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Annual Report 2010 - 2011 Download Pdf

Presidents Report 2010 - 2011

Outcare continues to experience significant growth in the level and range of services it offers. Whilst this is largely driven by the ongoing high imprisonment rates in WA it is also due to the success achieved by our programs and the demonstrated effectiveness of Outcare services. As President of the Board I would like to acknowledge the way in which the CEO and staff of Outcare actively work to improve the services we deliver and to explore innovative ways to support our client group. For example, this year has seen the establishment of a Special Needs Program to support people with intellectual disabilities post-release and the consolidation of a Men’s Healing Program for Aboriginal men.

In an environment of expansion and upward pressure on resources, a critical task for the Board is to ensure governance structures are sound and to support the CEO and his team to manage the growth of the organisation. The Boards governance framework was reviewed and redeveloped to include such things as improved recruitment and induction processes, improved risk management, succession planning, a review of the Constitution and so on. Through the newly established Governance Committee the Board followed the ISO Risk Management Standards Guidelines to review our risk management framework. This process was backed up with training for the staff and Board.

This year also included a review of the Strategic Plan. To inform our planning we carried out a stakeholder survey via Survey Monkey and were pleased to get very positive feedback from 58 respondents. The new Strategic Plan is in finalisation and identifies several key strategic areas to be pursued over the next few years. These include expanding programs for young people who are not yet in the justice system; developing partnerships with regional providers to establish Outcare programs in regional areas, and innovative services for clients with substance abuse issues and addictions such as a therapeutic community model.

We were excited to establish the Scott Scholarship utilising the interest earned on a donation made many years ago by Ms Ethel Scott, an original supporter of Outcare. The Scott Scholarship is open to any primary or secondary students who need support to meet their educational goals.

I would like to thank the Board for their support over the last year and to give special thanks and best wishes to those board members who left us this year; Dick Collister, Aaron Rayner, Ric West and Cheryl Davenport who left to take up an exciting opportunity on Norfolk Island. Recruitment for new Board members is underway and going very well.

Finally, I would like to thank Peter Sirr, the staff and volunteers for their continued commitment and hard work. Without them Outcare would not be the success it is. I am confident that the next 12 months will result in even greater outcomes than has been achieved in the past 12. 

Dr Deirdre Davies – PRESIDENT

Chief Executive Officer’s Report 2010 - 2011

Another year has quickly passed, again, with much achieved over that time.

In last year’s report I foreshadowed a variety of additional activities for this year which in large part have been completed:

• The refinement of a 2011-2013 strategic plan. Our three year strategic plan was completed in 2011 with a 100% completion rate of the actions that flowed from that plan. We are in the process of finalising our next plan which will see us move into more areas of service delivery and expand the
capacity of the organisation.

• The creation of a dedicated HR function. This appointment has been made and has significantly value added to the management of Outcare’s staffing operations. We are now at a size, with around 100 staff, that this expanded function is crucial

• A greater policy focus; internally and externally. The organisation has developed a range of policy positions and contributed to
this area significantly, which will be elaborated on further on in this report.

• The establishment of a Special Needs Re-entry Service for clients with an
intellectual disability. This service is now firmly developed and operational.

• Increased service hours through the Family Centres. This has happened to a small degree, but less than was anticipated.

• Another significant project has been a planned IT upgrade. A major upgrade of the IT infrastructure was funded this last year for completion
in the coming year. Thanks again go to Lotterywest for their financial
support of the project. The project will provide an organisation wide network and allow the outlying facilities to be more connected and integrated with the organisations communications and information systems.

Staff:
The addition of a HR function has resulted in a major review and upgrade
of our existing material and processes. A focus on staff benefits and staff
retention has brought positive changes for the staff.

The organisation’s support of CEWA (Community Employers of Western Australia) added to the lobbying for the improvement of the sectors staffing conditions, which resulted in a major funding overhaul of all state contracts over the next 3 years. The immediate result will be a large increase in staff salaries which will make us more competitive in the labour market to attract the skills we need to deliver our services. This State commitment is unprecedented in the history of non government human services delivery in WA and the Barnett government is to be congratulated for this far reaching initiative.

