders. They will outline to staff what it is HMI Probation hopes to find. This could be a useful aid to promoting good practice, benchmarking best practice, and assuring the quality of work, whether in an ongoing way, or specifically as part of preparation for inspection.
This updated version of the Toolkit is in use from 17 July 08.
Practice Examples in the Offender Management Inspection Programme
The document below is an amalgamation of good practice examples from all Offender Management Inspection reports published to date.
Practice Examples
Offender Management in Prisons
Following the introduction of offender management arrangements in custody from November 2006, a new joint methodology for the inspection of offender management arrangements in prison, including outcomes for prisoners, was developed by HMI Probation and HMI Prisons. Since its application in early 2007, this shared methodology has sought to avoid inspection duplication for establishments.
The criteria for offender management inspection in prisons can be download here.
HMI Probation will be joining HMI Prisons on some of their inspections to assess the quality of offender management arrangements for prisoners who are within the scope of the National Offender Management Model. This joint approach to inspection is designed to reduce the burden of inspection on prisons.
As part of the inspection we will meet with:
key workers (members of prison staff or external partners) delivering interventions in the custodial setting. This meeting is designed to provide Inspectors with representative views about the delivery of interventions to in-scope prisoners.
offender management unit (OMU) practitioners (offender supervisors and case administrators). This meeting is designed to provide Inspectors with representative views about the front line operation of offender management.
operational and strategic managers (Governor/ Director, Deputy Governor, Head of Reducing Reoffending, Head of Learning and Skills, offender supervisor coordinator, OMU manager, senior probation officer, public protection manager). This meeting is designed to provide Inspectors with evidence about the operational and strategic management and leadership of the prison in respect of offender management.
An offender management survey will also be issued to a random selection of prisoners who are in scope of the National Offender Management Model
The joint element of the inspection will usually last for one day. Thereafter, HMI Prisons will follow up any outstanding issues or queries on behalf of both Inspectorates for the rest of the inspection period.
A summary of initial findings will form part of HMI Prisons’ feedback at the end of the week and the key points will be reflected in the prison report of the inspection. Following the conclusion of inspections in a region, a joint report will be published setting out findings from the prisons inspected. This may include recommendations for improvement, as well as highlighting examples of good practice.
Risk of Harm Inspection Module
Sometimes, following a poor OMI result, we identify the need for a further focused inspection of Risk of Harm work. It is in such cases, where reinspection is needed, when the Risk of Harm Inspection Module (RoHIM) would be undertaken.
In addition, the principles from RoHIM, of examining the quality of Risk of Harm work, can be relatively easily applied by probation areas as a self-assessment tool.
Risk of Harm Inspection Module: Reinspection
The primary purpose of an OMI RoHIM is to assess the quality of Risk of Harm work delivered with offenders against HMI Probation’s published criteria in relation to areas of assessment, interventions and management and leadership arrangements. The results of the RoHIM (and also a full OMI) produce a Risk of Harm Thread score – a percentage score indicating the quality of Risk of Harm work within the area which was assessed as being at least good enough.
The reinspection uses a similar methodology to an OMI, but on a smaller scale, using fewer inspection staff and looking at approximately 50% of the cases – including community orders, licences and custody cases falling within offender management arrangements. Interviews with offender managers and offender supervsiors about the Risk of Harm issues in the cases will be supplemented by meetings with managers and members of the local MAPPA to discuss developments in the management and leadership arrangements in relation to Risk of Harm within the area since the OMI. A RoHIM is likely to be held approximately 12 months after the due publication date of the original OMI report. This gives the area sufficient opportunity to have implemented changes in policy and/ or practice, as required, based on findings from the OMI. The RoHIM report will be published approximately ten weeks after the inspection has taken place.
Risk of Harm Inspection Module Criteria
Risk of Harm Inspection Module: Self-assessment tool
The RoHIM can also be used as a self-assessment of the quality of Risk of Harm work across an area or parts of an area, in a similar way to how HMI Probation undertake inspections. This could also be an ideal continued use of the skills of the Area Assessors – who were trained by HMI Probation for the OMI and who will be familiar with the questions used in the RoHIM and in undertaking inspection activity.
Questions from the RoHIM, coupled with the toolkit definition of standards for good practice, could also be used as a quality assurance mechanism during in-depth case-specific supervision with offender managers. For example, using the RoHIM questions and relevant toolkit guidance to objectively assess the quality of Risk Management Plans.
For areas to get the best from the RoHIM, it is worth considering buying the computer software that HMI Probation use, which enables data from multiple cases to be inputted onto “Infopath” forms, aggregated and analysed quickly and easily. (The software is relatively cheap to buy – please contact Kevin Ball, Kevin.ball@hmiprobation.gsi.gov.uk for further details.)
The RoHIM tool used by HMI Probation, but in a Word version, is available here.
