NCJ Number
175556
Date Published
1997
Length
116 pages
Annotation
This report describes and evaluates New Zealand's home- detention pilot program.
Abstract
The Criminal Justice Amendment Act 1993 provided the legal framework for the pilot program. Inmates who are not serious violent offenders, or who have not received an indeterminate sentence, and who have been sentenced to prison for more than 1 year can be released from prison to be detained at home as a condition of their parole. In the pilot program detainees were monitored with an electronic system and supervised by three specially designated probation officers. Detainees could leave home for reasons approved by the home detention officer. During the 18-month evaluation period, 37 inmates were released to home detention; the average caseload was 7 and the maximum caseload was 12 detainees. The average home detention period was 3 months. The evaluation focused on the effectiveness of the program and its impact, with the intent of determining whether it should be expanded to other districts. The evaluation drew on information from interviews with detainees and their families, case records, the Law Enforcement System (formerly the Wanganui Computer), diaries kept by home detention officers, observation, expenditure records, and interviews with a range of key informants. The evaluation concluded that the home detention program had little impact on reducing the numbers in prison. Even with improved entry processes and promotion of the program, the number opting for home detention could be increased only marginally. Moreover, home detention has been found to be of variable value as a reintegrative program. Even with operational improvements, extending the program in the form in which it has been piloted would apparently serve little purpose. If further exploration of home detention is to be considered, careful thought should be given to the purposes of such a program. 4 figures, 15 tables, and appended supplementary information