I'm a Probation Officer- ask me anything

[webster1987]

I feel like the role of a probation officer is often misunderstood and we don't get much exposure (good anyway!) in news/TV so...ask me anything!

In relation to the previous post about buck passing - probation has become a dumping ground. Everything is our problem to solve - this can be from issues with child contact, accommodation, mental health etc.

Our role is to manage risk, whilst there are often some overlaps in helping with the above areas the primary aim is to protect the public, ensure people are sticking to their licence and take enforcement action if they are not.

If he was released from custody on licence the expectation would be that he adhere to it with the support from services such as adult social health, community mental health teams to help him engage.

Whilst reasonable adjustments can be made to assist with attendance and things, the bottom line is always about risk management, and if the risk cannot be managed in the community then it would have been necessary to recall.

Again there are caveats to this - the threshold for recalling a high risk person would be different to a low risk person etc & decisions to recall have to be approved at several levels so is not always as simple as people may think.

Good to see so many Probation bods on here 🙂

I refused to see the film Buster at the cinema in 1988 when it was released and thought they shouldn't be making him a sympathetic character.

That's the puzzlement they say TV etc does not influence behavior when it's criminal.
Yet how many people say they say x program and was influenced to do good.

I think prison custody has a very real need. Sometimes people present such a risk that they need to be confined to prevent harm to others. The problem is then what they do when they are in prison. There are rehabilitation programmes but resources are stretched and often they aren't significant or tailored enough for individual need. I mentioned in a previous post about therapeutic community prisons, and psychologically informed prisons. These have a different approach and are a nod towards Norway and what is arguably the best system.

Yes I have had quite a high profile case and one I never wish to have again! The work involved in managing that is significant! There are now specialist teams set up to work specifically with those cases now as they require a lot more resources and multi agency management.

Sorry, missed your second question. I do yes. But regrettably I don't see this often. I hear it often, but I don't believe it to be genuine a lot of the time.

It really is 😊

Another one here 👋

This is interesting and thank you for everything you do. Reading what you don't do, I realise I don't really know what you do do! I've seen mention of managing risk, but in practical terms what does that mean?

For example, I know a lot of crime is caused by drug and or alcohol abusers, so it would seem to make sense if "managing" the addictions, for want of a better phrase, was part of probation because that would reduce risk to the general public. Sorry that's garbled, hopefully you can see what I mean! But it sounds like that falls to other services.

What do you do on a day to day basis? Or if someone comes to an appointment (pp mentioned earlier one being missed), what would be covered in an appointment?

I applied for the job a couple of years ago but couldn't get past the test which was like a computer game (I don't do gaming). How long have you been doing the job, did you do that test?

I still want to know if any POs are ever a bit naughty. Like do you ever do drugs recreationally, nick a brownie, not put your seatbelt on to drive to the shop.

Do you ever think "what on earth were you thinking"?
My STBXH is on SOR and has a SHPO for online grooming. He had a professional well paid role and has thrown everything away, as he got addicted to online chat. I do wonder what his probation officer must think of him. I also find it heartbreaking watching him come up against so much prejudice for what he did, he did something really stupid but he's not a bad person. It's so hard for offenders to move on, particularly from that type of crime as it's generally misunderstood.

In a nutshell we identify the risks the person poses, what increases and decreases that risk and what needs to be put in place to manage it.

That may be things such as drug/alcohol testing, exclusion zones from certain areas, not being able to contact certain people. Engaging with certain programmes and interventions.

Appointments vary, some can be life admin, some may be delivering 1:1 offence focused work, having general discussions to get people to develop insight into their behaviour etc. a lot of it as well is information gathering to get a better picture of who that person is, to be able to identify when things are going wrong and get ahead of it.

@Whathappened123 I can honestly say I have got on with and found positive attributes in the vast majority of people I have worked with.

This is a very interesting thread, thank you. I’m sorry if my question is very simple or difficult to answer due to lack of info! I obviously don’t want to be too outing.

my husband is currently serving a prison sentence. Please can you explain the role of probation officer to me and what you do once prisoners are on licence/the process he will go through on release. I am tying myself up in knots about the unknowns and it helps me to be able to know all the facts so I can prepare and help him/his PO as much as I can on release.

It's a big question but I'll try my best!

We will do a full and thorough risk assessment on someone initially, identifying all potential risks and how we might be able to manage this. How we do this is quite vast but our supervision appointments will be reviewing their time, monitoring risk factors, some interventions work such as helping them to develop problem solving skills, addressing any risk concerns, talking things through, dealing with the unexpected problems and dilemmas they will often bring to appointments and future planning with small achievable goals that are aimed to reduce risk. This could be addressing alcohol use, and we'd ask for the support in doing so from relevant substance misuse agencies as they are the experts in that field, but we broker their service if that makes sense. Often we are the only service that is duty bound to work with someone and pull all the relevant services into the mix to get that person the right support.

In addition to that, we then monitor their adherence to licence conditions (if on licence) and their risk factors. This involves liaison with other agencies, sharing info, setting licence conditions for those coming out of prison, enforce the licence if they don't comply which could be warnings or recall.

We attend parole hearings, child protection meetings, multi agency meetings for public protection, joint working with police for those on sex offender register, liaise with victim liaison officers to ensure victim is safeguarded, visit people in prison, home visits, meet with family members, assess suitability of release addresses, try desperately to find people accommodation...the list goes on and on!

I'm not aware of a test like that? I'm sure it's considerably different from when I joined 12 years ago. We had an online reasoning test then an assessment day with a written test and group activity, then an interview.

Give it another go, there is going to be another recruitment drive for the trainee programme later this month!

What’s your view on Colin pitchfork being released?

How many people can say they haven't committed any offence any time in their life? Speeding is an offence for example! Few people can say they never have!

How does the state of our prisons impinge on your work?

I am now acutely aware of what actually goes on in prisons where those incarcerated have no protection; where prisoners are driven into drug taking by threats; where demanding money with menaces is the order of the day - and relatives are forced to pay up in order to protect their loved ones from a beating; where drugs are freely available under the noses of the staff; where staff advise family members to pay protection as they can do nothing; where vulnerable, uneducated, mentally ill and damaged people receive no treatment ........ and so it goes on.

Don't believe it? - neither would I have done, but I am wiser now. Our normal boring middle class family of professional people have had to take all this on board, and we, with all our educational advantages and articulacy, can find no way through this.

How do you see your role in relation to all this?

It's hard to comment fully without knowing the details of course, but generally, the probation officer will be speaking to him before release to put together a release plan. They will determine licence conditions, where he will live, what his plans are for when he is released. Licence conditions will vary depending on the type of offence. This should happen a good few months before release (depending on the type of sentence he has).

Thanks for the heads up

No one and thanks for answering. I work with the police and POs at times in my job role and sometimes (really not meant to be offensive) some can come across so straight laced and extraordinary strict! The police more so than POs. I always wonder whether it's a work persona or that's how people in those professions generally are.

It's hard to comment fully without knowing the details of course, but generally, the probation officer will be speaking to him before release to put together a release plan. They will determine licence conditions, where he will live, what his plans are for when he is released. Licence conditions will vary depending on the type of offence. This should happen a good few months before release (depending on the type of sentence he has).

Truly, all this great stuff does not happen! We asked and asked for this and got nowhere. A release plan! - I wish!