ICPA Practice Transfer Advisory Committee
Knowledge transfer doesn’t always or easily assure the transfer of new practice. Many exemplary and innovative approaches emerge locally in one prison or community corrections jurisdiction. Unfortunately, they remain only local in their impact because they are not promoted, explained or even introduced to the broader corrections community. We believe ICPA is well-positioned to undertake a more active strategy for encouraging ‘practice transfer’ in addition to knowledge transfer.
The Committee sees its role as supporting and coordinating the ‘connecting’ of jurisdictions where interest in any particular ‘practice’ idea begins to be accepted. We aim to nudge and promote rather than work actively in implementing or executing any new practice transfer. This follows the principle that real success in practice transfer depends on the level of commitment and interest that can be generated, both among the originators of the idea and the potential new adopters.
On a yearly basis, we hope to choose one or two examples of exciting new practices that have been highlighted during the ICPA Annual Conference. Our process for selecting and then promoting these practices would proceed through the following steps.
Practice Transfer Focus: 2025
“Leveraging Experiential Knowledge in Enhancing Correctional Practice”
For 2025, the practice we will be promoting is Peer Mentoring and Peer Support because we see this approach as gaining growing acceptance within correctional services around the world. Correctional Services are increasingly recognizing the potential benefits of engaging both offenders and ex-offenders to serve in a peer-support capacity, as mentors, and even as case workers, addictions counselors and in various other service-delivery roles. The research indicates clearly that the support work of these individuals with ‘lived experience’ can be quite rehabilitative; it can motivate change and have lasting impact in challenging criminal identities. ICPA and our Practice Transfer Advisory Committee would therefore like to document to what extent individuals with lived experience (AKA ‘experiential knowledge’) are being acknowledged and deployed in various service-oriented capacities either in prisons or in the community around the world. We will endeavor to highlight examples of model programs, point to some of the research evidence supporting peer involvement, and try to capture the views not just of individuals with lived experience, but also practitioners and correctional managers and leaders.
Singapore Prison Service
In a comprehensive survey conducted by the PTAC, significant insights from the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) were gathered regarding the successful integration of individuals with lived experience in correctional services. The survey highlights innovative approaches to peer mentoring, rehabilitation programs, and community reintegration initiatives that have shown promising results in Singapore's correctional system. These findings demonstrate the valuable contribution of both desistors (former offenders living crime-free lives in the community) and peer supporters (current inmates providing mentorship) in enhancing rehabilitation outcomes. The following detailed survey outlines the various programs, challenges, and future directions of these initiatives.
Download File
Selection Criteria & Process
Selection criteria ensures that the projects are:
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Innovative and significant: New ideas that can capture the imagination of the global corrections community;
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Sustainable: Where the project has shown that it can be sustained for a reasonable period of time (e.g. two years or longer if not continually);
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Feasible: Where implementation appears to be possible and feasible;
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Proven: Where there is evidence to support the project’s acceptance and its positive impact on offenders and/or staff (not necessarily quantitative evidence but at least some breadth of qualitative evidence showing improvement in social climate, attitudes, motivation, well-being… etc.);
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Diverse: Representing different regions of the world even if not expected to be universally acceptable;
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Originator Support: Where the project leaders are supportive of helping others wishing to implement the new idea;
A process for selection of one or two promising projects each year:
- PC Action: The PC is asked to identify projects that have been selected for presentation at the Annual Conference that seem to meet the criteria;
- Board Action: ICPA members (including ICPA Board Members) attending the Annual Conference are asked to nominate any project that they believe should be considered;
- Presenter Submissions: Any presenter to the Annual Conference can self-submit their project for consideration (with perhaps a short video to highlight why it should be considered);
- PTAC Action: The ICPA PTAC reviews submitted nominations, selects a reasonable number to consider and then makes recommendations to the ICPA Board for final selection of one or two that could be promoted.
Engagement
The selected projects would be informed by the ICPA President and the PTAC would arrange to meet individually with the leadership of each project (via Zoom) to determine their level of commitment and ability to support others in implementing a similar project.
