I don’t agree with pushing these long service PSOs through shortened PO training just to get completions. There should be one route for probation officer training. Degree based university study with on the job placement training. Those with and without existing degrees should be eligible and relevant work experience should be part of the eligibility criteria. It’s not difficult to see why we have PSO, PQiPS and POs that can’t do the job and short cuts to qualification doesn’t help anybody. Qualified in name only in turn impacts on the rest of us who are too busy already.
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I know there is concern about the qualification now after some managers including at senior level have, since reunification, gained the PO qualification by a different route without doing the day job of a PO ie directly managing their own case load, completing OASys, delivering interventions etc. So in effect a way of qualifying as a PO seems to have been created just for some managers who did not have the qualification but this was different from the qualifying route the rest of us have to follow. Several SPOs who had previously worked as PSOs and continued in their manager role whilst doing it were successful. Little information seems available on this but there seem to be several different routes now to gaining the PO qualification, including some sort of fast track.
I know there is concern about the qualification now after some managers including at senior level have, since reunification, gained the PO qualification by a different route without doing the day job of a PO ie directly managing their own case load, completing OASys, delivering interventions etc. So in effect a way of qualifying as a PO seems to have been created just for some managers who did not have the qualification but this was different from the qualifying route the rest of us have to follow. Several SPOs who had previously worked as PSOs and continued in their manager role whilst doing it were successful. Little information seems available on this but there seem to be several different routes now to gaining the PO qualification, including some sort of fast track.
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Proper practice! SFO after SFO attributable to the lofty PO grade. The attitudes displayed here are the reason that Probation will not survive and no one takes it seriously. Many talk about Probation culture and mourn it but this culture appears to be built on self satisfaction and a belief that the PO is somehow better than the rest of humanity whilst bewailing the fact that others have more to give and its the case with most PSO's that they have more life experience as opposed to I have attended Uni thus I am superior.
Proper practice! SFO after SFO attributable to the lofty PO grade. The attitudes displayed here are the reason that Probation will not survive and no one takes it seriously. Many talk about Probation culture and mourn it but this culture appears to be built on self satisfaction and a belief that the PO is somehow better than the rest of humanity whilst bewailing the fact that others have more to give and its the case with most PSO's that they have more life experience as opposed to I have attended Uni thus I am superior.
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That’s not the point really. The moaning stems from a desire to maintain standards. The current probation service is driven by process and systems, whilst the targets support this shift. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that processes and systems, no matter how well the targets are met, have any impact on offending behaviour. In a sense this highlights a problem at the heart of the organisation. Targets have become an end in themselves largely because they simplify what is in effect a complex area of work. As this continues the type of staff and managers required to meet the demands has shifted.
That’s not the point really. The moaning stems from a desire to maintain standards. The current probation service is driven by process and systems, whilst the targets support this shift. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that processes and systems, no matter how well the targets are met, have any impact on offending behaviour. In a sense this highlights a problem at the heart of the organisation. Targets have become an end in themselves largely because they simplify what is in effect a complex area of work. As this continues the type of staff and managers required to meet the demands has shifted.
I completed the CQSW, and have to agree with an earlier comment that it was garbage. What wasn’t however was my practice teacher and the high standard of education I was afforded. Both of these introduced me to new ideas and different ways of viewing the world. They were both demanding and made me appreciate the complexity of human life. And with that the complexity of criminal behaviours. I woke up to how society targets the disenfranchised and policed the poor. The depth of this education matched the demands of the work when I started my first job in 1987. Complex behaviour requires the ability to process complex ideas and formulate hypotheses that you test and adjust as you move forward.
Shortly before I retired I read a number of PSRs. Gone was the human messiness of life. Authors tried to simplify something so hard to grasp with pat phrases and jargon that lacked both evidence and rigour. To a one they were shallow and relied on puerile vacuity as though that could explain anything. The job I left championed process over practice. There are many reasons why this happened. But one is undoubtedly that it removes the need to address complex human behaviours. Behaviours that are difficult to judge, understand and almost impossible to change without using a high level of intelligence to understand what it was that lead to an offence occurring. Which of course means you don’t need highly trained staff, and can get by with people who only need to understand processes, time scales and systems. Not all POs were intellectual powerhouses but some were and they were a delight to work alongside. Not all PSOs were dullards but some were. And they certainly weren’t a delight to work alongside.
