Supervise a community work crew

You are a Community Corrections Officer at the Maitland office.

Simulated workplaceEntry missionCAQA Ridgeway Correctional Centre

This mission touches on a mature theme. It is fictional. If it brings up something hard for you, you can stop at any time and talk to someone you trust.

What is going on

On Saturday the Maitland office sends a crew of five offenders on community work orders to Riverside Reserve to clear vegetation and repaint picnic shelters for the local council. One of the five, Lachlan Pike, is on parole with a community work condition and has 72 hours left to complete. The crew uses hand tools, a brush cutter and paint, and works near a creek and a public walking track. The council has asked for the work to be finished by 3 pm. Last month a crew member left a site without permission and the breach was not reported until the following week.

Leanne Baxter, Offender Services Manager
Subject: Community work crew at Riverside Reserve

The Maitland community work crew is at Riverside Reserve on Saturday clearing vegetation for the council. Five offenders on community work orders, including Lachlan Pike who is on parole. You will supervise the crew. Before Saturday do the site risk assessment, check the tools are on the tally, confirm each person's hours and conditions in Offender Case Management, and be clear about what happens if someone does not turn up or leaves the site. Record attendance and hours on return.

Your brief

Prepare for, supervise and record the community work session so that the work is done safely, every participant's attendance and hours are recorded accurately, and any absence or misconduct is handled and reported on the day in line with the centre's procedures.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Work Health and Safety Policy and the Offender Welfare and Duty of Care Policy sections that apply to supervision outside a correctional facility.
Complete a site risk assessment for Riverside Reserve covering tools, the brush cutter, the creek, the public track, heat and first aid, and record the controls.
Check each participant's order conditions, hours remaining and any alerts in the Offender Case Management system before the session.
Prepare a tool tally and a start-of-session briefing covering the work, the rules, breaks, what counts as leaving the site and what happens if someone does not comply.
Run or simulate the session, managing a scripted event where a participant becomes verbally abusive and wants to leave early.
Record attendance, hours completed and any incident in the Offender Case Management system and complete an Incident Report Form if required.
Write a short session report for the Offender Services Manager including the council's sign-off and any breach to be reported.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Site risk assessment
Briefing notes and tool tally
Updated Offender Case Management records with hours
Session report and any incident report

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.