The challenges of implementing Throughcare - Australian Institute of ...

The next workshops were held differently and included always staff from all sections of the
department. Unfortunately none of them have included staff of Corrections Health Service yet but
we are working on this.
The workshops provide participants with the conceptual framework of Throughcare, opportunities
to discuss it and relate it to their individual work roles. They also provide a chance to identify
specific issues in particular local work areas and to discuss them in the context of translating the
theory of Throughcare into practice, and suggesting ways to improve working relationships for the
benefit of Throughcare.
They also provide a forum to identify issues that will impact on future policy development in
Throughcare. The latter is particularly important in providing opportunities to staff outside the
Sydney metropolitan areas to have an input into the policy process of the Department.
Given that sharing information, whole of sentence planning and working in a holistic and integrated
manner are key elements of Throughcare, one of the most important aspects of these workshops has
been that staff working in different roles within the Department have come together to discuss
issues and communicate with each other.
Let me give you some examples which highlight the sorts of issues staff in our Department are
grappling with when looking at ways of implementing Throughcare.
Major Issues
I don’t really know in detail what the situation is in other Australian Corrective Services
jurisdictions but I hazard a guess that we all are faced with a situation where there is a sort of silo
mentality among different groups of staff formed either along professional lines or work location
lines. This little story I am going to tell you I’m sure is going to ring bells of recognition:
In discussing the need for a department wide resource directory that would be accessible to all staff
in the department to assist in discharge planning in correctional centres or community support in
district offices, I was told by one colleague that “we’ve already got one of those at our location” the
implication being, we’ve got it, so why do you need to develop such a directory? I said that while
they might have it at their location, no-one else had access to it and other people in other locations
might like have access to it as well!
We’ve had some laughs and close calls too. Picture this - the NSW Probation and Parole Service
writes about 28 000 pre-sentence reports in a year. That’s a lot of reports. In all the workshops
where correctional centre based custodial staff were present, they bemoaned the fact they had a lot
of difficulties getting access to pre-sentence reports on offenders coming into custody. Given that
not all of the clients for whom PSRs are written go into custody, it’s still a lot of reports which
could be passed on to gaols. There is a protocol in place for PSRs to be faxed to the Discharge
Summary Unit which forwards them onto the relevant correctional centre. So here you have it - on
the one hand a group of staff is adamant that they are providing good and relevant information and
on the other hand you have a group of staff wanting this information but say they can’t get it.
Now a solution to this may be to take up the suggestion of one of the workshop participants who
offered to take himself to the”end of that fax number” to ensure that there actually is a fax machine
and that the PSRs do not end up in cyberspace. Seriously though, this story is symptomatic of
situation in which each group carries out their business with the best of intentions and there are still
no foolproof protocols established which ensure that there is seamless flow of critical information.
And it is also symptomatic of a situation in which one hand of the one department does not know
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