A Debate Anyone?

It seems to be increasingly difficult to have a serious debate about probation at the moment and I'm not at all sure why that is? I remain ever-hopeful though and this from a day or so ago seems to be as good a discussion starter as any:-  

To borrow from the new business vernacular: there's a single source of 'truth' which defines where we go next. But when you hold the power that 'single source' is whatever you choose it to be. The revisionistas in power are working hard to rewrite everything for future generations. For the Probation Service that has meant being rubbished, dismantled, dismissed & re-invented.

I think anyone trawling through this blog from start to present day will find regular references to the politicians' perennial folly, i.e. reinventing the wheel. Some things can be reimagined, many things can be improved - but the disingenuous, dishonest, despicable act of destroying the whole & replacing with less while proclaiming there's more has surely had its day?

So how stupid are we? Even more stupid than they imagine we are, it seems. But the clever manipulation has been the forty year fishing expedition. Forty years of dangling bait, of fattening up the appetite, of developing dependency upon the tasty morsels. And now? Now they are reeling in, and many cannot unhook themselves from that dependency - mortgages, credit card debt, expensive cars, regular holidays in exotic places, overseas property or generally excessive lifestyle choices.

For far too many others the dependency is more fundamental - food, warmth, shelter, healthcare, childcare. How many probation staff could leave next week? Probably a handful. So there are a vast majority who are reliant on the job. And consequently a vast majority who dare not utter a word of criticism. Add in the civil service code of silence... and they achieve pure, unadulterated command & control.

--oo00oo--

But then there's this:-

Just found a pay slip from March 2010 which was about when l hit PO max. My current income is £170 more than then. This is why we cannot retain staff.

--oo00oo-- 

There are differing views on how things are going. This a recent response on Twitter:- 

From my view point I have greater confidence in senior leadership nationally. There is more energy being spent in creating the right culture and ethos. Putting some of that responsibility and power in the hands of front line staff to shape what it looks like. Also a desire to take the best from both organisations to shape the new one. For me (personally) feels more positive that previous changes and I have optimism for this being a great organisation once more.

--oo00oo-- 

But there remains widespread concern regarding the direction of travel:-

As I retired Probation were not addressing social need and were just becoming enforcement officers, I did not agree. If Probation is to be successful again it needs to address social need of offenders as well as ensuring the order is managed appropriately. What its ethos was originally to care about the people on orders/licence/in custody.

I'm a former PO now a criminal justice Social Worker in Scotland. Having worked in both systems, there is no doubt in my mind which approach is better, more coherent and effective. My SW training improved and made sense of my practice in ways I never thought possible. The CJSW system in Scotland is far from perfect but, IMO, works 100% better. We understand and manage risk very well but within a more coherent framework of professional knowledge and compassionate values. When they took the SW out of probation they very seriously undermined it. The abandonment of SW training in England was purely ideological and an obvious attempt to toughen probation up and gut it of its core values. Genuine probation work is social work, in my humble opinion. Always has been. 

Agree. I'm a social work trained PO but my greatest hope would to be to come out from beneath the 'dead hand' of the Civil Service. My only caveat is that nothing greater can be achieved until we have adequate resources in terms of trained probation officers, newly trained alongside experienced officers; with more than the bare minimum in each team so there is some resilience at times of staff leaving, maternity leave, sick leave etc, otherwise we are constantly in crisis / reactive mode, involving endless reallocation of cases. The problem is not that we do not know the best ways of supporting change, whilst also protecting the public, but it takes time and consistency and until we have more resources, I question the degree of change possible. Of course in order to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders, we need access to ancillary services: Mental Health, accommodation, drug and alcohol services, supportive education and training services, Social Services, etc, etc

Probation should follow the ethos of youth offending teams with multi-agency approach where welfare concerns are balanced with risk - having left probation for YOT I feel like I am back doing the probation role I originally trained for.

I think a holistic approach is probably needed. Yes we have to manage risk, but surely one of the best ways to do that is to improve the protective factors like accommodation, employment, health, emotional wellbeing, relationships etc. Building a relationship of trust is also important, rather than saying no straight off the bat to a lot of things, we should investigate more and try to build their faith that they won't reoffend.

--oo00oo--

I'll end with the following private observation via email:- 

I have to admit that it puts me off reading the blogs to see a string of one-dimensional rants from “Anonymous” (how many of them are there?) which sometimes seems little better than trolling. It’s very sad because I’m sure there’s also a much wider and more rational and engaging audience out there.