Working With Offenders
Community Punishment Pathfinder: Gloucestershire Open College Network Project
Gloucestershire is piloting a scheme for skills training and accreditation.
The pilot started in April 2000 and covers the whole of the Gloucestershire Area, and the evaluation includes all Community Punishment cases. The target intake sample of 150 cases was achieved by April 2001 with orders to be completed by November 2001.
The Area has a single SPO responsible for all Community Punishment staff, including eight CSOs and 2 Pathfinder project officers. All CP staff operate from a single office in Gloucester where workshop facilities are provided. Opportunities for skills training are provided on all group placements and some individual agency placements.
Skills training and accreditation is targeted at those cases with employment related needs identified in an initial assessment undertaken at the start of all Community Punishment orders. Since there is a significant correlation between unemployment and offending, it is hoped that by improving offenders’ employability the project will increase the likelihood of them obtaining stable employment and thereby reduce the likelihood of further offending.
Offenders work towards gaining Open College Network units which are awarded through the local Gloucestershire Open College Network as part of the National OCN. A range of units were devised and written by Gloucestershire CP supervisors and an Education & Training Officer together with the Local Education Authority. Units are offered in several general Key Skills areas such as problem solving and working with others in an employment context, and in eight specific vocational areas. A unit can be completed within 30 hours allowing for more than one to be achieved within longer orders. The minimum order length for the pilot is 60 hours.
Training takes the form of guided learning while performing Community Punishment work and does not form part of the 10% allowance within an order for non work activity. Assessment is done by CP supervisors, with supervisors taking a lead and undertaking internal verification supported by the college. The college is responsible for external moderation of assessments. The training units gained are portable into further training undertaken with a college after the CP order, and offenders are encouraged and supported to explore this further by the E & T Officer.
The project operates against a background of Pro Social Modelling, based on the work of Trotter in Australia. This suggested that the supervisory relationship could be used as an opportunity for staff to model and reinforce desired pro social attitudes and behaviours in offenders. The intention is that this will lead to an increase in compliance and a reduction in future offending. Community Punishment staff are working to develop Pro Social Modelling in their practice, but this has not been implemented as a part of the Pathfinder project and its impact in Gloucestershire is not being formally evaluated.
An interim report on the initial findings of the projects has now been published. Copies of the Executive Summary are available from the NPD e-mail address below. A full evaluation report will be published in March 2002 to report on the findings of all the Community Punishment Pathfinder Projects; with a reconviction analysis following in 2003. Given its initial success the Area will continue to operate Community Punishment on the project model until it is incorporated into a new national framework for CP in the future.
Further information
Julia Oulton, Senior Probation Officer Gloucestershire |
01452 426330 |
Steve Woodgate, Pathfinder Development Manager, National Probation Directorate |
020 7217 0684 |
Last update: 15/09/03