Justice
April 18, 2011
Report into Adult Probation Services Released
The report conducted by retired Provincial Court Judge William Baker into adult probation services in Newfoundland and Labrador was released today. The report includes 18 recommendations into how the Department of Justice can improve adult probation.
“I welcome the recommendations from Judge Baker. We take Judge Baker’s report very seriously, and the Department of Justice will review the recommendations to determine next steps,” said the Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice and Attorney General. “In doing its review, the department will consider recent improvements to adult probation services, which may already have addressed some of these recommendations.”
These improvements were moving the headquarters of the Office of the Chief Adult Probation Officer to the Department of Justice, undertaking violence risk assessments at all 14 probation offices and implementing a new home visit policy for Community Corrections. In addition, the Department of Justice will be hiring a full-time regional manager to assist the Office of the Chief Adult Probation Officer. The vast majority of the other recommendations involve human resources and administrative issues.
Judge Baker’s report included a review of the workflow and case loads of adult probation officers, organizational structure, human resource levels and practices, office accommodations and locations, policies and procedures related to supervision of clients and the status of the Assistant Adult Probation Officer Program.
A Report to the Minister of Justice Regarding Adult Probation Services (Community Corrections) can be found at www.gov.nl.ca/just/publications/probation_review.pdf.
“Adult probation services are an important and integral part of our justice system,” said Minister Collins. “We will study this report in depth to determine how we can move forward to further strengthen this program.”
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Media contact:
Vanessa Colman-Sadd
Director of Communications
Department of Justice
709-729-6985, 682-6593
vanessacolmansadd@gov.nl.ca
2011 04 18 12:30 p.m.