"<< Background >>PROBATIONET project background derives from Probation nature itself as criminal procedure globally applied and its complex context of case management in which Governmental Institutions and NGO with their office workers and operators are involved.Probation first developed in the United States in 1841, since then in the World and Europe the national judicial systems applied it according their own criminal laws but based on the same principle: a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court instead of serving time in prison.Officers and practitioners engaged in the process operate according the different options available in the Probation system. The ESCO classification defines the following occupations linked to probation case management process: probation officer, case administrator, armed forces training and education officer, social workers ( from criminal justice, community, counselling and associate professionals) and more professionals profiles on behalf of agencies outside the criminal justice system.Prisons services have their own in-service education and training curricula, which correspond to the role and tasks of the different categories and to the aim and purpose of their work. Ideally they should have their own training facilities but currently there is a lack of resources in most of Member States. In 2019 the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) completed the roadmap started in 2010 under the supervision of CoE - Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services, supported by the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris), adopting the “guidelines regarding training and professional development of prison and probation staff”. These guidelines encourage Member States to put in place opportunities probation staff training and inter-agency and interdisciplinary work. Such cooperation should promote the common goals of the respective services, i.e. to promote public safety, rehabilitation and reintegration in favour of the offenders and victims’ rights.The Guidelines strongly advises to annually evaluate training needs and to regularly revise and update training plans aimed at workforce development and to ensure responsiveness to the needs of probation agencies and their case management structure. It is an indisputable fact that operators’ skills in Europe presents inhomogeneous aspects derived from organizational factors and regulatory traditions of the institutions involved.<< Objectives >>PROBATIONET in this framework aims to develop and deploy an innovative training model able to respond to the education and training needs of officers and workers involved in the probation process with a flexible and multidisciplinary approach as requested by each national Probation case management system. Particular attention will be given to reconciliation and victim-offender mediation issues.Against the inhomogeneity of application at national level all European probation caseworks can be fitted into one of these 4 “domains” 1: Pre-Trial Provisions; 2: Non-Custodial Options; 3: Immediate Custody and 4: Early Release/Supervised Release.The PROBATIONET integrated training model applied to a common casework will give particular attention to the low-skilled professionals by increasing quality, supply and accessibility of continuing VET, validation of non-formal and informal learning, promoting work-place learning. The PROBATIONET training model promote the SENTITIVITY GROUP as a particularly effective psychosocial training methodology to treat groups with strong emotional involvement.Moreover PROBATIONET represents a scheme for developing partnerships between SME VET providers, HEIs and Probation Justice Departments. It is aimed too at promoting a learning networks model and providing initial and/or continuing training to a European Probation Training Area as stated by the “guidelines regarding training and professional development of prison and probation staff” adopted by the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) .The PROBATIONET will benefit of a transnational cooperation partnership that brings together partners from Italy (a HEI and a VET Provider), Portugal (a VET provider and a Justice Institution) , Bulgaria (a Justice Institution) , Greece (a HEI and a Justice Institution), plus Turkey (Justice Institution) with their complementary competences and the interdisciplinary contents that are needed to approach the Probation System and the geographical coverage of case management examples. This COOPERATION PARTNERSHIP will involve country expertise able to transfer and merge these best practices to an innovative, flexible and permeable learning pathway with a particular attention to the low-skilled officers and operators in the professional Probation chain. The participants selected by the PROBATIONET Partnership to participate to the pilot project will take advantage of being part of the training activities and the impact goal is to disseminate it and promote the model as a best practices of COOPERATION PARTNERSHIPS between 'east-west' Europe.<< Implementation >>In the 2 years PROBATIONET project, the professional trainers, experts and operators of probation offices institutions and related services will be engaged in training activities and multiplier events as active participants at Partners national level (Italy, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria and Turkey).PROBATIONET’s three main activities grouped are:1: preparation of Training model design for ""setting goals”;2:implementation of blended training courses at European and national level (3 cycles of dynamic events + face-to-face and e-learning modules in I, GR, P and BL); 3: validation and dissemination.The work plan is conceived taking care of the whole PROBATIONET design and methodology applied and maximizing the mobility resources available:4 Project Meetings (PM) are planned to account what has been realized during the previous phase and to confirm what will be done in the next step:@ M2 PM Kick Off - Remotely or in Greece;@ M4 