Life as a probation officer is varied and multi-faceted. You could be working in a probation office in the community, in court, in a prison setting or with victims of crime within our victims unit .
As a probation officer, you’ll assess and manage the risk posed by people serving a community sentence and those on licence released from prison in order to help prevent them reoffending and protect the public.
You will be responsible for providing assessments to the courts to assist Judges to make sentencing decisions. A probation officer is an 'officer of the court’ and can be asked to attend court and provide information to judges.
You will also work with partners such as the police service, the prison service, social services and the Community & Voluntary sector through our well-established partnership arrangements to help keep the public safe.
You’ll work closely with people who are on probation, often with complex needs, including those who’ve committed violent and sexual offences or those who are struggling with their mental health or substance misuse and addiction.
Probation officers are problem solvers who work with those on probation, to tackle the causes of their offending behaviour. This can include helping them to tackle substance misuse and addictions, helping them access appropriate housing or employment opportunities and this can involve referring people to other services to assist in their rehabilitation.
While probation officers work to support people rehabilitate and resettle back into communities, if people do not comply with their sentence or licence conditions probation officers take enforcement action including returning people to Court and initiating recall reports for the parole commissioners to keep the public safe.
All probation officers in Northern Ireland are social work qualified and must be registered with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC).