9. SOCIAL ENQUIRY REPORTS ( SERs)
Not all criminal court appearances result in the Court request an SER. It is important to ensure that, as far as possible the Court seeks an SER in all cases where a DTTO may be an effective sentence option.
The assessment process must find a way of identifying, from all SERs, the appropriate cases to be targeted for the DTTOs. A two stage process is desirable. The first stage SER "screening" would extract, from the total number of SERs, those suitable for specific DTTO assessment. There would then follow a second detailed assessment to confirm (or otherwise) suitability and to devise the specific treatment plan.
The Social Enquiry Report is the main means by which this assessment is conveyed to the Court. SERs may identify suitable individuals, subject to the agreement of the Court, to undergo a fuller and secondary assessment of suitability for DTTO. To address these main assessment/issues; how to trigger SER requests in relevant cases; how to define, from a large annual total of SER requests, the cases to be targeted for DTTO proposals; and how to access the range of necessary assessment skills, the following is proposed.
i) Given the high number of SER requests there is no alternative, for screening purposes, than to look to Criminal Justice staff, who currently prepare SERs, to identify prospective DTTO clients. For this purpose they will require clear statement of criteria to identify target group; access to consultation to assist assessment and decision making; line management supervision which assists assessment arrangements, and monitoring of performance with regard to numbers and appropriateness of recommendations.
ii) A systematic programme of awareness-raising with Courts will be necessary, to develop knowledge of the Orders and when they should appropriately be considered or implemented. Briefing of Social Work staff at Court will be important to ensure that potentially suitable cases are identified and brought to the attention of the Court.
iii) If the SER (with input of specialist consultation) determines that a particular client is potentially suitable for DTTO, a continuation for further reports will be sought from the Court. This will allow more detailed assessment. The importance of the first stage SER screening is emphasized by the fact that a continuation is not a step which should be taken lightly and should only be sought in the most suitable targeted cases. The purpose of the second stage is to prepare, following joint criminal justice/addiction assessment, a report for court indicating suitability or otherwise for DTTO, along with, where suitable, a fully worked out treatment programme proposal. It is recommended that a continuation of two to three weeks would be desirable for this purpose. It should be noted that, both the first SER (in which continuation is proposed) and the second assessment report should include alternative assessed proposals to court in case the DTTO option is not accepted.
iv) The second stage assessment must be co-ordinated, and a report to Court prepared, by a DTTO team/designated DTTO Social Workers, who would represent the DTTO expertise for consultation at SER stage, second stage assessment and report preparation and supervision of orders. This team/staff would, for assessment purposes draw on staff in medical and addiction services. The designated team/staff will ensure consistency of approach.
It is recommended that the second stage assessment cannot be carried out with maximum reliability in a context where the client is remanded in custody. Accordingly, even if the first SER is carried out on a remanded prisoner, second stage assessment should, where possible, be community based. This allows full exploration of community treatment options, while permitting a more realistic examination of factors such as suitability and motivation.
There is an implication for the model which takes the second stage assessment to a specialist team/ DTTO designated staff in respect of those offenders who are already clients of criminal justice or addiction services. In these cases the second stage assessment should be a joint one, but with the report and any subsequent supervision under a DTTO being carried out by the specialist team/staff. Any existing statutory orders and any subsequent orders such as Probation concurrent with DTTO should be held and worked by pre-established criminal justice staff in collaboration with the DTTO team/staff. Any pre-existing addiction related interventions would be subsumed into the DTTO treatment plan for the duration of the order.
Summary of SER Procedure
- SER author assesses offender.
- If key criteria are met, consults with DTTO Team/designated social worker.
- With agreement of DTTO Team Leader/ SSW (Criminal Justice), two to three week continuation (non-custodial) is sought for further assessment in appropriate cases. Alternative disposals should also be assessed for Court.
- If continuation is agreed, DTTO Team/designated social worker assumes responsibility of second stage assessment and report to Court.
- If DTTO is made DTTO Team/designated social worker continues with case responsibility for duration of order. If a remote monitoring condition forms part of the DTTO, the Court will inform the remote monitoring contractor who will liaise with the designated social worker. If DTTO is not made, and other Social Work disposal results this returns to Criminal Justice Team or Community Service Team, as appropriate, for allocation.
- If a DTTO is made with concurrent Probation Order the case responsibility will be shared between Criminal Justice Team (Probation) and DTTO Team/staff ( DTTO).