CAT/OP/BRA/2/Add.1 ombudsmen’s offices, health care, educational support, engineering, legal support, exprisoner support, alternative penalties, prison administration school, the Penitentiary Information System (INFOPEN), delivery of equipment, and female prisoners and exprisoners. Among the tasks of the technical team of the National Penitentiary Department of the Ministry of Justice are the encouragement, monitoring, following up and evaluation of actions within the Brazilian prison system to be developed or planned by state prison administrations. 69. As one of its main objectives is the reform of Brazil’s current prison model to make it safer, more humane, and more consistent not just with the law but with basic standards for treatment of prisoners, the Prison System Master Plan provides for a quantitative and qualitative survey to identify the basic needs of each region of Brazil. Based on this survey, the National Penitentiary Department can decide what action to take to solve or reduce the problems encountered by the federal entities18 and optimize the use and transfer of federal resources. 70. 18 18 The following are strategic objectives of the Master Plan: Strategic objective Related actions 1 – Legal support Improve legal support for prisoners awaiting trial and convicted prisoners. 2 – Alternative penalties Encourage the use of alternative penalties and measures, which will help alleviate overcrowding in prisons, reduce recidivism, and prevent petty offenders from entering the prison system; encourage the establishment of alternative penalty centres and facilities. 3 – Classification committee Establish classification committees at every prison. 4 – Community councils Strengthen community councils in all parts of states and in all judicial districts of the Federal District with a prison in their jurisdiction. 5 – Reduce the shortfall in prison capacity Increase prison capacity in order to reduce the shortfall. 6 – Equipment Acquire equipment and vehicles for the prison system. 7 – Ombudsmen Establish independent ombudsmen with their own mandates, to provide a channel of communication between society and prison administrations. 8 – Prison administration school Monitor the school’s work with prison staff training and in-service training. The master plans of all the federal entities are also available on the link mentioned above. GE.14-42059