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The extent and boundaries of support that could be offered (both by the project originators and ICPA) would be clearly defined;
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The details and sequence of what may be required to ‘transfer’ the idea would be clearly spelled out (e.g. how to introduce the idea to offenders and/or staff; senior leadership agreement to support the new idea …etc.);
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The pace at which practice transfer implementation could occur would be agreed to;
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Any opportunity for a ‘study tour’ by other jurisdictions would be discussed.
Announcement & Reach-out
Announcement & Reach-out
CPA announces the selection of the projects for the coming year (in January following the Annual Conference) using all of its various communication platforms (Web site, Facebook, Linked-In etc.). Where there is an ICPA Regional Chapter, their involvement in promoting any of the practice transfer ideas is encouraged.
Connecting & Facilitating
Connecting & Facilitating
ICPA, through the PTAC serves only a ‘connecting and facilitating function', working together with originators and the new implementors to help assure there is continued collaboration and sharing of ideas for a smooth process of practice transfer. The PTAC announces and helps promote the selection of new projects each coming year using all of ICPA’s various communication platforms (Web site, Facebook, Linked-In etc.).
Practice Transfer Focus: 2024
Parenting from Prison and Engaging Families
People who maintain positive family ties while in prison are less likely to reoffend on release, but why?
What is the evidence base for improved outcomes following greater family connections?
What do we know now, and what more do we need to know to make such an approach work in practice?
Relationships, and their impact of change, have been described as the ‘golden thread’ that is essential to prison reform (Farmer, 2017). The impact of family connection and parenting has often been overlooked in the design of prisons, focused on safety, security, and more formal rehabilitation.
In 2024, PTAC is focusing on the concept of family engagement in prison and post-release with the goal of deepening and improving understanding of what good practice looks like in this area and how jurisdictions can learn from one another to improve their engagement of families of prisoners.
In November 2023, PTAC held a Learning Academy session that can be accessed here. This session included practice examples and an academic understanding of the topic from the UK and Canada. In addition, the following practice examples, with contact details for the individuals and jurisdictions involved, are available here.
In 2024, PTCA conducted a comprehensive survey examining family engagement initiatives across multiple jurisdictions, both during incarceration and post-release periods. The detailed findings from this survey are accessible below:
Taskforce Members
Peter
Peter has been the Commissioner, Corrective Services New South Wales, Australia since September 2012 and retired in August 2021. Prior to this appointment Peter was the Chief Executive of the Department for Correctional Services in South Australia from July 2003 and worked with the Department of Corrective Services in Queensland, Australia for almost 15 years, his last position was Deputy Director-General. Peter started his corrections career in Germany in 1980.
New South Wales is one of eight States and Territories in Australia and Corrective Services New South Wales has responsibility for prisons and community corrections. It is the largest Australian corrections jurisdiction.
Peter has a strong background in corrections operation, in particular offender management and intervention. He has extensive experience in prison management and policy formulation. Peter also presided over significant prison infrastructure design, construction and commissioning and has particular expertise in the development of service standards for the delivery of correctional services by the private sector and contract management.
Peter holds a Masters of Public Administration and Bachelor of Social Work degree.
Past Projects
The Twinning Project
Desistance from crime involves not only the termination of offending (also referred to as “primary desistance”), but also some level of transformation of self-identity and self-worth (also referred to as “secondary desistance”). Such transformation is usually presented through a “narrative of change” linked to taking on new roles (such as parent, employee, coach, etc.) that are no longer associated with offending. Avenues for transformation and pro-social role development are difficult to come by for many of those involved in the criminal justice system who are disproportionately drawn from socially excluded backgrounds. Coupled with the stigma attached to a criminal record, offenders also typically have low levels of pro-social capital, few positive relationships and limited employment prospects, all of which are required to support successful rehabilitation efforts. Research has shown that a “catalyst for change” is fundamental to successful desistance and rehabilitation efforts, and research is beginning to show that engagement in sport and physical activity can potentially act as such a catalyst. The introduction of the Twinning Project in 2018 within the HM Prison and Probation Service, which aims to utilise football coaching to tackle the “revolving door” of offending, was therefore a timely and important initiative.