Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #13 - What Else Works ... Volume 1 (ACJ13-A004)

This paper contextualises an ongoing European adult education initiative to provide free, standardised training to people who support community volunteers in prison and with people on release, illustrating how this addresses current European policy frameworks and a current gap in training provision. Context is given by related case studies and lessons learnt from a pan-European research survey. The authors conclude with recommendations for future work. We show how specific training for volunteer coordinators – and by extension better training for volunteers – could support the expansion of voluntary organisation support to prison rehabilitation and post release services. We go on to detail barriers to volunteer engagement identified by prison staff in a pan-European survey in the VOLPRIS project, showing that what they believe is critical to the success of a project engaging volunteers in prison. The authors then present two case studies: the first showing how a trained volunteer coordinators’ role functions in prison and probation volunteer recruitment, training and retention initiatives (Bremen, Germany), the second showing how trained coordinators pass this training on to volunteers themselves (Lisbon, Portugal). We conclude that similarities in the survey results and in current practice underscore volunteer and volunteer coordinator training as primary areas of investment for prison, probation and/or voluntary sector staff who intend to bring volunteers into secure environments. Finally, we identify critical areas of future work necessary to improve uptake of volunteering programmes to support rehabilitation services in prison, and to reduce existing barriers for prison staff keen to promote and engage in voluntary initiatives. 

 

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