The stretched resources of Court Services’ 35-strong team has had to learn to be “creative” in its approach to assessing, treating and managing the Island’s criminals, according to director Gina Hurst-Maybury.

The department is responsible for thousands of pre-sentence and pre-release reports each year and presently has a caseload of nearly 400 offenders who are provided with support as well as a raft of rehabilitative programmes in the community.

The Island’s gang problem has also posed new challenges to the staff who are tasked with supervising offenders.

“One of the added challenges we face now is that a client’s gang involvement or association can prevent him from going into an area and fulfilling an unpaid work-hour requirement,” said Ms Hurst-Maybury.

“We have had to be more creative in the way we deal with this problem and ensure that we have direct supervision, especially of the high-risk individuals. There have been examples of assaults on clients while they are completing their community service.

“The client profiles today also pose more difficulties. There is often a dual diagnosis of substance abuse and mental health issues, and perhaps multifaceted issues within the family setting too. Many of the offenders lack the skills to do community service and have educational issues such as literacy, numeracy or learning difficulties and at times have been out of formal educational settings.”

Derek Flood, manager of the assessment and treatment unit, added: “We have had to be very careful with some individuals, and another problem we face is that they are not always truthful about gang associations or areas they cannot go. Sometimes we only find out about it when the individual starts work.”

Court Services is responsible for the assessment, treatment and case management of hundreds of offenders in the community and is often the “gateway” service to drug treatment programmes.

A team of 13 probation officers is tasked with the day-to-day case management of 340 offenders including 239 men and women on probation, 71 former prisoners who have been released on parole and 20 offenders that attend drug court.

Meanwhile, 15 members of staff are responsible for overseeing offenders on community service and in the mental health court as well as writing reports and assessments on offenders awaiting sentence and release.

In the last two years, 40 men and women have gone through the new mental health court, although it is still waiting for its legislative framework.

The initiative, which has only seen three individuals fail to complete the programme, has proved to be a great success, according to Mr Flood.

Ms Hurst-Maybury added: “The team has been very creative in helping the offenders gain employment prospects by building up their skills as well as helping them find accommodations and other resources.

“When individuals make strides in mental health court, it can be an incredibly emotional moment for not just them but their family too. Many of their family might have thought that they would never see their relative back in a state of stability. As people become more self-sufficient that inevitably means a lot of bridges are built within the family setting too.

“A lot of them just need structure and support.”

All Court Services clients are subject to random drug and alcohol tests to ensure they are abiding by the terms of their orders, while probation officers routinely conduct background checks and home visits on the offenders they are responsible for. Ms Hurst Maybury told The Royal Gazette: “The numbers we are dealing with have increased in a lot of regards, but having said that if you go back 25 years the caseload was around 600 because we were also dealing with people who were homeless, or had social issues more so than criminogenic issues.

“We face every challenge and try to view it as an opportunity. We have to be realistic in terms of looking at the risks that individuals pose to the community and themselves.

“We have been stretched in terms of the work we do and have not been able to offer the same standard of service on a consistent basis.

“We are doing a better job and preserving ourselves — before we used to try and do everything, but we have recognised this is not possible and we work within the resources we have as best we can along with our community partners.

“We have been creative over the years in terms of how we deal with clients building and maintaining that relationship as well as getting them to realise they are in control of their own destiny. We can only give them support and help to influence their decisions.”