Correctional Service Canada launches new Outreach Strategy for victims of federal offenders

OTTAWA, May 27, 2019 /CNW/ - The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is pleased to announce today the launch of a Communications and Outreach Strategy to better communicate and engage with victims of federal offenders.

Activities and opportunities to improve communications and outreach have been planned over the coming year to respond to needs that victims and survivors, and their families, have voiced through previous discussions. Our aim is to improve public awareness about the information and notifications that CSC provides to registered victims, and to clarify aspects of the correctional and conditional release system. Specifically, CSC will promote the benefits of registering with CSC and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), the information available to victims through the Victims Portal, and the benefit of submitting a victim statement.

CSC is working with federal partners, in consultation with victims and survivors, to develop new resources such as infographics, videos, a social media campaign responding to frequently asked questions, and more. Other activities, including streamlining victim-focused websites to build an online centralized resource, are also underway.

Quick Facts

• CSC works to ensure that victims of federal offenders have an effective voice in the federal correctional and justice systems.
• CSC provides information to victims of federal offenders, those serving a sentence of two years or more. A victim is an individual who has suffered physical or emotional harm, property damage or economic loss as the result of the commission of the offence.
• Victims of federal offenders must register with CSC and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) in order to be informed of specific developments about the offender who harmed them. This information is not automatically provided.
• Victim Services Officers (VSOs) can provide victims with information about CSC and the offender who harmed them, for example, regarding correctional planning, decision-making processes, and an offender's progress against their correctional plan. They can be reached at [email protected], or by phone at 1-866-806-2275.
• Victims are entitled to receive over 50 types of notifications. For example, victims can be notified of the start date and length of the sentence that the offender is serving, the offender's eligibility dates and review dates for temporary absences or parole, information about CSC's victim-mediation services, and more. In 2018, victims received 160,000 pieces of information through over 90,000 contacts from CSC and PBC.
• CSC takes into consideration victim concerns in correctional planning and invites victim input through victim statements that are considered in case preparation. These statements can be submitted by victims at any time during the offender's sentence.
• The Victims Portal is a secure online service available to registered victims, and/or their named representative(s). Victims can register using the Portal and access information about the offender who harmed them. The Portal also allows victims to submit information electronically at any time, such as victim statements, for consideration in case management decisions.

Quotes

"I have met with a number of victims and value the opportunity to hear from them. More can and must be done to communicate better with victims. The launch of this strategy is a great opportunity for CSC to provide victims with the information they have a right to."

– Anne Kelly, Commissioner, Correctional Service Canada

"Our government is committed to supporting victims of federal offenders. Victims have a right to information about individuals who have harmed them and more engagement through victim statements will help to ensure we have a correctional system that holds offenders accountable."

– The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Follow the Correctional Service of Canada on Twitter (@CSC_SCC_en) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/CorrectionalServices).

For more information, please visit www.csc-scc.gc.ca/victims

Associated Links

www.canada.ca/victims 
www.publicsafety.gc.ca/nov 
www.canada.ca/en/parole-board 
Victim Complaints - Annual Report 2017-2018

SOURCE Correctional Services of Canada

Media Relations, Correctional Service of Canada, 613-992-7711, [email protected]

Related Links

www.csc-scc.gc.ca