Monday 2 June 2014

Probation Bits and Pieces

On this first day of the probation 'new world', a few random bits and pieces, beginning with some interesting comments left on Facebook in answer to the question 'what have been your career highlights?' I hope contributors will not mind them being reproduced here, minus any obvious identifiers.
  
A prolific drug user and serial burglar came to see me for supervision and said that he'd walked past the office very late one evening earlier that week. He said the office was dark but he saw a light through a window and when he looked in he saw me working at my desk. He said he went home to his mum and told her that if his probation officer could work that hard to help people he could work as hard to help himself...... and he did.

There's obvious stuff like seeing people turn their lives around, people being grateful for your help and support and on the flip side making sure the community are safe, etc but there's also the funny stuff that comes from working with people. I remember doing some role play type work with a young offender about how he'd avoid peer pressure... I asked him out for a drink (role playing!!!!) and he said no, I said 'go on I'm buying'.. His face was a picture as he said 'ah go on then mines a pint'!! Still makes me chuckle!


I was walking back from lunchtime leafleting yesterday with a colleague and a chap lept out of a shop shouted her and hugged her he told her how well he was doing apologised for hugging her told her he now had a mental health diagnosis hugged her again and told her how brilliant she was.... she could remember him all of his issues and last supervised him over a decade ago. That is what it should be like no instant cures respect for others valuing people encouraging self efficacy ....and advising assisting and befriending them


I like it when my ex-offenders (not all of them!) call me out of the blue asking for advice. Feels good that they still remember me and moreso, have faith that I can help them, no matter how big or small their problem is. References for housing, where to seek housing, advice re spent convictions, etc.


Being sent a wedding invite from a prolific self harmer who was on probation all her adult life (she was in her 40's) and her telling me she hadn't offended or self harmed for 7 years


Working with DRR's for all of my time in probation - so many great memories - someone I worked with 7 years ago is now my colleague; getting a gold medal for our show garden; someone trusting me enough to tell me they had been abused; people moving on and people who still call me (just had an invite to a wedding) and of course my colleagues who are my family and a bloody force to be reckoned with so, so many great memories


A young man telling me, the receptionist, that it was great to be told he could do something, and to have people believe in his ability to actually do it. A few weeks later he'd got his first ever job, then he got accommodation, then he proposed and his girlfriend said yes. He turned his life around properly because we said he could do it. I backed the PO up when she said it to him in front of me. By the time he finished his order he was a dad with a very respectable shot at being a great one!


I think one if the things I am most proud of is the working relationships I have built with some offenders. Being able to do the job, be supportive but tough when needed but still being respected and being able to 'get along' with them. One particular lad who I started working with on EPP at 18 and put him in an AP hated me with a passion. Now, 5 years on as I hand him over to NPS he is talking about his childhood when he never would before and stated I am one of the 3 people in his life he trusts.


Receiving a thank you poem from an offender whom I struggled with throughout the order. Nearly cried I was so touched! Made me realise that we can be making a difference even if we think otherwise!

News comes in that this blog continues to reach some surprising parts. Partly as a result of a chance encounter at the Bill McWilliams lecture last June, the blog has been referenced in an academic online book review of Wendy Fitzgibbon's ‘Probation and Social Work on Trial: Violent Offenders and Child Abusers’. The full review can be found here. 


In drawing the book to a close, Fitzgibbon comments on the signs she had nevertheless noted on the part of practitioners to challenge the ‘one-dimensional orientation to risk management,’ foreseeing a political clash in this respect. However, resistance has been relatively muted, and the Government’s plans continue in a seemingly unstoppable way. For probation the Transforming Rehabilitation ‘omnishambles’ moves on apace (Brown 2013), while media criticisms of social services - ‘And still they die: up to 110 since Baby P’ (Arbuthnott 2013) - generate still more moral panic. In this respect, Fitzgibbon’s book is an important, timely and thought-provoking account.
References
Arbuthnott, G. (2013). ‘And Still They Die: Up to 110 Since Baby P’, The Sunday Times, News Section, Page 18, published on 27th October, 2013.
Brown, Jim (2013). On Probation blog, last accessed at http://probationmatters.blogspot.co.uk/ on 25th November, 2013.
Ministry of Justice (2013). Transforming Rehabilitation last accessed at http://www.justice.gov.uk/transforming-rehabilitation on 25th November, 2013.
Jill Annison, Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer), Plymouth University.

