United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

SPS has long recognised that family support plays an important role in an inmate’s rehabilitation process and regular visits was are of the ways in which family members can show their support for their loved ones. Hence, SPS has always been looking for ways to encourage more visits from the inmates’ family members and friends. However, as most of our prisons are located in the Eastern part of Singapore and away from major transportation routes. They are not very accessible for family members who reside in the other parts of the country affecting their decisions to visit their loved ones regularly.

There were also concerns for some families who did not wish to bring the young children to visit their parent(s) at the visit facilities located within prisons itself as they felt that the environment and experience may not be good for the young children.

With regards to the booking of visits, the call centre was the sole visit booking channel for visitors and only operated during normal working hours. Hence, visitors might experience long waiting times if the call centre agents were fully engaged. In addition, overseas family and friends might find it costly to book a visit to the inmates via the call centre.

There was also a lack of integration between existing systems and processes that resulted in confirmations of visit bookings being not instantaneous. Furthermore, there was a possibility of double-bookings on same time slots by visitors, lawyers and law enforcement officers. Without a centralised system, visitors had to re-register with the new institution whenever the inmates were transferred, which not only inconvenienced the visitors but was also more paper work for the officers.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The initiative: Prison Link Centres (PLCs) and Visit Management System (VMS) Two PLCs with televisit facilities were set up in Jurong (western part of Singapore) and Toa Payoh (central part of Singapore) in order to provide greater convenience for families and friends of inmates. Both PLCs are located in the heartlands and easily accessible by public transport as they are near the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train stations and the bus interchanges. The design and furnishings at the PLCs were carefully chosen to ‘soften’ the environment and make it more welcoming for adults as well as young children. In addition, the televisit cubicles are sound-proof and air-conditioned, thus reducing the noise disruptions caused by other visitors and providing a more conducive environment for the visits. Although the PLCs have only been operational for a few months, the average daily visit transaction for both PLCs is estimated to be 80, and the figures are climbing which reflects that the PLCs are gaining popularity among the inmates’ families. Encouraged by the increasing popularity of PLCs in the heartland, additional PLCs could be deployed in other parts of Singapore. At the same time that the PLCs were being set up, a Visit Management System (VMS) was being developed; it consisted of the Visit Sub-system (VSS), Televisit Sub-system (TSS) and a Public Portal (PP). The VSS centrally collates and manages all information on visit matters. With the centralised system, visitors not longer need to re-register at another institution in the event that the inmate is transferred. The sytem also taps onto the information in the prison management system to assess the inmates’ availability, thus it is able to confirm inmate’s availability instantaneously upon booking, unlike previously when the visit bookings could only be confirmed the next working day. TSS is the system that makes the PLCs possible by putting in place the video-conferencing technology that links the PLCs and the institutions. PP is the public facing web application that enables bookings via the internet/self-service kiosks in addition to booking via the call centre which only operated during office hours. This means that visitors and external agencies (e.g. law enforcement officers and lawyers) are able to make bookings conveniently over the internet at their own convenience 24/7. Another added feature in the VMS is that visitors are now able to change their profile or mode of notifications (including telephone, email or SMS) online. Allowing them to select their preferred mode of notification helps to ensure that they are able to receive timely updates such as reminders about their bookings.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Singapore Prison Service officers proposed and implemented the solution. At a later stage, several NGOs such as the Singapore Children’s Society offered their facilities for the televisit services as well.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
In order to maximise the convenience intended for the visitors, SPS strategically studied the distribution pattern of the inmates’ family residences as well as considered the accessibility of various sites by public transport. The sites selected were close to major transportation hubs but were discreet and away from public view to ensure that the visitors do not have any privacy concerns when going to the PLCs. The other objective was to ensure good take-up rate of the televisit at the PLCs. It meant that SPS had to convince the visitors that the televisit was a viable alternative that was just as good as face-to-face visits. A 50% televisit policy was introduced to increase the take-up rate of televisits; visitors have to utilise the televisit service at least once for every two visits per month. As an incentive, the visit time is extended when visitors opt to use televisit service as compared to the face-to-face visit. The policy ensured that visitors got to experience the benefits of utilising the PLCs for televisits, which helped to convince them that it was indeed an alternative that saved them time and money. Another strategy to help win over the visitors to have their televisits at the PLCs was to have in place a good televisit system which offer both good quality visual and audio. The plan was to put in place dedicated hardware instead of the cheaper alternatives such as webcams which were lower in quality. Extensive testing was also done to ensure that the televisit cubicles were ‘tuned’ to perfection such as adjusting the microphone sound level, the lighting brightness in the room, etc. There was also a win-win situation as more visitors opted for televisits at the PLCs. It helped to reduce the strain on existing face-to-face visit facilities by diverting some of the visit traffic to the PLCs and with the reduced number of visits at the actual prisons’ facilities, the visitors can then enjoy better service and shorter waiting times.