Policy strategy for the supervision of correctional institution clients based on community-based corrections

The transformation of Indonesia’s correctional system—driven by Law Number 22 of 2022 concerning Corrections and Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code—opens opportunities to implement sentencing alternatives and community-based approaches to strengthen social reintegration. However, the supervision of correctional clients currently faces significant challenges, including regional capacity disparities, fragmented cross-sector coordination, and limited access to economic empowerment and employment. These issues stem from imbalances in human resources, supervision processes that remain overly administrative, weak infrastructure support, and a lack of integrated funding and cross-sector partnerships. Based on an analysis of urgency, severity, problem progression, and root causes, potential policy alternatives include strengthening the capacity and redistributing community guidance officers, establishing a structured cross-sector coordination mechanism through "Integration Guidance Service Groups," and integrating economic empowerment programs and social services into the supervision system. Among these options, the most viable policy choice is the implementation and formalization of a community-based correctional guidance policy. This requires strengthening implementing regulations—specifically Government Regulations—to serve as an operational framework ensuring uniform standards, role allocation, funding, and inter-agency coordination mechanisms across all regions. Therefore, the recommended policy is for the government to immediately enact a Government Regulation on Community-Based Correctional Guidance for Correctional Clients. This measure requires capacity building for correctional guidance agencies, proportional budget allocation, cross-sector data and service integration, and periodic evaluations aimed at sustainably reducing recidivism and enhancing client social reintegration.