Amazingly I've been contacted by a reader who is the proud owner of the following 'screenshot' as proof of being the millionth visitor on Saturday. At some point a bottle of something nice will be heading to them in 'Dreary Town' - well done!

  


Finally, I've been sent the following cartoon in response to some reminiscing on here about the 'good old days'.
"It could have been done this morning but in fact was drawn circa 1996 by a former colleague who died just two years later. He drew it as the first computers started to arrive at the office. I thought at the time that he was being too pessimistic and things would not become as bad as depicted. But in the years since I have realised then that he was reading the runes much better than me - and life has gone on to imitate art." 
 

62 comments:

  1. I have to say the good news stories far outweigh the not so good, for me over my career, but I must share a tale from my training days...I was on placement at a 'Day Center' in Sunderland - had been there for a good few weeks, enjoyed it so much, I stayed over the summer break in a voluntary capacity. I recall being late for my train to Newcastle, and I had left my house keys in a colleagues car. I couldn't find the colleague anywhere and was beginning to panic a little. One service user, who I knew to be a prolific car thief, said he could get them out for me...and after some naive soul searching, I said okay then, lets do it. There I was waiting to see him use his considerable skills to retrieve my keys. To my surprise, he picked up a brick threw it threw the window and said, "there you go" or similar...I was absolutely flabbergasted, but roared with laughter too...I did pay for the damage.

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  2. Apparently some people are having trouble viewing the pics - have reposted them and hope this works.

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  3. Remember spending 3 months talking to a young man on a DC licence, he never said a word as I rambled on about his potential and the things he could do......left the area 3 years later and received a letter from him, thanking me for my help and how he had turned his life around...

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  4. Jim, still can't see the pics, have tried in several browsers, as a 'many-talented" ex-po (!) I used to run a small web design business and I have had a look at the problem, it looks like to blog is trying to load from another blog or similar source-idid you maybe 'copy and paste' of the net? If so, save the pics to your pc then upload again. Might work...

    (ps: the error code thrown is "Failed to execute 'write' on 'Document': It isn't possible to write into a document from an asynchronously-loaded external script unless it is explicitly opened. "... might as well be martian patois I know, but if anyone else who is 'techy' out there can help, lets have a go.)

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    1. Ok thanks for that - will try again.

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    2. Unfortunately it's proved completely impossible to copy and past either image despite it working hundreds of times before. So, very sorry but it doesn't look like either image will see the light of day. You'll have to take my word for it - the screenshot recorded a million and the cartoon is very good. Bloody computers - I hate them!

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  5. http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/jun/02/probation-service-reorganisation-morale-staff-low

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    1. Probation officer: 'I'm no longer allowed to sit with my colleagues'

      Our blogger on the inside explains how a huge reorganisation of the service has pushed staff morale to its lowest ebb

      If you work outside of the criminal justice system you may not know that the government plans to outsource up to 70% of the work currently undertaken by public sector probation trusts from 1 June. Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, calls these plans "transforming rehabilitation". Probation trusts will be disbanded and a new, public sector National Probation Service (NPS) will be created to manage high-risk, registered sex offenders and those subject to public protection arrangements (known in the service as Mappas).

      Meanwhile, 21 new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) will be created and staff moved over from the public sector. Private companies will bid for these organisations, to take on responsibility for supervising low and medium-risk offenders and to support those released from prison and offenders serving sentences in the community. Private companies will be supervising those individuals convicted of domestic abuse and those whose children are subject to safeguarding arrangements; both of these are extremely complex, requiring highly skilled staff.

      As part of the reorganisation, I have been assigned to the National Probation Service and will be responsible for the supervision of high-risk offenders and preparing reports for court. We are now at the bottleneck of changes to the probation service, a process which has been nothing but rushed. Staff are being sent on emergency training programmes to understand how all the new processes will work. Simple tasks such as allocating a probation officer to a new case now takes double the amount of staff and time, thanks to the split between the NPS and CRCs. Duplication of work is becoming the norm. As a public sector body, we are not allowed to discuss cases with the private sector – which includes the CRCs we will be working alongside. Up until only a few days ago, these people were our colleagues who we would have been freely able to speak to about our cases and to seek advice.

