PQIP is hazing- like a fraternity testing your mettle to see if you can cut it so 35-50 cases is normalised not addressed as being too high a workload. Court placements where you're supposed to be protected and then used as auxiliary to paper over chronic staff shortages. Co-working cases that you're exploited to end up doing yourself- to circumvent the high risk cases not being allowed to be in a PQIP's name.
Probation is it at war with itself let alone the prison service or the civil service. It does itself NO favours having this dire, exploitive work culture normalised by PQIP task setting. Many PQIPs are quite young. They can pick and chose what career path to take. They're clued up not to want to be exploited and bullied and they leave. Improve this culture and the purpose of Probation, which requires canny buy-ins from new recruits and you might have staff retention longer than the training programme or fewer drop outs.
Probation is its own worst enemy. It's within its gift to improve those aspects of which I've mentioned. Or be dammed and doomed to repeat this cycle, ad infinitum.
Many PQiPs' enter the Probation Service simply to achieve a free degree and then swan off to another role elsewhere. This has to stop. If PQiP's gain their degree, there should be some contractual obligation to stay within the service to recoup their investment or else make them pay for the degree course as they would if they had applied directly to University, via a student loan.
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In defence of PQiPs I don’t see them cynically gain their qualification to then swan off. I see people coming into our service, many of whom have high hopes and good hearts but they are seen almost from day one as the cavalry, there to rescue us from our terrible situation. Yet, they have condensed training, no mentors and SPOs/PDU heads pushing to allocate cases before they’ve even had the relevant training. I had a harrowing conversation with one who left with two months to qualify (passing everything, not failing the qualification) seen as a good colleague, she was broken. Went straight back to her old job, I’ve suggested she posts about her experience and wish she would.
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I’m amazed HMPPS hasn’t clocked the ‘free degree’ issue yet. They will soon, just as social workers, nurses etc now have student loans it won’t be long for the PQips.
I’m amazed HMPPS hasn’t clocked the ‘free degree’ issue yet. They will soon, just as social workers, nurses etc now have student loans it won’t be long for the PQips.
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In my experience, PQIPs joined with the intention of probation being a career, not a free degree. That changed after 3 years as a red site with no serious solutions and a huge workload that didn't allow you to do a proper job, driving people out of the service, often to YOTs.
In my experience, PQIPs joined with the intention of probation being a career, not a free degree. That changed after 3 years as a red site with no serious solutions and a huge workload that didn't allow you to do a proper job, driving people out of the service, often to YOTs.
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When I questioned the workload I was basically told that it would get much worse and that if I couldn't handle it as a pqip then I should leave. I'm not surprised so many quit.
When I questioned the workload I was basically told that it would get much worse and that if I couldn't handle it as a pqip then I should leave. I'm not surprised so many quit.
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I found my PQiP period to be absolutely fine, with a great deal of support from both my PTA and SPO. What it didn’t do, however, was prepare me for the onslaught of a WMT over 150% or the pressure of the inevitable SFO’s.
I found my PQiP period to be absolutely fine, with a great deal of support from both my PTA and SPO. What it didn’t do, however, was prepare me for the onslaught of a WMT over 150% or the pressure of the inevitable SFO’s.
The PQiP experience is dependent on having a good and capable PTA and SPO. Many are not capable. It is also dependent on having a good mix of supportive colleagues. Many probation offices are toxic environments led by narcissistic SPO’s and managers.
ReplyDeleteHaving a good experience as a PQIP is done to luck more than anything else: I've seen exploitive colleagues who bully; PTAs who are tyrannical and SPOs who make you question every decision you make. If I had four wheels I could be a bus, etc. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. And they wonder why people are upset or leave? Actually they don't.
DeleteWhich is why “The PQiP experience is dependent on having a good and capable PTA and SPO” !!
Delete… and then there’s the systemic racism in probation to deal with. So God help you if you’re from an ethnic minority.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/media/press-releases/2023/09/race-equality-in-probation-2023/
I would say there's a fair amount of discrimination shown in reverse, that is not individually warranted, but speaks to someone's past and wanting to project that on to others and having the power, such as an SPO, of having that person question everything they do. Racism should not be tolerated, but nor should discrimination because someone were treated badly because of their ethnic background in their past, be visited upon anyone because someone now has a bit of power. I can't abide either behaviour.
Delete“there's a fair amount of discrimination shown in reverse”
DeleteI wouldn’t say this. It’s not what the report says either. Most SPOs and up to directors level are white. Let me educate you a bit with Google.
