Clients of Probation Services often have low levels of literacy and numeracy and often are reluctant to access mainstream education and training opportunities. Getting a job has the most impact upon reducing the risk of recommitting crimes, but this requires big shifts in skills levels. Offenders have high hopes that the Probation Service will help them overcome barriers to gaining employment, including the improvement in their levels of basic skills. A period on probation could be a time when offenders might re-evaluate their lifestyle, and consider the value of developing basic skills. At the same time Probation Services often lack adequate literacy or numeracy support provision, and basic skills provision has often been difficult to introduce with this client group who can have a fear of learning in groups. The Core Skills Development Partnership is addressing this often hidden need, through a partnership of the Adult Education Service with the Probation Service in Birmingham, providing a package of provision consisting of:
  • raising basic skills awareness of Probation Service staff
  • development of flexible on site basic skills 1:1 support at Probation hostels
  • creating appropriate links between hostel residents, support tutor and Employment Liaison Officer
  • appropriate basic skills assessments that allow supervision plans to take account of the impact on rehabilitation and employability
  • extension of the traditional probation mentor role to create a focus on literacy and numeracy support.

For more than a year we have been developing basic skills support with those attending a day centre as part of their probation order. Centre users were able to discuss needs; have an initial assessment; and produce an individual learning plan. The access to open and flexible learning materials has meant that learning has been customised to each individual. This work is spreading to probation hostels.

 Two staff have been seconded from the Careers and Education Business Partnership to provide employment advice to the 16 to 18 year old clients of the Youth Justice Team in Birmingham. An important part of this work is the identification of the core skills needs of the young people and how they might improve their skills. The work is consistently demonstrating that:

a high proportion of young offenders have poor literacy skills, although their general ability is often high

significant numbers had dropped out of the education system by age 13-14

their lack of core skills severely limits the opportunities open to them

very few expected to improve their skills by returning to an education system that they see as already having failed them ñ more flexible approaches are needed

some consciously limit their aspirations to unskilled work, where they feel their lack of core skills will be less of an issue ñ although many would prefer to be in skilled work and are wanting to upgrade their basic skills in a vocational context.

The Partnership has already held discussions with the New Youth Offending Service with a view to making sure that low basic skills are not a barrier to progress for individuals.