The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded funds of £41,500 to the Probation Institute for a year-long project to develop an e-learning product to enable service providers to identify ex-Service personnel under supervision in the criminal justice system…
After completing the e-learning training, practitioners will better understand the strengths and vulnerabilities of ex-Service personnel, and have increased awareness of support available within Armed Forces charities with sector expertise and how these can be of help.
The need for specific training arose from discussions at the launch of the FiMT funded Probation Institute report titled, “Profile provision for Armed Forces veterans under probation supervision.”
It is proposed that the e learning programme would be one hour long and would be updated at the end of the first-year evaluation.
Ray Lock, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, said: “The Armed Forces Covenant was created to ensure that no ex-Service person is disadvantaged by their time in service.
“This requires commitment by local government agencies, service providers and the private sector to ensure that they understand the needs and vulnerabilities of the Armed Forces community.
“What the Probation Institute have quite rightly pointed to is the need for specific training and improved understanding of the needs of the ex-Service personnel who are under supervision in the criminal justice system.”
Helen Schofield, Acting Chief Executive of the Probation Institute, said: “With the support of FiMT, the Probation Institute has researched and reported on the provision for ex-Service personnel and we have developed a training course for practitioners across the probation organisations.
“This funding enables us to develop a sustainable and accessible version of the training to complement the face to face course. We look forward to this new stage of the project.”