Operationally, the primary function of the Correctional Investigator is to investigate and bring resolution to individual offender complaints. Further, the Office is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on the Correctional Service's policies and procedures associated with the areas of individual complaint to ensure that systemic areas of concern are identified and appropriately addressed. All complaints received by the Office are reviewed and initial inquiries made to the extent necessary to obtain a clear understanding of the issue in question. After this initial review, in those cases where it is determined that the area of complaint is outside the Office's mandate, the complainant is advised of the appropriate avenue of redress and assisted, when necessary, in accessing that avenue. For those cases that are within the Office's mandate, the complainant is provided with a detailing of the Correctional Service's policies and procedures associated with the area of complaint. An interview is arranged, and the offender is encouraged to address the concerns through the Service's internal grievance process. If it is determined that the offender will not or cannot address the area of concern through the internal grievance process or the area of complaint is already under review with the Service, the Office exercises its discretion and takes whatever steps are required to ensure that the area of complaint is addressed. Over the course of the reporting year, the Office received 6,794 complaints; the investigative staff spent 236 days at Federal penitentiaries, and it conducted nearly 2,000 interviews with inmates and half again that number of interviews with institutional and regional staff. These numbers are consistent with operations last year and have again been managed within a decreasing budget. The areas of complaint continue to focus on long-standing issues that have been detailed in past Annual Reports. A breakdown on areas of complaint, dispositions, institutional visits, and interviews is provided in the statistics section. In addition to recommendations on specific issues, this report provides a recommendation designed to improve the Service's response in correcting systemic problems that continue to be identified in the Office's work. Appended overview of 1994-95 Annual Report issues and copies of special Correctional Investigator reports