“When officers use their authority well, legitimately and carefully, every outcome is improved: suicide, disorder, violence, political charge, and even prisoner’s future.”
– Professor Alison Liebling
PROJECT PRISGRADS
PROJECT PRISGRADS
Who is working on it?
PRISGRADS is an Erasmus+ -funded KA210-VET – Small-scale partnership in vocational education and training between RICHTUNGSWECHSEL, INTERCHANGE (DE) and CPIP (RO). This project actively supports the Pact for Skills ‘Liberate Skills’ and its pledge to increase the professionalisation of correctional staff. Evidenced by Unlocked Graduates, the project maps the potential for innovation in vocational training by introducing university graduates to the prison service and providing opportunities in leadership and development through prison staff mentoring.
Effective prison officers are extremely skilled professionals who protect and rehabilitate some of the most vulnerable and damaged people in our society. According to Penal Reform International (2023) staff shortages and high staff turnover are a continuous problem faced by prison systems around the world. The lack of staff causes major disruption in the prison regimes and poorer conditions inevitably leading to further problems for staff and incarcerated individuals.
Internationally, responses to staff crises have been short termed, such as filling gaps through military services or civil servants. In their report on prisons and detention conditions in the EU, the European Parliament discusses guidelines regarding recruitment, selection, education, training and professional development of prison and probation staff (2019). Despite these guidelines, there are no compliance measures monitoring staffing at an EU level, due to prison services being exclusively regulated by Member States. However, the high staff shortages and turnover faced across the continent and their interdependence with poor prison conditions and outcomes undermine the fundamental EU values and principles on which judicial cooperation on criminal matters is based. Whilst we see that increased salaries and improved employment conditions are insufficient in supporting recruitment and retention of good prison staff, we also note that there are pockets of new initatives across Europe, and see evidence that a small culture change within prison systems can trigger big changes. Such an example is the Unlocked Graduates Programme, a leadership scheme recruiting outstanding university graduates into the prison service as frontline officers – having placed over 700 officers in prisons in England & Wales since 2017. Thereby, Unlocked raised the status of working in the prison service and raised awareness of the prison officer role in reducing reoffending – a one-of-its-kind approach and part of the solution to the prison staff crisis. We see an urgent need for prison systems in Europe to learn such effective good practice from one another.
All activities in this project are thus geared towards collecting and sharing evidence of other such effective graduate recruitment practice. The private sector invests heavily in graduate recruitment, on-boarding and mentoring graduates. In funding PRISGRADS, the EU provides a plaform to level the playing field in adapting vocational recruitment and training to prison officers’ reality. This small change could help tackle the EU prison staff turnover and recruitment crisis, and promote fundamental human rights based principles of prison. The project aims to provide an insight into how prison services, as employers, undertake an organised programme to attract and employ students who are going on to complete different forms of education. We will also look at key competences for graduates identified by prison administrations and how their recruitment process filters these skills during recruitment and initial training.
Upcoming PRISGRADS Country Workshops: Engaging Higher Education Graduates in the Prison Service
Dates & Languages:
8th October (English)
9th October (German)
10th October (Romanian)
Time: 13:00 – 15:00 CEST
Format: Online
ROM: https://form.jotform.com/242623114119346
To stay up-to-date contact prisgrads@richtungswechsel.or.at or visit our Contact Page
Dates & Languages:
8th October (English)
9th October (German)
10th October (Romanian)
Time: 13:00 – 15:00 CEST
Format: Online
ROM: https://form.jotform.com/242623114119346
To stay up-to-date contact prisgrads@richtungswechsel.or.at or visit our Contact Page
Agenda Highlights
- Innovative Recruitment Practices
- Mentoring Schemes for Prison Staff
- Group Discussions on recruitment challenges & future opportunities
- Networking with a wide range of experts
Why Join?
Take the chance to shape the future of European prison services!
Engage with peers across Europe, learn about innovative recruitment and mentoring strategies like the Unlocked Graduates programme, and collaborate on solutions to modern challenges. Your input will directly influence our future strategies to enhance staff recruitment and retention across transnational prison services.
Be part of the change – join us to build the next generation of prison professionals!
PRISGRADS In-Person Workshop: Prison Staff Recruitment, Training, and Professional Development
We are excited to announce that the PRISGRADS In-Person Workshop on prison staff recruitment, training, and professional development will take place in Vienna (Austria) from 12th to 14th November 2024.
Workshop Overview:
The PRISGRADS team is excited to host an exclusive in-person workshop focusing on the recruitment, training, and professional development of prison staff. This three-day event will gather professionals from across Europe to explore advanced strategies and innovative practices in these critical areas.
Participants will engage with experts on various topics including staff wellbeing, cutting-edge training methodologies, and professional growth. The workshop will also feature visits to the training academy and an Austrian prison facility, providing an opportunity to observe and exchange with Austrian prison service staff.
Key Highlights:
- Interactive sessions with European professionals
- Insights into innovative training programmes
- Visits to key facilities in Austria
Participation Details:
As this workshop is invite-only, we are not able to accommodate public registrations. However, we welcome expressions of interest and are happy to provide updates on this and future events. For more information or to inquire about potential participation, please contact us at prisgradsproject@richtungswechsel.or.at.
Participation Details:
As this workshop is invite-only, we are not able to accommodate public registrations. However, we welcome expressions of interest and are happy to provide updates on this and future events. For more information or to inquire about potential participation, please contact us at prisgradsproject@richtungswechsel.or.at.