      Grayling quotes high re-offending rates among short-stay prisoners as justification for the transformation rehabilitation programme. Yes, these rates are high, but the probation service does not currently have a statutory obligation to supervise those subject to short term sentences. Probation trusts would have welcomed changes to the law allowing them to supervise these cases. The government, however, would rather give the contracts to private companies and social enterprises to do the job.

      I do not have an ideological objection to private sector involvement in the justice system; we have seen it work well particularly with prolific and priority offenders, where a range of organisations come together to tackle repeat offending. But this was done in conjunction with probation who, together with colleagues in the police force, would take a lead on these cases. I am, however, very concerned about private companies making profit from crime and leading decision making on matters such as rehabilitation. We have seen no hard evidence that this will work.

      The scale of these changes is massive. Even though I work on the inside, I hadn't truly comprehended them until recently. Small things such as new name badges and letterheads with new company logos, all the way to organisational policies, practice instructions, pay dates and office locations are all changing overnight. I am no longer allowed to sit in a room with my colleagues who have been allocated to the CRC.

      No surprise, then, that the atmosphere in the probation service today is awful. I have worked for the service for more than a decade and I have never seen morale so low. Dedicated staff are leaving as they can't bear to watch as these ideological plans cause the service to fall to its knees.

      The probation officer works in probation in the UK and blogs at poofficer.blogspot.co.uk

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    2. Well done PoOfficer for getting this published - I'd be interested to know what was 'toned down' though!

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  6. Yes well done PO colleague in your success in getting this article published!

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  7. ‪For those who want to join in with your own #‎standup4Probation pics starting today you are all more than welcome. Jim would like to see yours! :-)

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    1. also #‎wearestandingup4Probation

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  8. Great article POfficer. Napo told me that the media were covering the story today and they were on top of it, but I haven't seen anything. Has anyone else? I do feel disappointed that Owen Jones, who came to our SGM, chose to write a second time on the same subject and ignored our plight today in the Guardian. Heard from a colleague that 2 clients need to be recalled but Delius won't let them do it. The wheels are coming off and we need to look at compiling it all for Ursula Brennan and stop this omnishambles in its tracks.

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  9. @CEOLewis: it's not broke, it didn't need fixing: http://t.co/R8L0xN9FD7 1:36 - 1:42. Thank you Sally, sorry you couldn't speak out upto now

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    1. Now if we could have Sally as napo gen sec ...

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  10. E-mail response from my Conservative MP:
    Thank you for your e-mail.
    I appreciated your thoughtful account of the situation, and can see that this is a service under pressure.
    I was grateful for your informed view.
    Regards

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    1. The MP flatters to deceive! A good example of style over substance.

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  11. VIA TWITTER: -

    " Paul Senior @yorkhull ·

    79/107: In the history of probation Jim’s blog On Probation will be long remembered for its accurate and ceaseless portrayal of TR."

    https://twitter.com/yorkhull/status/473456748561707008

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  12. http://m.sunderlandecho.com/news/crime/sunderland-probation-officers-fears-over-privatisation-1-6648981

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    1. A UNION leader has warned that Government reforms will put the achievements of the region’s probation service at risk.

      New measures which come into place this month will see outsourcing of about 70 per cent of probation work to private firms.

      As of yesterday, offenders across Wearside will be managed by two separate organisations, a move that has come in for criticism by probation officers’ union Napo.

      Mike Quinn, from Napo’s Northumbria branch, believes the controversial break-up will not work for the Trust, one of the best-performing in the country.

      He said: “We have called time and time again for the Government to show us the evidence that privatising probation will show any further improvement in reducing re-offending.

      “The simple fact is that they can’t – this is an ideological move by a Conservative-led Government to privatise the public services.”

      Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) will supervise offenders on community orders, suspended sentences or who have been released from prison on licence, and those who are not serving court orders, but have a history of offending.

      Chief executive Nick Hall, former head of Northumbria Probation Trust, said: “We have an experienced and highly-skilled workforce, which is committed to working with offenders in adopting a crime-free lifestyle, as well as effectively managing risk in order to protect the public.”

      New public body, the National Probation Service, will work in courts, with victims and in the management of high-risk offenders.

