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Elements and Performance Criteria

1. Support female offenders in maintaining relationships
   • Assist female offenders to maintain contact with family, friends and support networks.
   • Facilitate contact between female offenders and networks in the community according to organisation’s procedures.
   • Encourage female offenders to confidently and positively manage themselves and their relationships .
   • Provide support to female offenders in a manner that maintains the integrity of self-management and personal dignity.
2. Maintain professional relationship with female offenders
   • Communicate with female offenders in a manner appropriate to the offenders’ needs and circumstances.
   • Develop and maintain appropriate relationships with officers, service agencies and personal support.
   • Respond positively, appropriately and consistently to female offenders’ requests and concerns.
   • Manage and maintain professional boundaries.
3. Facilitate self awareness of offender’s behaviour
   • Establish and maintain acceptable boundaries of behaviour.
   • Provide feedback to female offenders to assist them to identify the impact of their behaviour on self and others.
   • Assist female offenders to identify unacceptable patterns of behaviour and negotiate change.
   • Provide positive reinforcement of acceptable behaviour and acknowledge progress toward change.
   • Utilise support networks to support changes in behaviour.
4. Provide supervision to female offenders
   • Conduct interviews with female offenders according to organisation requirements.
   • Use communication strategies with female offenders to promote effective interaction.
   • Identify and use a range of communication styles to respect and reflect the diversity of the workplace and working with female offenders.
   • Observe female offenders’ routines and monitor changes and identify needs and potential risks.
   • Refer to specialist services where needs and risks are identified.

Required Skills

Required skills employing a wide range of dynamic security techniques to achieve cooperation and manage conflict assessing risks and special needs of female offenders and providing information based on the degree of risk responding to risks for the safety and welfare of female offenders and staff in the custodial environment and the community reporting concerns and incidents to appropriate staff and managers using communication strategies to find out about offender needs and issues while maintaining a professional relationship noting changes in the behaviour of female offenders that could indicate concerns raising issues with female offenders and assisting them to change negative and destructive behaviour adapting interpersonal methods in recognition of the special needs of female offenders using service networks inside and outside the organisation to optimise support for female offenders modelling respect honesty and cultural sensitivity to female offenders identifying appropriate referrals to specialist services

Required knowledge factors that contribute to female offending behaviour organisations policies guidelines and procedures related to safety control and surveillance and preventing and responding to incidents organisations management and accountability systems organisations offender risk management procedures organisations code of conduct and ethical behaviour specific statutory requirements for the care and protection of female offenders organisations reporting procedures and practices range of services provided by the justice system and the organisation to female offenders court orders sentence requirements and classification system mental health issuesdisorders and support services effective strategies for working with female offenders impact of staff gender on working with female offenders understanding of impact of primary care giving including children in prison principles of effective communication including cultural sensitivity principal cultural observations and requirements of main cultural groups in the female offenders community female offending behaviour patterns in the criminal justice system community agencies and services for female offenders policies on nondiscriminatory behaviour

Evidence Required

Overview of assessment	Evidence for assessment must be gathered over time in a range of contexts to ensure the person can achieve the unit outcome and apply the competency in different situations or environments
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit	Assessment and evidence must confirm ability to encourage female offenders to maintain relationships maintain professional boundaries with offenders communicate with female offenders effectively using language appropriate to offenders background assist female offenders to identify their behaviour patterns observe female offenders to identify needs and risks refer to specialist services at appropriate times In addition to integrated demonstration of the elements and their related performance criteria look for evidence that confirms the knowledge requirements of this unit the skills requirements of this unit application of employability skills as they relate to this unit
Context of and specific resources for assessment	This unit contains a wide range of variables to reflect the diverse nature of female offender supervision and the different services provided in and for correctional services Selection from the range of variables will reflect the specific requirements of the work site and the defined work role Valid assessment of this unit requires a workplace environment or one that closely resembles normal work practice and replicates the range of conditions likely to be encountered by an individual supervising offenders effectively as part of a coordinated team including coping with difficulties irregularities and changes to routine copies of legislation policies procedures and guidelines relating to supervising offenders access to appropriate learning and assessment support when required
Method of assessment	The following assessment methods are suggested observation of performance in routine workplace activities within a range of agreed responsibilities and in various work locations written andor oral questioning to assess knowledge and understanding completion of workplace documents and reports produced as part of routine work activities thirdparty reports from experienced practitioners completion of performance feedback from supervisors and colleagues
Guidance information for assessment	Assessment methods should reflect workplace demands and any identified special needs of the candidate including language and literacy implications and cultural factors that may affect responses to the questions In all cases where practical assessment is used it will be combined with targeted questioning to assess the underpinning knowledge

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Range Statement

Networks in the community may include:	medical professionals, including psychiatrists psychologists and other clinicians government agencies community organisations
Professional boundaries may include:	clearly established limits of appropriate and acceptable behaviour such as: demonstrating empathy maintaining control and reinforcing rules with gestures of support using a non-judgemental approach confidentiality
Support networks may be defined as:	case managers or program staff
Needs and risks may include:	awareness of physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse of offender suicide and self-harm mental health assaulting and harming others breaching conditions and/or rules drug and substance abuse risk taking domestic violence

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