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The current training provides staff with what they require for the current service. It’s crap but then they don’t need anything else. You can’t blame for applying. If I was starting out again I would probably think it was great. But I worked with students who were bright, clever, and socially aware. That was encouraged. This isn’t the job for those people anymore. Not because people are more stupid, but because the current job doesn’t require that level of intelligence. To be honest 2 GSEs is probably enough to fulfil the role. I suspect a well trained chimp can press buttons, scroll a screen and complete an OASys on time.
The current training provides staff with what they require for the current service. It’s crap but then they don’t need anything else. You can’t blame for applying. If I was starting out again I would probably think it was great. But I worked with students who were bright, clever, and socially aware. That was encouraged. This isn’t the job for those people anymore. Not because people are more stupid, but because the current job doesn’t require that level of intelligence. To be honest 2 GSEs is probably enough to fulfil the role. I suspect a well trained chimp can press buttons, scroll a screen and complete an OASys on time.
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I am currently on the second cohort of this and have mixed opinions. It’s a good progression route for those who do not have the existing degree qualification. However, the pilot was designed to capture the skills and experience of the existing PSO. Like any role the skills and experience vary greatly. I’ve found myself fortunate to have a wealth of experience and knowledge and found the process fairly straightforward. However, there are many others struggling. Some who worked in TTG teams who have never experienced case management or others just joining to then apply via the progression route. The push for POs is ongoing and unlikely to stop, however how do we back fill competent and experienced PSOs holding 50 plus caseloads? The progression route should be available but you can’t pull a cork out of one hole to fix another and expect the boat not to sink.
I am currently on the second cohort of this and have mixed opinions. It’s a good progression route for those who do not have the existing degree qualification. However, the pilot was designed to capture the skills and experience of the existing PSO. Like any role the skills and experience vary greatly. I’ve found myself fortunate to have a wealth of experience and knowledge and found the process fairly straightforward. However, there are many others struggling. Some who worked in TTG teams who have never experienced case management or others just joining to then apply via the progression route. The push for POs is ongoing and unlikely to stop, however how do we back fill competent and experienced PSOs holding 50 plus caseloads? The progression route should be available but you can’t pull a cork out of one hole to fix another and expect the boat not to sink.
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In agreement with so much that has been written about the dire state of Probation in today's blog. Probation has so many irredeemable flaws that it's difficult for me to contribute to the Blog in any way constructively. So just one small point - the online training that was made absolutely mandatory by Senior Management is almost entirely worthless. As anyone who has completed the training will know there is usually an online training pass mark of 80 per cent. This sounds fine until you realise that overworked frontline Probation Workers are often unaware of the exact nature of the 20 per cent they may have got wrong in the quiz at the end of the training - this means that the online training is virtually useless. Imagine being operated on by a surgeon who has only 80 per cent of knowledge in his or her field of expertise and who doesn't actually know for sure what s/he does or doesn't know... terrifying.******
It's the knowledge and understanding of the person that comes from the relationship between the PO and the client that provides the most valuable tool in assessing risk.
Assessing risk, as with everything else in probation has become a process, and because it's become a process it becomes easy to delegate parts of that process to anyone capable of following that process regardless of experience or training.
As long as probation continues along the road of processing its case load rather then engaging with it, the number of SFOs will continue rise, and blame for them happening will continue to be attached to (often undeservedly) those at the lower end of the conveyor belt.
It's the knowledge and understanding of the person that comes from the relationship between the PO and the client that provides the most valuable tool in assessing risk.
Assessing risk, as with everything else in probation has become a process, and because it's become a process it becomes easy to delegate parts of that process to anyone capable of following that process regardless of experience or training.
As long as probation continues along the road of processing its case load rather then engaging with it, the number of SFOs will continue rise, and blame for them happening will continue to be attached to (often undeservedly) those at the lower end of the conveyor belt.
The Probation Service is led by the Prison Service and Prison Service Senior Officials, aka HMPPS. The Prison Service is rife with staffing problems, corruption, red tape and wasted resources. Expect to see more deprofessionalisation of the Probation Service and increasing levels of substandard Probation Officer training and practices.