There has been an increased emphasis on staff training which is benefiting
the staff and the services they provide. The Management Team finalised a year long developmental process which resulted in a commonly understood way of working, establishment of agreed core values and expectations, and a joint commitment into the future.

Partnerships and Collaboration:
Over the last 12 months Outcare has been partners in a variety of projects and Memorandums of Understanding, which mutually benefitted our agencies. We signed MOU’s with AADS (Aboriginal Alcohol and Addictions Service, The Comorbidity Consortium and are developing some with mining companies. We continue to partner with the Crime Prevention Council of WA and are represented on a variety of justice related groups such as the Community Justice Coalition and Justice Reinvestment WA.

Sponsorships:
Outcare took on sponsorship of the Lynley Valley Swans (Wooroloo Prison
Football Team) and commenced sponsoring the Prison Art shows and the Wooroloo Prison band. This is consistent with our view that sport and the arts are socially inclusive activities which have a positive impact on community re-entry and crime reduction after release.

Policy:
A wide range of policy development has taken place both internally and externally. Outcare has produced policy documents such as submissions to the Inquiry into the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children & Young People,
the Inquiry into the Adequacy and Future Directions of Social Housing, papers on such things as the Prisoner Review Board, Silent Sufferers – The
Families of Prisoners and so on.

Internally many of the organisation’s policies and procedures have been reviewed and redeveloped where necessary.

Two Justice Forums have been held, one in regard to Justice Reinvestment and the other on the Police Service’s role in crime prevention.

The latter part of the year saw our involvement in the increasing interest in this state of the concept of Justice Reinvestment. This concept is the current theoretical framework for something we have been promoting for decades; the investment in appropriate social support services targeted at identified issues which will reduce criminogenic pathways for at risk people in the community. Outcare works primarily in tertiary crime prevention and Justice Reinvestment is more in the area of primary crime prevention, a space we have considered moving into for some time.

The Prisoner Review Board’s change in their release policy framework continues to impact on the range of services we provide. Many potential clients are either declined release or choose to go finite because they feel their chances of early release are minimal. Many exits from our programs are because release is refused and those most affected are the Accommodation and Reentry Link services. It is somewhat counter intuitive to be funded by one arm of government to provide rehabilitative services on release and have another arm denying the clients that opportunity.

Services:
Late last year Outcare won a Crime Prevention Award for the service delivery model we have developed and implemented over the years.

A plan to move into residential service delivery for exiting prisoners with addiction issues was progressed by the development of a specialised therapeutic community model. Such a service will value add to the range of holistic services already provided by the organisation.

The Special Needs Re-entry Program was formally commenced in October 2010 and to date has progressed sufficiently well for us to put into place a team leader for the increasing number of carers who provide the support to intellectually disabled ex-prisoners. Many of the clients would not exit prison if not for such a service.

The pre-existing services have all continued to progress and improve their service delivery. Statistics can be found to the rear of this report.

Research has been done on identifying appropriate software for client case
management, not just in individual services but also for between services to improve our holistic model of service delivery. To date we have implemented a specialised accommodation management system, asset management tracking software and we are currently looking at an across agency client case management system. In regard to the latter I would like to acknowledge the time and support we have been given by Ruah for allowing us to look at their system and to be orientated to it for software
assessment purposes.

Into the future:
The next year will see an expansion of work in the indigenous area which will come through the recruitment of 5 more indigenous staff who will work in the youth and adult throughcare services. These positions will be funded by the Federal Department of the Attorney General.

It is hoped we will find the resource opportunities to begin the physical development of a prisoner specific throughcare therapeutic community for clients with substance abuse issues and addictions.

A new 3 year plan will be finalised as will a comprehensive risk management framework.

In partnership with others, there is the possibility of being involved in the development of an international conference on Justice Re-investment.

Outcare has been approached by both Edith Cowan and Curtin Universities
to engage in research in our areas of work. These plans should become more concrete over the coming year.

We are also now on Curtin University’s honour student research register; and one such project will finalise in the coming months.

I would again like to thank all our supporters, staff, Board and volunteers for their involvement and work for the organisation over the preceding year. We are what we are because of this work and commitment provided by every one of you.

Peter Sirr CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER