Description
The objective of the project is to increase the competences of the Prison Service (PS) personnel by creating the opportunities to develop the vocational skills of the staff dealing with detainees. The support will be provided in the form of individual and group courses, trainings and postgraduate studies aimed at increasing the professional qualifications to ensure an appropriate level of administering imprisonment sentences in accordance with international human rights. The form of support will be directed at the officers and the employees of the PS according to defined training needs. The support provided by the project will cover: the special methods of working with dangerous convicts, young offenders and those who are serving long imprisonment sentence, the ways of preparing convicts to come back on to the labour market as well as foreign languages courses. Under the project 2209 PS staff members will receive training. The Correctional Service of Norway Staff Academy (KRUS) is a project partner and their role is to exchange experience through a series of study and training visits.
Summary of project results
The main objective of the project was to increase the competences of PS (Prison Services) by creating opportunities for officers working directly with persons deprived of liberty to undertake professional development by attend the trainings in the following areas: increasing the effectiveness of readaptation of prisoners, especially vulnerable to social exclusion; preparation to conduct social re-adaptation activities; adjustment methods of work to the specific needs of juvenile, dangerous and serving long-term imprisonment convicts; improvement of the quality of tasks performed by PS staff; the exchange of good practices within the framework of bilateral cooperation; increasing knowledge of international human rights standards and assuring proper level of enforcement of imprisonment in case of foreigners serving in Poland, in particular by ensuring an appropriate level of communication with the PS staff. The outcome of the project was to provide support in the form of trainings courses for all officers and employees. The project has been divided into 5 modules, two aimed to increase the effectiveness of readaptation activities and three aimed at developing language skills of PS personnel. In the framework of the module 1: 19 highly specialized training courses for 275 officers and employees of the penitentiary as well as therapeutic department working with dangerous convicts, juvenile delinquents or detainees serving long time sentences was provided instead of originally planned 15 training courses for 195 people. In the module 2 trainings in methods of preparing convicts to their return to the labour market 266 training courses were attendee by 1855 PS instead of initially planned 242 courses for 634 officers. The language trainings provided in the modules: 3, 4 and 5 were focused on improvement of the knowledge of English amongst departments of records, penitentiary and security staff. The language courses were completed by 1 618 officers instead of previously envisage number of 1380. Additionally, in order to improve communication 320 language translators units were purchased. In the process of the project implementation 3748 PS employees were trained on 1903 training courses and they obtained 4674 certificates and diplomas. The significant surpluses of the originally assumed indicators were possible due to substantial savings achieved through the extensive use of tender procedures in the purchase of training services language translators.
Summary of bilateral results
The bilateral cooperation was carried out in modules 2.1 and 2.2. Within its framework Beneficiary organized 14 study visits for 75 PS participants in Norway and 4 study visits for 19 representatives of the Norwegian side in Poland as well as 2 internship visits for 6 prison officers in Norway. As a result of the cooperation PS officers had the chance to acquaint themselves with the Norwegian prison system, its methods and ways of managing penitentiary wards, the division of tasks and the range of activities focused on specific groups of prisoners. The effect of this was enrichment of the professional experience of PS officers. The conclusions, contained in the participants reports, show that the solutions applied in both penitentiary systems are, in general, similar despite quite a few minor differences. Some solution of Norwegian system can be successfully adopted to Polish penitentiary practice but it should be noted that the Prison Service in Poland operates in strict statutory framework and procedural standards, which any essential alteration requires adoption of new regulations. The tangible result of the concluded exchange of experiences and practices, at the bilateral level, are: opportunity for the Polish prison officers to familiarize with the operation of another penitentiary system, which by comparison is a prerequisite to undertake any modification of the current procedures and activities related to the inmates of juvenile, dangerous and long-term prisoners; the changes in instructing officers of the penitentiary department and protection for understanding security; the reorientation in the process of evaluation of the attitudes of officers towards detainees that cause positive effects in the functioning and the process of rehabilitation; strengthening the application of European standards on the treatment of prisoners; the creation of innovative solutions and good practices in form of boxes for ideas how to change the appearance of prison facilities to facilitate socialization and provision of the positive stimulation for detainee; growth of awareness of the need for increased cooperation with external institutions and families of inmates in order to provide them better assistance in the process of readaptation to life after serving sentence. Additionally, participants of the study visits and internships have been engaged to provide the training that contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about the Partner’s penitentiary systems.