Scarica il documento - Dipartimento per la Giustizia Minorile

The Professional Figure of the Probation Officer for Minors
Dossier
probation officers in Germany are usually social workers or educators. the education
required for social workers is quite general, which means that individuals wishing to
be qualified to work as probation officers must, after attaining their university degree,
complete a specialized course or training. the necessary qualification that allows one to
work with minors can be attained through additional specialized courses.
the probation office is usually located in the local court or tribunal. the president of
the local tribunal is responsible for employing and supervising the probation officers. once
inserted in the criminal justice system, the probation officers become public employees
with the justice system. the insertion phase for a probation officer lasts more or less two
years.
the professional role of the juvenile probation officer consists of working with the
minor during the probation period. probation officers have an educational task and should
collaborate with the minor’s legal guardian. probation officers have the right to carry out
investigations in regards to the minors, meaning that they can request information about
the minors’ lifestyle from legal guardians, schools, and employers. Beyond this educational
task, probation officers have two other principal functions: to offer support to the minor
and to supervise, as agreed upon with the judge, the minor’s adherence to the judge’s
recommendations and dispositions.
in offering support to the minor, the probation officer seeks to achieve the following
objectives:
• Stabilize and improve the minor’s life conditions,
• Find the minor a secure place to live,
• Ensure that the minor can support him/herself, above all by working with the
minor to develop a future profession or occupation (by looking for a place that will
provide the minor with professional/occupational training),
• Promote the minor’s school attendance and social inclusion,
• Ensure that the minor has necessary medical and/or psychological care,
• Introduce measures enabling the minor to reduce his/her sentence.
the task of surveillance primarily focuses on:
• Supervise the minor’s behaviour to determine whether or not the judge’s
recommendations and orders are being respected (e.g., therapy, payment of
fines, reparation of harm, measures associated with victim offender mediation,
participation in anger management classes, work for the collective good,
verification that the minor is not using drugs);
• Assessment to see whether the minor’s lifestyle is acceptable with regular
communications with the court in case of any changes. the probation officer
also has the right to request a change in, suspension of, or addition to the
recommendations and orders issued by the court.
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