White Paper on Serving People

• Publication Date ： 2019-07-17
• Last updated：2023-10-20
• View count：2754

1. Foreword
   For a modern government, to build an incorruptible and competent government which takes serving the people as its foremost and fundamental function, high-quality services are indispensable. The entire staff of our penitentiary has always abided by the objective of “serving the people”. Everything we do is for the convenience of the people and is beneficial to the people as “improving service quality” is the focus of our work. Due to the special nature of our penitentiary and the variety of our business scope, the applicable laws and regulations vary with the people we accommodate. However, to implement the basic policy of the government, our penitentiary has always been holding fast to the implementation of serving the people, so as to forge and maintain a brand-new image of the penitentiary establishment. In order to promote the reform of our penitentiary, to realize its rectifying function and to strengthen the anti-corruption mechanism, we have taken “be cautious, be dedicated, for the convenience of the people, be innovative, be efficient” as the objective for the staff of the penitentiary. On the basis of administration in accordance with law, we have been inspecting and improving ourselves constantly so as to pursue the best service quality.
2. An overview of the main business of our penitentiary
   
   1. investigation and classification:
      Our penitentiary implements the work of investigation and classification, that is, when someone has been taken into the penitentiary, he/she will receive guidance through the procedure, then the private information such as personality, ability, physical and mental status, circumstances, experience and educational background, etc of the new inmate will be collected and analyzed, and a specific treatment plan for the individual will be formulated, so as to serve as the basis to classify and to discipline him/her.
   2. edification
      Due to the prevalence of teleologism in modern punishment, the execution of freedom penalty tends to become edificatory in various democratic countries throughout the world, aiming to change the temperament of the punished in the hope of that he/she will become penitent upon edification and will take the road to rehabilitation and will adapt himself/herself to the modern social life. Having been engaged in the cause of rehabilitation for years, based on the essence of providing education to all people without discrimination, our penitentiary has put the focus of its work to the inculcation of national spirit education, vocational education and life education. By the cultivation of his/her temperament, the impartation of knowledge, the strengthening of his/her constitution, the cultivation of gregariousness, with the assistance of the progressive treatment, the mitigation of penalty and parole, the punished will be heartened up to take the road to rehabilitation.
   3. operation
      The operation of penitentiary will serve the purpose of that anyone that is serving a sentence here will be trained with life-making skills, acquire the habit of industriousness, and cultivate his/her own moral character.
   4. the training of skills
      The training of skills refers to trainings at public expense provided by the penitentiary to anyone that is serving a sentence, which aims to help him/her learn professional skill which he/she can rely on to make a living. Our penitentiary had established a professional skill training center in 1980, which had been approved and put on record by the Council of Labor Affairs of Executive Yuan as "the affiliated skill training center to Xinzhu juvenile penitentiary, Taiwan" in 1992. In response to the reorganization of our penitentiary on July 1st of 1999, we had submitted an application to the Council of Labor Affairs on February 1st of 1999 to rename the center as "the affiliated skill training center to Xinzhu penitentiary, Taiwan " and the application had been approved.
   5. safe custody management
      Being temporarily isolated from the society, people who are kept under custody cannot be void of uneasy feelings and will be easily disturbed. Therefore, our penitentiary takes the loving heart as the fundamental of its daily life management. Instead of punishment, encouragement is used. By patient persuasion, correction is achieved. The notion of discipline is nurtured through militarized management; congeniality is cultivated through the courtesy movement. Work review seminar has become a regular practice and suggestion box has been set up. Two-way communication is achieved and emotional disturbance is appeased. The inmate’s temperament is cultivated in the process of beautification of environment. Under the humane management of our penitentiary, inmates will be influenced imperceptibly and be changed unobtrusively, eventually become more active, more voluntary, more self-respecting, and more self-governing.
   6. Provision
      Food: Apart from a meal expense of NT$ 1,500 per month, there are deductions from operation surplus and cooperative associations surplus which serve as meal allowances to improve the inmates’ meals. Porridge, soybean milk, steamed buns and vegetables pickled in soy sauce are provided in turn for breakfast. Both dinner and supper consist of 3 dishes plus one soup. Fruits are served on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The procurement of non-staple food is carried out through public bidding in categories. Display refrigerators have been set up in the reception room and the kitchen to display 3 meals of the day, so that relatives and friends can see what the inmate eats. If necessary, food samples can be refrigerated in the kitchen for hygiene inspection.
   7. Healthcare
      
