N.W.T. jails make initial changes in wake of corrections audit

Making sure inmates get customized release plans and that corrections officers focus on seizing unsafe contraband are some of the initial ways the N.W.T.'s Department of Justice has responded to an audit of its correctional centres.

The report from Canada's auditor general, released in March, found that not all new inmates in territorial correctional facilities were being assessed to determine what kind of treatment or other help they needed.

Dave Ramsay, N.W.T.'s minister of Justice, told MLAs Friday, "every inmate is now receiving appropriate case management, including individualized release plans."

The auditor general's report also found that contraband was "an ongoing challenge" at the territory's facilities.

But Sylvia Haener, deputy minister of Justice, says that's because the definition of contraband was being too broadly applied.

"You and I would think of contraband as being things that put people at risk, or drugs," she says.

"Our definition was so broad it was capturing things like extra pillows that inmates might have in their cells, or cups."

Now the policy directs officers to focus on unsafe items, says Haener.

"That then focuses the efforts in terms of doing searches and tracking trends around contraband, and that information is being collected on a regular basis."

The auditor general's report found that only 36 per cent of N.W.T. inmates serving short sentences were accessing general rehabilitation programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Haener concedes that making sure all inmates receive the treatment they need, whether case-sensitive or not, remains a work in progress.

One option being evaluated would see federal treatment programs broken up into smaller modules to fit with the schedule of N.W.T. inmates serving brief sentences.

"They are lengthy programs, and running lengthy programs is really only meeting the needs of a small number of inmates that we have," she says.

"So how can we take a lengthy program, break it down, deliver it in shorter modules and still perhaps be of assistance to inmates — that's the kind of thing we need more time to look at."

The department is also considering rotating traditional addictions counsellors working primarily at facilities in Fort Smith, so that they can deliver treatment at facilities in Yellowknife, adds Haener.