BCGEU welcomes Auditor General’s report, calls for staffing and caseload review for probation officers

The B.C. Government and Services Employees’ Union (BCGEU) welcomes the Auditor General’s report Effectiveness of Community Corrections issued today, and strongly endorses the report recommendations dealing with inadequate staffing of probation officers, unsustainable caseloads and inadequate training.

“We welcome the Auditor General’s report, which clearly evidences the workload strain faced by probation officers in our province,” says BCGEU President Darryl Walker.

“In particular, we strongly endorse the recommendations dealing with staffing, caseloads and improved training, and call on the Ministry of Public Safety to heed to the impartial advice of the Auditor General.”

“The report says that probation officers in B.C. have the second highest caseload across the country. And caseloads have increased by a third in just six years, but there has been no staffing increases,” Walker says. “This puts a huge strain on the community corrections system as a whole, and it directly impacts probation officers staff morale and retention.”

The report explicitly recognizes the judgment of probation officers in handling their clients with complex needs, but it also evidences insufficient training and documentation. These are directly related to workload issues.

“Too many duties have been downloaded to probation officers. When caseloads are unmanageable, paperwork and documenting cases will suffer. It’s simply a question of priorities,” says Walker.

Probation officers are expected to complete online training on the tools and supports needed to deal with offenders while on the job, in their first six months.  The training should be available before work placement begins, the union believes.

The recruitment and retention of probation officers remains an important issue. Many decide to work as federal parole officers where the pay is higher.

The BCGEU represents around 300 probation officers across British Columbia.

Link: The Auditor General’s report Effectiveness of Community Corrections, December 2011