Reverse racism is often called out whenever a white person feels discriminated against because of their race. The problem with this notion is that it focuses purely on racism as an interpersonal construct, rather than a systemic problem. In other words, when a white person feels they are experiencing reverse racism, they are probably facing prejudice (as opposed to systemic discrimination) if anything at all.
The difference is that systemic racism tends to privilege white people, especially in the UK. Calling out reverse racism is short-sighted and ignorant of systems of power that are historically and presently intertwined with individual racial experiences.
“Many PQiPs' enter the Probation Service simply to achieve a free degree and then swan off to another role elsewhere.”
ReplyDeleteIt’s not free. It’s in their contracts. They work for it for a relatively low wage. In return the probation service gets 15-21 months hard labour.
If there’s a problem with them leaving upon qualification then it is for probation to explore why and do more to retain them.
Agree and also to add many PQIPs already have a degree.
DeleteAnd why should degrees not be free? I got my "free" Social Work degree when that was still the prerequisite for the job and I'm still here working hard full time 30 years later. Don't knock it because my degree has paid for itself time and time again in terms of the work I have contributed to society over 3 decades. Maybe if we went back to grants or bursaries we would be in a better position.
ReplyDeleteI believe some POs whose training happened during Covid were adversely impacted given their training all went to online delivery and practice experience really was non existent for months. I think our excellent leaders have just forgotten about them, and once qualified gave them no further thought “you’re a PO now just get on with it”. Many of the concerns about their practice skills stems from this and it really was not their fault. If they were allowed to qualify knowing the significant detriment they experienced in their training, they really should have been allowed a longer NQO period with specific work done to support them as we unwound from the Exceptional Delivery Model. Yes it was difficult for all practitioners but really these POs are the very people supporting PQiPs in the offices now so not fully formed practice is leading others. That’s just another incremental deficit that’s adding to the current problems.
ReplyDeleteA lot of posts on here will tell u once a po they are mystically professional and there's a difference. What your saying is they are not able but still given the role illustrating you do not need anything to be a po which is why the management will open the gates soon enough.
DeleteTruth is, that so many PQiPs are not cut out for this job in the first place and don't give it a proper chance. Or they simply can't afford to do the job in the first place because of the financial demands thier life already places on them. Some also don't have the emotional resiliance or the determination to succeed in the job. Their attitude seems entitled too: the first thing they want to know after applying or getting an offer is what the next payrise will be, the hours of work and how often they can work from home.
ReplyDeleteWould you ask that at a face-to-face job interview? Probably not. You would focus on what you can give to the role and the organisation.
Or am I too long in the tooth to comment on how hard life is for the young these days?
From Twitter:-
Delete"To be so clueless about how current PQIPs are feeling and partner that with clearly no knowledge of the current impossibilities for young people to live on the starting PQIP wage is a real achievement."
“Truth is, that so many PQiPs are not cut out for this job in the first place”
DeleteYour truth not the truth!
From Twitter:-
Delete"Average rental price in this local area is £1000pcm, for mostly 1 bedroom flats. That's half of that yearly wage gone just like that - unless there are luxuries such as living at home, it's really not enough to live comfortably alongside a very taxing role."
As an NQO I love this role but it is nothing like what was advertised when I applied to the PQIP. Even so, I can manage the caseload but what I can't manage is also is the systematic failure of services we neeed to do this job. Our local council office hasn't reopened since Covid and the amount of time I spend daily linked to trying to find accommodation or trying to get people the mental health support they need leaves me drained. I often find I am trying to do the job of 3 or 4 services as well as my own. I can't blame people for leaving when at times it is impossible to do the job we were hired for.
ReplyDeleteLet's ask the "Excellent Managers" why so many PQiPs, newly qualified Officers, PSOs, mid career Probation Officers and experienced Probation Officers are all leaving in droves...?
ReplyDeleteThis makes for a shocking read, and an indictment of the whole mess that called without irony Criminal Justice.
ReplyDeletehttps://news.sky.com/story/caged-for-23-hours-a-day-former-inmates-shocking-account-of-what-its-like-inside-a-womens-prison-13014253
Ex-prisoner gives rare and shocking account of what life's like in a women's jail
DeleteFormer inmate Scarlett Roberts kept a diary of her time inside a women's prison. She tells Sky News incarceration left her helpless as she watched her life "fall apart". Her testimony comes as a new government report criticises the prison service as "unfit for purpose" for "many women".
Scarlett Roberts' diary of her four months inside a women's jail last year is a rare and shocking account of mostly male prison officers allegedly abusing their power over women.
One extract reads: "14th of May, cell 19 after lunch at 12:30. Two officers were arguing with her. She was not violent... There were seven officers in the end, all restraining her in her cell. No officers put bodycams on. One officer kicked her in the chest."