      1. Health checkup: In order to maintain the inmate’s physical health, in addition to the medical examination upon entrance, there is a periodical quarterly health checkup.
      2. Environmental hygiene: Much attention has been paid to the environmental cleanness and food hygiene. Ditches are cleaned every day and disinfected with disinfectant spray periodically.
      3. Chest examination: We have invited the Chronic Disease Control Institution of Department of Health to come to our penitentiary periodically to carry out X-ray chest examination on inmates. If anyone contracted tuberculosis is detected, he/she will be transferred to the custody of Taichung Penitentiary for treatment.
      4. Health education: We have requested Hsin Chu City Bureau of Health to arrange for lectures on mental hygiene, physiological hygiene, drug education, medical and healthcare, elementary knowledge of first-aid, etc.
      5. Diseases diagnosis & treatment: The penitentiary has set up the Department of Internal Medicine, the Department of Surgery and the Department of Dentistry. Everyday there are guest doctors offering clinic service to the penitentiary. Furthermore, the penitentiary will continue to introduce more medical equipments, so that one day the penitentiary will become a hospital of itself.
      6. From the 1995 fiscal year on, we have invited Hsin Chu General Hospital under the Department of Health to assign 3 doctors to our penitentiary to partake in the healthcare of inmates, so as to provide the inmates with better healthcare service.
      7. Medical treatment out of the penitentiary under custody: If an inmate contracts an acute disease which can not be treated appropriately in the penitentiary, then he/she will be sent to Hsin Chu Hospital under custody for diagnosis and treatment. Our penitentiary has set up an exclusive ward in that hospital, aiming to protect the safety of the inmate during the hospitalization period.
      8. Released on bail for medical treatment: Every month the penitentiary will inspect inmates who have been released on bail for medical treatment. The situation of these inmates will be recorded in detail. Furthermore, we will request police authorities in vicinity by letter for their assistance to look round, so as to prevent any inmate from committing crimes while he/she is at large with the excuse of “on bail for medical treatment.”
3. Receiving visitors
   1. Volunteer service reception can provide the following services:
      
      1. Registration and inquiry of visit reservation.
      2. Inquiry of relative persons who had made a visit reservation.
      3. On-line inquiry concerning the progress of a visit application.
      4. Inquiry of the basic information of an inmate.
   2. Hardware facilities:
      
      1. Interview guidance indicating line meets the convenience requirements of the people.
      2. The indicative labels of number of reception desks and their service items can guide the people through the operation process and specify what certificates are needed, so that people can go through the formalities instantly and rapidly. These labels can meet the convenience requirements of the people.
      3. The location map of our penitentiary and traffic timetables provides as the reference for the people on traffic service network, so as to prevent them from making a futile trip and unnecessary expenses.
      4. Sidelights of the daily life of inmates, including various activities such as cultural and recreational competitions, religious education, education, assignments, skill training, festival and ceremonial activities, articles solicitation, etc have been displayed here, aiming to help the relatives feel relieved.
      5. The diet menu of inmates is published everyday. Inmates are provided with nutrition-balanced, hygienic, safe and reliable foods. Therefore, both relatives of inmates and the external world can be relieved.
      6. A full-function visit guidance system can be played through the control of a touch panel. Visiting relatives can acquire information on various aspects.
      7. A barrier-free environment specifically designed for the physically or mentally disabled enables everyone to enjoy various social resources and a barrier-free living-environment in this restriction-free place.
   3. A humane and ecological space
      Equipped with ergonomic chairs, the visiting room and public contact area are well-ventilated, neat, and, due to its transparent safety glass design, full of bright light. Enjoying the sight of bonsais which is furnished there, visitors can adjust their uneasy emotion when they are waiting.
   4. Long-distance interview
      For the convenience of relatives of inmates, our penitentiary offers a service through which relatives of inmates can have long distance interviews with inmates under custody or serving sentences in a remote location by the utilization of video facilities of correction authorities in the vicinity without the trouble of long journeys.
4. Open to visitors
   To comply with an official letter issued by the Ministry of Legal Affairs on July 23, 2004: “. . . unveil the mysterious veil on correction authorities—-to fully open the door to relatives of inmates, so that they can visit various hardware facilities, software and corrective measures, so as to make them have a general understanding of the environment within the penitentiary and the treatment inmates received.” We receive relatives to visit our penitentiary every month on a regular time schedule, and will make public to (or inform) relatives of inmates.
5. Audit of service quality
   
   1. The Ethics Office of our penitentiary will inspect our staff, publicly contact the public, companies, relatives of inmates, ex-inmates that have been released, etc at irregular intervals, and will test the telephone service courtesy at irregular intervals, to find out the service attitude and spirit of our staff, so as to improve the effects and quality of our service to the people.
   2. We have set up a suggestion box to collect the public opinions on corruption impeachment, rectification of ethics, excerpt ordinary complaint letters or various media reports, handle complaints properly and prudently, and will serve them as reference for improvement.
6. Test on telephone service courtesy
   1. Based on the “implementation key points to the promotion of telephone courtesy in the Ministry of Legal Affairs and various authorities under its jurisdiction,” we strengthen our work on the promotion of telephone courtesy movement and subsequent test, trying to put the idea of ”for the convenience of the people, benefit the people” into daily life practice.
   2. We inspect our staff at irregular intervals and carry out telephone service courtesy tests periodically, to find out the service attitude and spirit of our staff, so as to improve the effects and quality of our service to the people.
   3. We strengthen our efforts on the implementation of courteous service via telephone. Every colleague has been required to pay attention to their service attitude on telephone. All our colleagues must speak in a soft tone when answering a telephone by using “yes,” “wait a minute,please,” or “ I am sorry” when necessary. The conversation should be concise and clear, and at the end of the conversation, end it with “thank you,” “you are welcome (don’t mention it),””goodbye,” etc.