The Probation Service is experiencing a ‘retention crisis’ (Tidmarsh, 2023) as they face over 2000 probation officer vacancies. With fewer staff, the risk offenders on probation pose to the public increases. As such, recruitment is crucial to improving both public protection and rehabilitation.
Better understanding the needs of staff in training can help to build resilience and address retention issues. However, no research currently exists on trainees’ experiences of the current professional qualification route.
Six focus groups will address this policy-related research gap, four with trainee probation officers at different stages of their training and two with the individuals by whom training is delivered. The findings will inform a forthcoming HMI Probation (the body responsible auditing the Probation Service) inspection on recruitment and retention, as well as a one-day conference at the 亚洲色吧 which brings together probation stakeholders.
The project will generate societal impact by better understanding the learning needs of trainee probation officers, influence the future of probation practice, and establish better links between academics, trainers and learners, professional associations and policymakers. It will also create a sustainable repository of training materials which can influence the ongoing development of the profession, hosted by the Probation Institute.
This project is funded by the 2024–2025 Research England Policy Support Fund.
Contacts
Others involved
- Dr Matt Cracknell (Brunel University)