ReplyDeleteI have recently retired as a PO based in a prison. The Probation Service has been totally swallowed up by the Prison Service under the guise of HMPPS. PO risk management recommendations are often nonchalantly dismissed by Prison managers and rarely challenged by SPOs who are only interested in meeting deadlines and telling inappropriately trained OMU staff to look on Equip for information on practice issues! Watch out for an increase in SFOs we are in seriously dangerous waters!
ReplyDeleteYes said it before myself begging po staff not to assist or train prison staff. They laughed at that. Omic opened the wrong door and probation officers gave away their role.
DeleteSome observations re training:
ReplyDelete1. Key training is delivered by modular packages on MyLearning ( including safeguarding, risk of harm etc) where the main objective is to tick off that it has been completed rather than retention of that learning and evidence of application to practice. Research shows only 10% of which is likely to be retained by the person after 2 weeks. Total disregard has been shown that this method will not suit the vast majority of staffs’ learning styles. However it is cheaper to deliver and completion easily measured.
2. Evidence that some training face to face or via Teams by actual trainers is not delivered by subject specialists / experienced staff.People with teaching qualifications and no experience of probation have been recruited, does this matter? Well yes, if the trainers can’t answer questions in the moment valuable learning can be missed and it almost starts to equate with modular My Learning packages surely? Is this because experienced staff are not being released into training roles?
3. With new recruits and PO training the value of the experienced mentor in the office has been lost. Mentors have been withdrawn in some ( all?) regions leaving the lived experience of new recruits much poorer as their training progresses but also leaving them feeling ill-prepared as they qualify.
All of these decisions which can only have been taken at Senior Management level have weakened Probation. These decisions have degraded the quality of training- it isn’t one big issue rather it is the incremental poor strategic decision making which has contributed to the weakening of our once good quality training. When will these decisions be subject to scrutiny with accountability taken for the negative impact on staff and frontline delivery?
Training is just the start of the PO role it has become shortened over time and the current PQUIP route isn’t fit for purpose. The skill of report writing isn’t really available to PQUIPS. I remember as a TPO back in 2002 we were required to write in-depth psrs and this skill was developed following qualification with writing regular reports - two a week minimum. This gave the opportunity for development of questioning , professional curiosity. The moment central court writing teams were developed many lost the opportunity to develop report writing skills which we know are transferable to all reports . The cramming of 24mth training into less time was criminal in itself . The SPO role which traditionally was for those with at least two/three placements in secondment roles which let’s face it would be a minimum of 7 years post qualification was again diluted to provide opportunity for those who didn’t want frontline work to sail up the ranks with little experience of risk management themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe current role of PO is just target driven to the detriment of that key role of public protection which can only be delivered when practitioners spend time with cases getting to know them .
No one wants an SFO it’s a horrendous experience.
Probation has lost its voice , it’s identity and is a treadmill of computer based targets , the relationship is lost .
The SPO group on the whole isn’t great either and can neither train, support nor lead probation staff. Too many SPOs with hardly any experience, or were crap SPOs in the CRCs, or were PSOs that became CRC managers then were transferred to SPOs roles and handed a fast-tracked PQiP qualification to justify their positions. It’s shoddy across the board at best and the senior managers are no different. The blind are leading the blind so no wonder nobody can see the wood through the trees.
DeleteNot really relevant so may not be posted. Just heard NZ president resigning as ' not enough left in the tank'. My tank is also running on near empty but sadly most of us don't have the privilege of being able to just quit. Never mind, I might feel more inspired after a day of e training!
ReplyDeleteI have been a regular contributer to this blog, and was active in the fight against TR. I am now actively organising for Labour. I came to the conclusion a good while back that if we dont get a change of government, our profession, and, more importantly , the people that we work with and for, is on a hiding to nothing. The potential next Labour government wont be great, but they will be better than this and we have a choice of two in the current system, and in lobbying we can better appeal to a shared set of values. So wherever you are, and whatever your alternative to a Tory candidate is, get in there and do the often mind-numbing work that it takes.
ReplyDeletePearly Gates