OASys and Sentence Planning Solicitors

OASys and Sentence Planning Solicitors

Our expert team of OASys solicitors at Reeds can help with any sentence planning issues and OASys issues that may occur. Often, a prisoner may wish to dispute their sentence plan or may not receive one at all. This is where Reeds can help.

We can provide advice on the plan itself, the courses a prisoner should be completing to reduce their risk and help in ensuring that their plan is reviewed appropriately.

When to Contact Reeds

 

Our OASys solicitors can assist in this matter by assisting with liaising with OMU about courses that need to be completed or courses that someone would like to complete. We can make representations against completion of a course or try to ascertain where people may be in the waiting list.

 

Call us today on 01865 592670 to discuss your case or complete enquiry form on our contact page here. Alternatively please email prisonlaw@reeds.co.uk

 

 

 

Meet the team

How We Can Help

Our Prison Law Solicitors are some of the most experienced in the country. Many are also specialists in Criminal Defence law. We are instructed by people from across England and Wales and are known for our hard work, intelligence, and focus on protecting our clients’ best interests.

Regardless of what happened to result in you being held in custody, you have a series of fundamental human rights that must be observed. We are dedicated to ensuring our clients receive fair parole hearings and ‘nickings’ adjudications.

Although people aged between 18-25 are not sent to full adult prisons, they are often vulnerable. We provide expert advice and representation on all legal problems you may encounter in prison and explain things in plain English.

Our Prison Law Solicitors can help you with a full range of matters, including but not limited to sentence calculations, determinant and indeterminant recalls, independent adjudication, parole hearings, and more. Regardless of how complicated your case is, we can provide the expertise and experience you need.

We are regularly instructed to help people who have received incorrect Sentence Plans or sentence calculation issues. We understand it can be hard to challenge sentencing issues, especially if you are being denied Legal Aid because you have been told you have not exhausted all the complaint methods available within the prison system. You can be confident that we will swiftly spot any inaccuracies in your sentence calculation or Sentence Plan and robustly represent you to ensure matters are corrected.

Get in touch

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FAQ

OASys refers to the ‘Offender Assessment System’. This is designed to measure the risks or needs of prisoners. The OASys allows for a Probation Officer to:

    • Determinate the likelihood of an offender being re-convicted

    • Assess the risk of serious harm to either the individual or others

    • Identify any needs, including cognitive behavioural problems and a personality profile

    • Aid with the management for any risks of harm

    • Combines this information with the sentence plan

    • Suggest any need for specialist assessments

    • Determine and measure change throughout the sentence or supervision.

The sentence plan should be based off of the information provided in the assessment.

For those serving determinate sentences, their Community Offender Manager should review the OASys between eight and two weeks before the prisoner is released.

People serving indeterminate sentences will have their OASys reviewed by the Community Offender Manager 24 weeks before their Parole Eligibility Date.

When somebody is sentenced, they should receive a sentence plan. This plan helps a prisoner to prepare for release back into the community. The plan may have specific goals for a prisoner to complete during their sentence. A sentence plan is designed to reduce the risk of crimes being committed in the future.

It is essential that the offender understands the sentence planning process, including any appeals processes or parole.

 

Both the prisoner, prison offender manager (POM) and community offender manager (COM) put together the sentence plan. Other professionals may be consulted if needed, such as psychologists or psychiatrists.

A Prisoner Offender Manager (POM) works with the person in custody while they spend time in prison. They are part of the Offender Management Unit. The POM will also work closely with your Community Offender Manager (COM) to help with the completion of goals.

The Community Offender Manager is also known as a probation officer. They will supervise the person when released on licence and provide them with support to assist them. In some cases, they may visit the person in prison before they are released and help them plan their goals.

The prisoner should be able to see and comment on their sentence plan and it should be agreed upon by all parties.

There are several items that should be included in a sentence plan. These are:

    • What the prisoner needs to do to achieve the goals

    • A timeline or deadline to achieve this by

    • The overall outcomes of the sentence plan

    • How the prison, offender manager or supervisor will help the prisoner to achieve these goals

    • Who is in charge of reviewing and updating the sentence plan if needed

The plan must be ‘realistic and attainable’ and the actions needed should be laid out in order of priority. It may highlight the likelihood of re-offending and plans to mitigate this risk as well as tasks to help the prisoner re-settle in the community upon release.

The sentence plan should be reviewed periodically throughout a prisoner’s sentence. However, significant changes or exceptional circumstances may result in a review. They may alter the goals or contents of the sentence plan to align with the prisoner.

Circumstances that may trigger a review are:

    • Transfer to another prison or category

    • Achievement of goals

    • A Parole Review is coming up

    • The release date is upcoming

    • Progress is not being made

A Sentence Plan not only helps a prisoner with their chance of early release or parole, but it also allows them to reduce their likelihood of re-offending in the future. It aims to support all different types of people so they can improve their behaviour.

Every person has completely unique life experiences and circumstances. The sentence plan focuses on seven key areas in order to support the prisoner and identify their individual needs.

The seven pathways for a Sentence Plan are:

    1. Accommodation and Support

    1. Employment and Education

    1. Drugs and Alcohol

    1. Family and Social Support

    1. Life Skills and Offending Behaviour

    1. Health

    1. Financial Management

We are not here to judge people’s circumstances. Our aim is to help to get the best sentence plan that best supports someone’s goals.

You will be in contact with your Offender Manager or Supervisor to stay on track. The final meeting in the sentence planning process is the pre-release meeting.

This meeting is to ensure that the offender has adequate plans in place for their release. If they do not have a fixed address, employment or financial support, a plan will be put in place for support.

MAAPA, or Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, means that you will still receive a sentence plan and have targets to work towards. The police, probation and prison services all work together to reduce the risk and protect the public from harm.

The three MAPPA categories are:

Category 1: All registered sexual offenders

Category 2: Violent or other sex offenders not subject to notification requirements

Category 3: All other dangers offenders.

Those with a MAPPA assessment will have a risk management plan that caters towards their specific needs. They may have slightly different conditions on their plan, such as if they are a risk to children or cannot have contact with an individual etc.