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  13. Am hearing ndelius has been rendered pretty useless. People in wrong halves, cases missing, people unable to access cases they are working on, partners who specialise in high risk cases now in CRC and locked out of their cohorts, whole teams duplicated. An inconsistent system is worse than no system because you THINK you have checked something but you haven't. Sometimes. Maybe. All down to Grayling's speed in favour of haste. He has crashed the train.

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    1. Ursula Brennan is happy according to Twitter: -

      "Ursula Brennan ‏@mojubrennan 2h

      Thank you to all our probation colleagues for your hard work over the w/e in setting up NPS and CRCs #yam"

      https://twitter.com/mojubrennan/status/473450877844717569

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    2. Of course she is. These people are untrustworthy. After 25 years in Probation, I now have NO FAITH in the Ministry. They have no integrity and tell lies to suit their ends. It is a disgrace.

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  14. What do readers know about the Probation Graduate Diploma, mentioned by MOJ in a Facebook announcement?

    https://t.co/2wF9ioxutl

    There initial posting on 12th May Included: -

    "Probation Graduate Diploma shared a link.

    May 12

    Hello world! We are the National Probation Service: working with offenders to help them lead responsible and law abiding lives is important to us.

    So we have created our Probation Graduate Diploma to help graduates become central to this.

    About | National Probation Service

    jointhenps.com

    We're responsible for overseeing both offenders released from prison on licence and those who are serving community sentences. Supervising them reduces the likelihood of reoffending – and helps communities and victims of crime to feel safer."

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    1. This is a simply a reference to the diploma obtained through the PQF - it culminates in the Graduate Diploma. See this link for more: https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/probation-instructions/pi_07_2010_probation_qualification_framework.pdf

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    2. Thanks - so it is open to PSOs who have a relevant degree which was originally (2010) limited to: -

      "2.2 Relevant Degrees Those eligible to be admitted to the Graduate Diploma Pathway must hold one of the following single Honours Degrees: (i) Community Justice (ii) Criminal Justice (iii) Criminology (iv) Police Studies At this stage no other degree is acceptable, however this will be reviewed in the future by the Probation Qualifications Assurance Board and any additions to this list will be communicated via EPIC. "

      Possibly that short list of pre-entry degrees has already been amended - no doubt the operation of the scheme has been taken over by NPS as the Probation Trusts have been abolished - That was not at all clear from the Facebook page NPS have set up, where it appeared to me they are seeking external applicants - possibly they are - but separately such applicants need to gain employment as a PSO - will this become the standard qualification for CRC workers -?

      Once qualified is a holder of a PGD - then employed on the Probation officer salary scale - whether or not they are formally employed as a probation officer - I wonder?

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    3. The pre entry degrees is the same. Some areas like London always employed externally to this route whilst pso with no undergraduate degree did the longer route. You get paid a p o salary once you occupy a p o position. Exactly the same as the previous arrangements. Nothing new here at all am afraid.

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    4. You dont need a degree to work as a PO,,,life experience is vital all the degree does is to provide you with a theoretical knowledge-interesting but not essential

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  15. From Liverpool Crown Court admin officer:

    'I have had some email correspondence asking for us to update Delius in order that LDUs can allocate cases. Unfortunately, Delius is not allowing Court staff to update any existing cases, or input new ones - we are therefore unable to input new report requests, result existing report requests or put +12 month sentences without a report.

    The issues have been reported and it has been escalated up to Steria, without any indication at present as to when the problems will be resolved'

    Footnote: as an OM there is loads wrong with Delius- cant add contacts, cant find offenders, can still access ones transferred to opposite company, incorrect caseload. Can only find people when the 'nationwide' search facility is used - you try finding Jim Brown outta that lot - hundreds of them!!!

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    1. I bet the PTB wish they could find Jim ;)

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    2. I knew there was a reason why I chose that name.

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  16. Just been to the CRC away day, it took all my effort not to tell them to F***Off, what a load of bull. I would have rather have been made redundant, or have I.

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  17. I know today was full of falseness from management about CRC and computers that didn't work, not official instruction yet of processes still being written. Such a massive disconnect.