Short term joint staff - Training of Trainers (ToT) in Bulgaria C4@ M9 Pilot Training PM (milestone for the launch of testing phase of national pilot trainings), concurrently with C1 (first Dynamic Event Italy):@ M14 mid-term PM (milestone for monitoring and midterm evaluation of project and national pilot trainings), concurrently with C2 (second Dynamic Event Greece)@ M18 R. validation PM (milestone for validating the intellectual outcomes / project results), concurrently with C3 (third Dynamic Event - Portugal)The PROBATIONET implementation strategy and its work packages organisation as follows:1.Define a Probation framework at European level case management, select best practices from most experienced Countries and test countries (I, P.GR, BL). R.1 Design an innovative curricula PROBATIONET “design and development” first draft of R.2 to enable Country Partners to customize the PROBATIONET Curricula for the testing phase at national level.2.Prepare key persons involved in the training activity and prepare the national teams (C4) Training the Trainers, experts, coaches, other professional profiles dedicated etc.3.Beside the PROB-T e-learning platform (R.3) has been structured to support the training pathways.4.The training Activities will operate as 3 pivotal dynamic events (C1, C2, C3) during the national implementation project work and in-service phase. Trainees attending the dynamic events will be a blend composition: Staff trainers/Coaches and representative of VET learners’ teams chosen for acting as group leaders and applying coaching themselves in the sensitivity training at national level.5.Implementation and testing the planned Rs: the E-course on Restorative Justice and recidivism (PR.4) and Probation Case Management Practitioners blended training Curricula (PR.5) as first validated Courses of PROBATIONET model using the PR.2 “design and development” validating itself as well.6.Validate all Rs at the end of testing phase and promote them at National level (Multiplier Events) for deploying the local National training courses.7.Disseminate at European Level through VET Providers and HEIs networks starting from the Final conference in Rome (Italy)<< Results >>PROBATIONET expected main results and outcomes are as follows:-Innovative training model “design and development curricula” to enable VET providers and Organization to implement curricula course in favour of all professionals (VET learners of the project) involved in the Probation process: probation officers, staff of government departments, social workers, psychologies/mediators, prison staff (according the ESCO occupation identified and linked with the Probation case management);-Innovative tools through mutual learning in the field of Probation based on techniques of reconciliation with the victim.-Early Release/Supervised Release casework approach based on the analysis of the basic skills to renter in the labour market and on orientation towards any other educational sectors and / or employment opportunities.A PROBATIONET outcome expected is the implementation of a professional dialog platform of practitioners about a European Area of criminal procedure and victimology cooperation in favour of both the offenders and victims’ rights.PROBATIONET results are also the activities implemented during the project (24 month duration) during the phases of the project in Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria and Greece with the support of their Ministries of Justice: - Project management and coordination; - Technical support and collaborative working system, as well as training technology support; - Follow-up and internal assessment (Quality Plan, QPLN); - The Communication-Dissemination (CDAP) and the Valorisation-Exploitation of results (VEAP).The 10 results (R) according the three phases structure are as follows :-Ph1: Build the project environment and conceive the model:1.Updating-completing info related to specificities and existing (e.g., info about training systems that could support the project training phases; - Updating - completing the elements related to job environment, e.g. certification)2.Update of the Case Management map in Probation System at European and National level focused on reconciliation issues (R.1).3.Short-term joint staff C.4 (Partner’s trainers, coaches, and experts) to design and develop new training modules for Probation Officers and professionals including the psychosocial aspects and the theme of burnout and resilience both for the workers and the offenders.4Five multiplier events in Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey to disseminate the training pilot course at National levels (in order to involve the Organizations of potential VET learners).5Conceiving the PROBATIONET “design and development training Curricula” (R.2)-Ph 2: testing and validation phase6.On the basis of R.2 methodology Partners responsible will customize and implement the 4 training blended courses (face-to-face and E-learning modality). During the 12 month duration of training the VET learners from partner organisations work together through the PRO-T platform both with ICT tools, such as social media, video conferencing, live streaming provided carrying out individual project work and face-to-face classroom by applying PROBATIONET training approach (3 Dynamic events at international level organised as C1, C2, and C3).7.PROB-T Web platform for e-learning and webinar modules will assure to the VET learners in-service training during the 1 year course and follow up to face-to-face training activity (R.3).8.Testing the e- learning curriculaRestorative Justice and Recidivism through the PROB-T (R.4)9 Testing the curricula training scheme for Practitioners in Probation case management during the implementation of individual project work (R.5).-Ph 3: Validation and Dissemination phase 6.10. Validation of all Intellectual out puts releasing the final version through the R.6 Repository toolkit for the Final conference EU level event in Rome (IT) to disseminate as much as possible the results at European Level."