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Seeking top management support was the first step in the process, as without the support and approval of the management, the project would not be possible. Once the project got the endorsement of the management, a cross-functional team comprising of officers from Programme, Infrastructural Development and Technology branches was formed to source for suitable PLC sites and video-conferencing technology. The next step was the setting up of PLCs and development of VMS. Vendors were engaged for the renovations of the sites as well as the development of VMS. Throughout the development, the team closely monitored the process and ensured that everything was on track. In addition, feedback and comments were solicited from various parties in the organisation in order to make further refinements to the system. Once the systems were ready, training was conducted for the front-line officers to prepare them to use the systems. After the PLCs and VMS were ready, Prison officers started to enrol inmates’ families and friends to use the system. Extensive publicity campaigns such as roadshows were held, pamphlets were distributed and the officers actively encouraged the visitors to make use of the PLCs. Following the roll-out of the PLCs and VMS, officers continue to track the usage and utilisation of the PLCs. The results were then analysed and the system reviewed to find ways for improvement. At the same time, front-line visit officers continued to encourage more visitors to utilise the PLCs.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The success of the PLC depended heavily on the mindset change of visitors to engage the televisit services. It was overcome by the introduction of the 50% televisit policy, as well as providing an incentive of additional time to see their loved ones whenever visitors used televisit services. One other obstacle encountered was getting the visitors to book the visits using the internet and self-service kiosk. The main problem was that the visitors were unfamiliar with the new services or did not know about them. This was overcome by putting up roadshows at the various PLCs to promote the use of these new booking avenues.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
A committee consisting of officers from the Programme, Infrastructure Development and Technology branches was assigned to oversee the initiative from start to roll-out. Front-line visit officers were roped in to promote the new services to the inmates’ families and friends when they turned up for the face-to-face visits. Funding was granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative is sustainable as the inmates’ family members and friends gradually realise that the PLCs and VMS offers them convenience as well as cost and time savings. In addition, the 50% televisit policy and extended visit time incentive also encourages the usage of the PLCs. The televisit concept can be easily replicated and adopted by other organisations. It can be used at hospitals during times of contingencies such as outbreak of contagious diseases, where family members can visit the patients from a remote location.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
For any initiative to be successful, it requires not only strong management support, but also buy-in from the ground staff. The entire organisation has to believe that the initiative was beneficial to the family members, but also helps in the rehabilitation of the inmates. The initiative also reduces the strain on the existing face-to-face visit facilities and the stress on the front-line visit staff in handling visit bookings as well as the large number of visitors who turn up for the visits. An effective communication plan was also necessary to communicate the new initiative and policy to the users. The 50% televisit policy would ensure that the PLCs will be better utilised, but there were concerns that family members would not be receptive of the new initiative. Hence, the management approved the provision of extended visit duration for the televisit sessions as an incentive for the visitors. There was a need to communicate these to the users to ensure that they understood the rationale behind as well as the benefits that they would enjoy. There were also concerns that the 50% televisit policy would not be popular with the users. However, the management decided to push forward with the policy having strong belief that it would be beneficial to all the stakeholders. Their determination to stick with the policy ensured the utilisation of the PLCs for televisits. It also encouraged the family members to try out the new PLCs which they found to be more convenient than travelling long distances for the face-to-face visits.


Institution Name:		Singapore Prison Service
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Clark Neo
Title:		Manager, Policy & Planning
Telephone/ Fax:		6546 9358
Institution's / Project's Website:		6542 7254
E-mail:		neo_aik_wee@pris.gov.sg
Address:		407 Upper Changi Road North
Postal Code:		Singapore 507658
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information