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  18. What bloody mess at work. The computer system not working properly, cases can't be allocated, cases remain unallocated, transfer of cases not recorded, RSR tool down causing huge delays in risk and allocation.
    Furthermore, we received an email from management stating they want NPS & RCR staff to help out and cover each other. We have been advised that transfer of cases will now be a 'slow' process rather then a 'big bang'. Absolutely utter chaos & disaster. Effectivley they want CRC staff to continue to write reports, attend oral hearings and make decisions regarding risk until everything is smoothed out. They can PISS OFF if they think me or my colleagues in CRC are going to help them smooth out the system. Shafted into CRC to be sold off & you want me to help you out. I will do everything to make sure it doesn't work.

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    1. I'm of the same view. I have the view that in around 12 months time my new employer will replace me with a less expensive version. I've now decided to do absolutely fuck all apart from the absolute minimun and if targetsvare missed just to advise my MM that if he wants me to give 100% then my workload must be the same!

      They can all fuck right off.

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  19. As DO in NPS today -interesting, I was called on by colleagues on CRC's to provide information, they apparently have no authority to hold, so lots of knock backs; most took it well. Also, another issue arose. Our IOM (All CRC) have had a dedicated OM completing all HDC requests on those inside for under 12 months. Now, as some of those are ex-NPS cases, CRC staff cannot access the information they need to make a safe and informed decision. I asked my TM if, by sharing info I had on one such person would be a breach of Data Protection Act, I was advised by TM that as there was Safeguarding issues, I should at least alert the IOM colleague of same. I did, mentioned past history, and further checks which needed to be made if a safe and reliable report was to be provided to HMP. The colleague did not make any further inquiries about the address, i.e who lived there and the history of DV, but chose just to say No as another member of staff - (me) raised concerns about who may live at the proposed address. Now I would not argue with the decision made, but it is not an assessment, and I suspect those sorts of decisions are being made all over the place - and people will remain in custody, and/or be released without any evidence or informed assessment.

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    1. I imagine that is the long term goal and perhaps always has been. If probation doesn't exist and 'rehabilitation' no longer works then the only solution is to lock everyone up. Why else build super prisons when reoffending rates are declining year on year.

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  20. is it me or would you think that once a case has 'terminated' for whatever reason then the cases would go into a central 'holding' database accessible by both sides?

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  21. Great day in AP today. Systems up the wall, cook not turned up to cook residents evening meal. Get a chippy pie and chips for them? Good idea but the bank accounts have been closed down and can't get money.I dont think there is any part of the service that isnt in chaos.

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  22. Has anyone else ventured into Shared Services (on-line HR for the NPS) yet?

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    1. Yes....but it's crap, just like the excel time sheets, delius, oasys and the large number of e-mails from IT - some amounting to 28, pages - to assist us..yeah right! Planks!

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  23. Anonymous 20:49 What a crap system. I'm sure the person must have been intoxicated at the time of when designing the program.

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  24. Just got back from leave today to find an email from our new Chief (who shall remain nameless). Reading between the lines it appears that we need to prepare to be held to account for when our clients offend. I'm not sure how we would word that (not that we now can) in a PSR. I can feel a complaint to NAPO coming on.

    Two clients also not seen and no letters sent out as the OM covering could not access Delius to see if it was a Formal Warning or Risk of Breach.

    We don't need to wait for the wheels to come off, they already have!

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  25. Tears from colleagues today and one has walked out after an argument with a manager (not their own) about their 'negativity' in the face of NOMS edicts that don't make sense. It's. Hell out here and all so unnecessary.

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  26. BBC Report about alleged assaults at Elmley Gaol, Kent - interview with POA rep and Bobby Cummins of Unlock.

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=580381985411903

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  27. Did anyone else notice the new FDR's ?- Someone in my office thought it was the beginning of the end for SDR's and set up to assist and guide CRC's to function. so cynical.

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  28. Is anyone who has any power reading this blog to see exactly how everything is FUCKED UP, don't try and pat yourselves on the back by telling yourselves lies that all is going smoothly. Hasn't anyone got the balls to stand up and be honest and admit the truth that we are in a mess. I for one feel demoralised and have no motivation to do this job.

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  29. This was the response I got from the Chancellor when I wrote explaining about problems with implementation of TR. He really read it & understood it didn't he? Thank you for contacting me about probation.

