The Employment Training and Education (ETE) Team works with supervised offenders to help them overcome barriers to employment.
The ETE officers deal specifically with high risk and special status offenders (e.g. sex offenders, Child Protection, Schedule 1, dangerous offenders, street crime etc) plus those who have been long-term unemployed.
On receipt of a referral from an offender manager, an ETE officer will make arrangements to interview the offender, conduct an assessment of risk issues and suitability for work or training possibilities, help them consider various realistic options, and link them into services for employment and/or job-related training, eg with Job Centre Plus(JCP).
Depending on the case, the work may involve general information on what’s available and how to access provision, assessment of relevant basic and key skills, advice on disclosure of convictions, application and interview techniques, life skills (incorporating personal development), and/or on-going support to facilitate progress.
The ETE officers work closely with colleagues in the Basic Skills team, the Crossroads Project (who work with lower risk cases for employment) and the new Include Project. Where basic skills are identified as an issue, the ETE officer will refer to colleague Learning Link Officers for action. The ETE officer also liaises closely with the offender manager as to developments and progress in each case.
In addition to its direct Probation referrals, the ETE team are also responsible for delivering a contract in partnership with Job Centre Plus for the “SAFE Project” (in West of England only) which is specifically targeted at current and ex-offenders who have been directly referred to the project from the New Deal JCP staff because of “criminality” issues. The ETE officers undertake risk assessments of offenders to assess suitability for placement on JCP programmes or placement in particular employment venues.
The ETE officers based in Decourcy House have been providing a well established and respected service to the West of England (old Avon) area for many years and this service has now being extended to Somerset, with the appointment of new ETE officers there.
All referrals of suitable cases are made to the central referral points in West of England and Somerset from where they are allocated to ETE or other teams within ETE services according to risk and other eligibility criteria.
The Services
“ETE Services” is the title for the 5 strands of Education, Training and Employment Services within Avon and Somerset Probation that together provide a comprehensive service to meet offenders’ needs for basic education and skills, vocational training courses and employment.
The separate teams that comprise ETE Services, and which have different funding and line management arrangements (and staff who have different titles), are comprised of the following:
Basic Skills Team (Learning Link Officers)
ETE Team (ETE Officers)
Include Project (Employment Support Officers)
Vocational Skills Learning – within Unpaid Work Orders – (VSL Officers)
Each team provides a different and distinct service but all work overlaps to some extent, with the overall aim of removing barriers to employment and trying to secure sustainable jobs for all referred offenders.
Any referral is made to a central referral point for ETE services and each case is allocated to the most appropriate team for initial contact and assessment. Subsequently, teams cooperate for further referrals within the group or to an external partner organisation, according to individual needs and progress.
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