Her account details the alleged treatment of a youth offender in a cell next door.
Scarlett recalls: "They folded her in two, they brought her arms up behind her back until she was screaming. Then the senior officer kicked her in the chest right before they closed the door. They didn't let her out for 48 hours."
She is choosing to speak out about her experience despite the stigma of being a former prisoner.
Her testimony comes on the day a government report into women's prisons makes eight recommendations that recognise that the Prison Service currently does not offer the support needed for women.
It comes as self-harm rates among female prisoners continue to soar - up 63% this year according to the latest government "safety in custody" statistics.
From Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"The most valuable resource an organisation has is not the completion of forms no one reads but its staff. Unfortunately PS managers, certainly at the SPO and senior level think staff are a commodity, whilst filling in forms which cover ur a*** are the key to a successful PS."
From Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"Seeing lots about PQIPs on my timeline, the important thing to note is the #probation service is letting them down badly, both in terms of the training and the experience. There is not enough experienced staff able to mentor, the training across all grades is not fit for purpose!"
From Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"So with all the recent high profile news of the failures of the #prison and #probation system, the government has announced exactly £0 extra funding to help alleviate the crisis while making threats to remove the benefits the 80% of prison leavers who are blocked from employment."
Well actually it looks like the Ministry of Justice will see a reduction in funding as a result of inflation. So not only will the Probation Service be supervising more offenders, because the prison service is imploding, but they will be doing it during a further period of austerity. To be perfectly honest I remain astonished that people continue to put up with the dismantling of civil society by an increasingly authoritarian conservative government. And don’t get me going about the Monarchy who are increasingly looking like a rather posh Mafia. Skimming money off the dead.
ReplyDeleteThe PQIPs / newly qualified in my office are really hard workers and entered the job (the majority) with no probation experience. The job was simply mis- sold and the training they get given is frankly appalling. The majority are not ready at qualification to hold a caseload and are not experienced enough. This is simply an operational issue.. poor training, poor management and lack of understanding as to what they are letting themselves in for - the list goes on. Our recent cohort haven’t left but I can already see that they are crumbling under the stress and pressure. This is applicable to new PSO’s too. I am of the view that we should go back to the old system where you had to buddy up with a PO for at least a year until you can even apply for training. This provides some workload relief to PO’s and also provides some sort of mentorship and development whilst building confidence. It’s simply unethical and irresponsible for everyone at this point to let the current status quo continue. They want to be great PO’s and PSO’s but are not being given a foundation to build upon their practice
ReplyDelete“This provides some workload relief to PO’s”
DeleteTrainees are not here to serve POs.
I think you have missed the point of the comment
DeleteYou going to pay them for a years "buddying up?".
DeleteIf they cannot afford to pay their current staff properly, why would they be paying buddies? So the budget is then tighter, less staff, these buddies are going to be nothing more than cheap labour and will vanish faster than my kids when theres washing up to do. Sounds more like groomign than buddying.
Just wanted to put in my thoughts. I'm a PQiP who is just finishing. I have never seen any other who have been "in it for the free degree". I have only ever met committed individuals with a passion for the role and wanting to help people. PQiP is really really hard, as highlighted above. We are expected to pick up ridiculous amounts of work between uni, our own caseloads and co-working. We are often used as a means to support low PO staff numbers and their high workloads and often left handling co-work cases with little guidance. The people who end up leaving I feel are pushed to so this by the postcode-lottery experience of PQiP. It has been so hard seeing the service lose a lot of experience and wisdom in the more experienced colleagues but also the freshness and potential from newer colleagues due to their crap experiences.
ReplyDeleteI know many that are “in it for the degree” and work experience. Nothing wrong with that.
DeleteFrom Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"To all the Probation officers that I am following on here and who follows me. Am feeling slightly nervous as my contract for my PQip role has just been signed. Any hints and tips will be much appreciated. Also please reassure me that it is not as bad as it seems."
Response:-
"I’ve worked in the probation service 25 years, have never regretted joining it changed my life in so many ways . Yes we have challenges but we also have lots of opportunities. I hope you get the same opportunities I did and it changes your life as well."
"It's not an easy journey and it's a challenging time but you won't be bored and it's often immensely satisfying work. Ask questions, shadow lots and avoid the politics and you will be fine 🙂"
DeleteFrom Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"For me, this is the problem. It’s unrealistic expectations because as soon as you qualify you’re hammered with about 25 cases (if not more) and expected to run and know what you’re doing, hence why they then can’t retain staff. Lots of protection as a pqip, less so as a po."