Application
This unit of competency describes the skills required to assist offenders to identify their need to change drug and alcohol behaviour and support offenders to reach their goals.
Assistance may take the form of:
counselling
building trust and rapport
personal planning
referral to program
referral to specialist support
advocacy with other services and with family and community support
responding to emergencies
giving constructive and supportive feedback
maintaining professional confidentiality
Candidates may work in generic offender management programs with offenders with a range of behaviour profiles and in the context of different levels and nature of risks, or candidates may work in specialist programs with offenders with only one form of offending behaviour or risk management requirement.
The skills and knowledge described in this unit must be applied within the legislative, regulatory and policy environment in which they are carried out. Organisational policies and procedures must be consulted and adhered to, particularly those related to interactions with offenders and duty of care.
A person undertaking this role would normally work autonomously with support from a range of established sources. The role is complex, drawing upon the candidate's extracting, extrapolating and inferencing processes.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENTS | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
Elements describe the essential outcomes | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. Where bold italicised text is used, further information is detailed in the range of conditions section. |
1. Assist offenders to identify their need to change | 1.1 Gather information on offenders' behaviour and drug-taking or drinking history from a range of different sources. 1.2 Encourage offender to review their behaviour and experiences with drugs or drinking honestly, realistically and critically. 1.3 Confirm and acknowledge offenders' past attempts to control use. 1.4 Respond promptly to signs of distress or crisis according to the context and emergency response guidelines. 1.5 Encourage offender to assess and explore their level of commitment, the effect and benefits of incentives and the options for change that exist. 1.6 Assist offenders to identify realistic and achievable goals for change. 1.7 Check strategies for intervention with drug and alcohol behaviour for consistency with the organisation’s policies and objectives. 1.8 Assist offenders to develop a plan and timetable for action to achieve their goals. |
2. Support offenders to meet their goals | 2.1 Identify and provide information and resources required by offenders to assist them meet their goals according to availability and priorities. 2.2 Encourage and develop opportunities for the offender to develop their own resources. 2.3 Respond promptly to significant departures from goals and report them. 2.4 Allocate or provide individual counselling and group support according to offenders' needs, goals and the suitability of available programs. 2.5 Gather information on offenders' progress from a range of different sources and match it against the goals and action plan. 2.6 Negotiate changes or adjustments needed with the offender and other interested parties. 2.7 Acknowledge offenders' progress and respond suitably. 2.8 Document and report outcomes against goals. |
Foundation Skills
The foundation skills demands of this unit have been mapped for alignment with the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). The following tables outline the performance levels indicated for successful attainment of the unit.
Further information on ACSF and the foundation skills underpinning this unit can be found in the Foundation Skills Guide on the GSA website.
Competency Field
Intervention