    Although crime is falling, reoffending rates have barely changed in a decade despite significant increases in spending under Labour. Crime is increasingly being committed by those who have broken the law before. £ 4 billion a year is spent on prisons and probation, yet more than 58 per cent of prisoners serving less than 12 months go on to commit further crimes within a year of release.

    That is why we announced plans to transform offender rehabilitation. Every offender leaving prison will have a mandatory period of at least 12 months under supervision in the community, during which they will get the support they need to help them turn their lives around.

    To remain affordable, the system must become more efficient. We are therefore opening up probation services to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers bringing together the best of the public, voluntary and private sectors. Their expertise, skills and innovation will be crucial in properly supporting offenders. Providers will only be paid in full if they are successful at reducing reoffending, making taxpayers’ money go further and ensuring all sentences deliver both punishment and rehabilitation.

    The National Probation Service will be a new public sector organisation tasked with supervising and rehabilitating 31,000 high risk offenders each year, as well as conducting the risk assessment of all offenders. It will work alongside 21 new community rehabilitation companies to manage offenders in the community.

    Please be assured that the Government is working closely with the Probation Association and Probation Chiefs’ Association to create a new national Institute of Probation. Probation trust staffs are assigned to one of the new organisations responsible for managing offenders and tackling our shockingly high reoffending rates.

    Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

    Yours sincerely,

    Rt Hon George Osborne MP

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    1. http://m.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/local-news/new-era-for-probation-in-northumberland-1-6648904

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  30. I just hope Delius is down for a few days - enough time to cause proper carnage.

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  31. Delius has never been fit for purpose and now their trying to make it do even more. I had 3 clients all booked on the same programme. Programme got pulled due to lack of staff. Now I have 12 pages of alerts telling me each individual session has been cancelled. Cheers guys, that'll take me a good hour to clear while I'm looking for the things I might really need to know and I'm not doing my job.

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  32. Contacted employment solicitor today. Not letting this go just yet :0)

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    1. Keep us posted with your progress.Employment rights of those assigned to the CRC have been trampled on and will be on ET agendas over the next few years .These things takes ages to work through and the culprits long gone.The usual attitude of oh, that was soooooo yesterday, get over it will not wash, I suspect.

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  33. E-mail after Delius went back on. "Please can you check your caseloads and make sure they are correct." I have no idea. Most of my cases were allocated to me on Wednesday half an hour before you turned it off. I don't know who these people are or whether I should have them or not.

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    1. It is literally a farce.

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    2. Yes it is. In my office they still kept allocating transfer cases from NPS to CRC,even when the system was down! Cue me getting e-mails regarding new cases and next appointments and I can't even access their records, nor have the case files appear to have turned up! I probably should chase this up, but I am so demoralised I've lost the will to care.

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  34. Northumbria CRC offering to pay our first year's membership of the Probation Institute.

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    1. not just Northumbria, will happen to all CRCs, told you this was coming two weeks ago - they are so worried about low numbers.....they have to make the PI work so are making you join!!

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  35. Our admin got NPS last week as our area cocked up big time and allocated virtually eveRY AO to CRC. You could not make it up as TODAY AO NPS could not use Delius at all as THEY forgot to reallocate them as NPS. A manager from CRC came in and asked us very politely if she could check something on our system about a death in custody. To be fair she was as perplexed by this debacle as much as we are. I felt for her. Don't get me started on the new risk tool and the Ikea instructions on how to input this on the system.No workload adjustment for this either. Three hours to do an FDR even though a round trip to the nearest video link takes that long in travel alone for us in the sticks. This has now been made even less achievable due to the new risk tool which basically states the bleeding obvious for most cases as we are kind of trained to erm, know anyway. I did my first RSR on a shop theft, recd a DRR who are all CRC and it took me over an hour to find this fact out even though I knew he could not go to NPS with my proposal. It's a joke but what can I do to argue the toss?

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  36. A CRC officer wandered around yesterday and today trying to find out who his new manager is. Partner staff who work with CRC and NPS offenders not able to access NPS on Delius so can't add contacts re. dangerous offenders. Admin don't know which staff they are admin for. No templates on new e-stationary only part filled letterhead. Post staff not given plans of new office set-up so don't know which staff are where. Laughable if it wasn't so serious.

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