The territorial Department of Justice is not adequately preparing offenders for successful reintegration into the community, the auditor general of Canada has found after a year-and-a-half-long review.

The department, which operates the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC), is also not properly managing community supervision, including probation, the review has found.

Nor is it sufficiently incorporating Yukon First Nations’ cultural heritage into its programming.

Released this morning, the report sums up the findings of an audit of the department, the jail and the offender supervision and services branch, and provides recommendations for improvement.

“Corrections is a significant issue in Yukon, as crime rates in the territory are among the highest in Canada,” it states. “Yukon’s 2012 crime rate was the third highest in the country.”

The audit acknowledges the challenges in managing corrections in the Yukon, such as inmate mental health issues, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and substance abuse, the small size and remoteness of communities outside Whitehorse, and providing culturally specific programming to 14 distinct First Nations.

The audit covered the period between March 15, 2012, and Sept. 1, 2014, and reviewed a random sample of 25 offenders who’d been sentenced to incarceration for at least 90 days between April 2012 and March 2013, followed by supervision in the community.

The department says in the report that its focus in 2012 and 2013 was opening the new jail and stabilizing operations. It has plans to implement much of what the audit recommends by 2015-2016.

“We are pleased that many initiatives addressing the recommendations outlined in the report are already being implemented or have been completed,” Justice Minister Brad Cathers said this morning in a statement.

“The Department of Justice and the Corrections branch appreciate the receipt of this report and the opportunity it presents for further improvement.”

The audit found that the department hasn’t offered core rehabilitation programs, which include sex offender treatment, violence prevention and substance abuse management, when case managers have determined that these programs would benefit specific offenders.

“This finding matters because the primary goal of correctional case management is to reduce offending by encouraging and enabling behavioural change,” the audit states. “Without adequate rehabilitation, offenders may pose a risk to the safety of the community.”

In a sample, 21 out of 25 inmates had case plans developed for them which set out core and non-core (life skills, job readiness, spiritual services, etc.) programs they required.

Thirteen of the 21 were not offered all the core programs recommended for them.

For example, a course on healthy relationships was prescribed for nine offenders, but only three were offered it.

The department told auditors it can’t provide all the programming identified in case plans, nor does it prioritize offenders’ most critical programming needs while they’re at WCC.

A transition plan, something required for an offender when he or she is released from jail on probation, was not completed in six out of 24 cases.

The report says in one case, an inmate with drug and alcohol problems and no job was released without a transition plan to address his issues.

“Because more offenders in Yukon are sentenced to community supervision than incarceration, it is particularly important that the department adequately support the rehabilitation of offenders who are under community supervision to reduce their chances of reoffending,” the report states.

When it comes to managing community supervision, which sees offenders released back into the community as part of their sentence, the auditor general found probation officers weren’t adequately carrying out their “supportive duties.”

Those include conducting risk assessments for sexual or spousal assault and developing case plans.

In interviews with nine probation officers, seven said they didn’t feel they’d received enough training to do their job properly.

The auditor general found that only two of the territory’s 11 probation officers received cultural training on Yukon First Nations.

The report’s third criticism pertains to the lack of First Nations heritage in the Justice department’s programming and services – it found that none of the core rehabilitation programs incorporated this cultural element.

“This finding is important because between 70 and 90 per cent of offenders in the Yukon are members of a Yukon First Nation,” the audit states.

In evaluating facility management, the auditor general found the jail was planned properly by the department and was designed to meet the territory’s current and future needs for housing inmates.

The department is also working to address “human resource challenges” that include difficulty recruiting staff and a reliance on overtime, the report says.

A press conference with the assistant auditor general was scheduled for noon today in Whitehorse.

See related story below and Friday’s edition for a report on today’s news conference.

Report’s recommendations, data at a glance

• The review of the Department of Justice says the department should comply with its case management policies both in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC) and in community supervision for

the purpose of helping to rehabilitate, heal, and reintegrate offenders;

• The department should ensure its core rehabilitation programs are accessible to offenders at WCC as well as in the community. This includes making sure that offenders who live outside of Whitehorse have access to the programs;

• The department should review its support for probation officers and identify tools and resources—such as training and clear policies and procedures—that the probation officers need to help them in managing offenders;

• The department should continue to work with the Department of Health and Social Services on providing mental health services to offenders who need them; and

• The department should take steps to address the challenges it faces in delivering correctional services and programs that incorporate the cultural heritage of Yukon First Nations and meet the needs of First Nations offenders.

Report by the numbers (2013-2014 fiscal year):

• WCC admissions: 732 (includes sentenced inmates and those on remand);

• Offender Supervision and Services admissions: 1,003 (includes probation orders, conditional sentences, bail orders);

• Average sentence for men: 87 days;

• Average sentence for women: 30 days;

• Offenders sentenced to community supervision: 378;

• Offenders sentenced to incarceration: 195;

• Offenders at WCC from the communities: 50 per cent;

• Estimated percentage of offenders with substance abuse problems: 90;

• Portion of Justice budget allocated to correctional services: more than $14.6 million;

• Personnel costs: 80 per cent of operating budget;

• Staff needed to run jail for 24 hours: 23 correctional officers and managers;

• Full-time staff at WCC: 80;

• Full-time staff at Offender Supervision and Services: 16;

• Yukon probation officers: 11;

• Cost of the new jail, opened in March 2012: $70 million;

Cost of keeping offenders in custody vs. in the community: 20 to 25 times higher.

– Compiled by Rhiannon Russell