Offender Assessment System
Encyclopedia
OASys is the abbreviated term for the Offender Assessment System, used in the England
and Wales
by Her Majesty's Prison Service
and the National Probation Service
from 2002 to measure the risks and needs of criminal offenders under their supervision.
OASys is designed to enable a properly trained and qualified individual; often a Probation Officer, to:
OASys comprises a series of computer
-based forms on which clinical evaluations are made by staff of Offenders, and supervision and sentence plans for the forthcoming period of supervision are recorded on a periodic basis - typically every 16 weeks for offenders in the community
, and less frequently for imprisoned offenders
.
OASys supports the What Works? initiative of the Prison and Probation Services, by providing metrics by which the characteristics of offenders and their offences (inputs) can be analysed alongside information on interventions made (inputs) to the offender, and re-conviction data for offenders (outcomes), in order to enable refinement to be made to interventions (based on a consideration of the relation between inputs and outcomes) as to improve outcomes - in other words, to decrease recidivism
rates by ensuring that interventions are as appropriate and purposeful as possible.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
by Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
and the National Probation Service
National Probation Service
thumb|right|100px|NPS logoThe National Probation Service for England and Wales is a statutory Criminal Justice Service, mainly responsible for the supervision of offenders in the community and the provision of reports to the criminal courts to assist them in their sentencing duties...
from 2002 to measure the risks and needs of criminal offenders under their supervision.
OASys is designed to enable a properly trained and qualified individual; often a Probation Officer, to:
- assess how likely an offender is to be re-convicted
- identify and classify offending-related needs, including basic personality characteristics and cognitive behavioural problems
- assess risk of serious harm, risks to the individual and other risks
- assist with management of risk of harm
- links the assessment to the supervision or sentence plan
- indicate the need for further specialist assessments
- measure change during the period of supervision / sentence.
OASys comprises a series of computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
-based forms on which clinical evaluations are made by staff of Offenders, and supervision and sentence plans for the forthcoming period of supervision are recorded on a periodic basis - typically every 16 weeks for offenders in the community
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, and less frequently for imprisoned offenders
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
.
OASys supports the What Works? initiative of the Prison and Probation Services, by providing metrics by which the characteristics of offenders and their offences (inputs) can be analysed alongside information on interventions made (inputs) to the offender, and re-conviction data for offenders (outcomes), in order to enable refinement to be made to interventions (based on a consideration of the relation between inputs and outcomes) as to improve outcomes - in other words, to decrease recidivism
Recidivism
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior...
rates by ensuring that interventions are as appropriate and purposeful as possible.
External links
- OASys: the new Offender Assessment System - National Probation Service, Spring 2003
- Findings from the measurement of OASys completion rates - Ministry of Justice, March 2009