Matching offender to forensic care location - IFZO (algorithm)

Judicial Institutions Department

The judge imposes forensic care on people who committed a crime from a psychiatric disorder, mental illness or intellectual disability. The judge gives a punishment or measure. DJI carries out that punishment or measure and places litigants with a forensic care provider. This algorithm suggests suitable care providers.

Last change on 22nd of January 2025, at 10:18 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Other algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA, IAMA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Public Order and Safety

Begin date

01-2010

Contact information

Heeft u een vraag over dit algoritme? Deze kunt u stellen aan Informatie Rijksoverheid https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/contact/informatie-rijksoverheid. Als men uw vraag niet kan beantwoorden, stuurt Informatie Rijksoverheid uw vraag door naar de Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen die uw vraag dan beantwoordt. De Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen is eigenaar van dit algoritme.

Link to publication website

Op https://www.forensischezorg.nl/praktijk/zorgaanbod/locaties staan de locaties van de forensische zorgaanbieders

Responsible use

Goal and impact

There are some difficult terms in this text, we explain them below:

• Litigants: are all people who are confined at DJI. In this text, we mean all people receiving forensic care.
• Indication: this is an expert's advice on what kind of care and security an offender needs. On this basis, the best place for an offender is considered.
• Placement framework: the placement framework contains the agreements made about the placement system. This document is public. It includes, for example, agreements on criteria and contraindications. This allows care providers and litigants to see how placements are made. This is also required by the Forensic Care Act.
• Criteria: these are the data on litigants that are important for placement. These are the hard criteria. Think gender, age, care needs, etc. These criteria in turn tie in with the indication procedure. For the full list of criteria, see the heading 'Data' in this text. Each healthcare provider has determined the criteria for which it can provide care.
• Contraindications: these are data that can lead to a different decision than the regular criteria. We also call these the soft criteria. Think of an area ban, incidents, the appropriate institution is full or something else special.
• Efficient (also called 'effective'): achieving as much as possible with as little effort as possible.
• Transparent: that it is clear to everyone why you are doing something.
• Uniform (also called 'uniform'): that it is done the same way every time.

There are many care providers and thousands of placements every year. Incidentally, it is not only DJI that does placements. 3RO (three probation organisations) also does placements. In this text, we only talk about DJI's working method.

The algorithm suggests the right place with a care provider in an efficient, transparent and uniform manner. This allows the DJI employee to place litigants easily and quickly. This can be at a forensic care provider. This includes a special department in a prison (we call this a Penitentiary Psychiatric Centre or PPC).

The agreements from the placement framework are the basis of this algorithm.

Considerations

The algorithm cannot take everything into account. Therefore, a staff member always evaluates the algorithm's proposal. For the healthcare provider, it is important that the care the litigant needs matches the care the healthcare provider provides.

It is very important for an inmate to be placed in the right place to get the right care. There are rules for placing an offender. These rules are:

• The offender must get the care and security needed
• The offender must get the right care on time (think waiting lists)
• The place where the offender stays must be accessible, including to family, friends and acquaintances (in the right region).

An inmate could also be placed without an algorithm. But that is difficult because there are many care providers and many litigants. That is why DJI uses an algorithm. The algorithm makes choosing a care provider more efficient, transparent and uniform. Litigants and care providers are treated equally.

Human intervention

A DJI employee looks at the care providers suggested by the algorithm. The algorithm usually suggests several care providers. The employee then makes a choice according to the placement framework.

If there is no care provider that meets the criteria, the algorithm does not suggest a care provider. This is because no suitable care provider has been found in the vicinity of the litigant. If the algorithm cannot find a care provider nearby, the DJI employee asks the algorithm to look outside the region for a suitable care provider. The algorithm then searches again for care providers that can give the offender the required care.

A DJI employee may deviate from the algorithm's proposal. However, the staff member must have good reasons for doing so and provide justification. What these reasons might be is listed in the placement framework and we call these contraindications. For example, if the victim lives nearby or if there is a long waiting list. A DJI staff member looks at the situation and chooses the most appropriate care provider for the offender. Because it is important that the offender receives the necessary/appropriate care. An offender is not placed without the intervention of a DJI employee.

Risk management

The algorithm is in DJI's placement system. That system contains a lot of sensitive data, such as medical data and criminal record data. DJI staff need medically confidential data to be able to place the offender as well as possible. That is why DJI employees receive training in how to handle confidential data. Only employees who have permission to do so can access the placement system and the data it contains.

There is a risk that employees work around the algorithm. To prevent this, when deviating from the algorithm's proposal, employees must give reasons why they do so. So it is not possible to place an inmate without the algorithm's proposal.

DJI has contracts with care providers of forensic care. These contain the criteria of that care provider. If the criteria are not filled in properly, the placement system may make the wrong choice. It is therefore important that care providers and DJI staff pay close attention when entering the criteria. If necessary, the criteria can be adjusted.

The placement system and algorithm must comply with the Baseline Information Security Government (BIO). The BIO sets out the central government's rules for information security. By law, the data used by the algorithm must be kept for 20 years.

Legal basis

Forensic Care Act article 2.6

Judicial and Criminal Records Act article 51a

Links to legal bases

• Wet Forensische Zorg: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0040940/2021 -07-01
• Wet Justitiële en Strafvorderlijke Gegevens: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0040634/2024-01-01/0

Impact assessment

• Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
• Impact Assessment Mensenrechten en Algoritmes (IAMA): Betreft ethisch gesprek dat is gemodelleerd naar de Impact Assessment Mensenrechten en Algoritmen

Operations

Data

Below is which data (criteria) the algorithm uses for placements in compulsory and inpatient care. In tbs and inpatient care, an offender is admitted to a care location.

The criteria are: Geographical area (e.g. postcode or district), gender, age, some clinical (medically confidential) data: DSM main group, mental capacity, sex offence present, care setting, type of stay, explanation of main diagnosis ''Substance-related disorder''.

An offender can also receive outpatient care. Outpatient care is forensic care in which the offender does not (no longer) reside in a clinic. The offender comes to the clinic for treatment and then returns home. If an offender is in a correctional institution, a care provider comes to the prison to treat the offender there.

The criteria are: Geographical area (e.g. postal code or district), gender, some clinical (medically confidential) data: dominant care demand, most relevant concomitant problems, nature of care demand, range, need for specific outreach approach/mediation.

Technical design

The algorithm is a kind of choice diagram (decision tree) and is therefore not self-learning. As a result, the algorithm cannot make choices based on prejudice (bias) or favour certain individuals or care providers.

The algorithm suggests a healthcare provider that DJI has a contract with. The algorithm makes a proposal based on the criteria entered by litigants (based on the indication) and compares these with the criteria of care providers. Only care providers that meet all criteria are shown to the employee.

There are contraindications that may be important when suggesting a care provider, but are not built into the algorithm. Such as waiting lists or the interests of a victim.

External provider

This programme was created and is managed by the Judicial ICT Organisation of the Ministry of Justice and Security.