“Multitool PRO. Tools and Methods of Social and Educational Work in Probation” – Ukraine’s Probation Presented Its New Manual

On April 19, the presentation of the manual “Multitool PRO. Tools and Methods of Social and Educational Work in Probation”, published with the support of the EU Project Pravo-Justice, took place. The idea of developing a manual that would incorporate best international and Ukrainian practices and tools that are needed for daily work with probation subjects to prevent re-offending arose at the beginning of 2022.

“This small manual is the result of hard work that has been done over years. It comes, in particular, to the improvement of such tools as motivational interviewing, risk assessment, and probation programs. The EU Project Pravo-Justice facilitated the Probation Center’s familiarization with best foreign practices in the field of probation and adapting them for the Ukrainian context. I am sure that the manual will be useful to probation officers and will contribute to greater efficiency of probation services,” said Iryna Zharonkina, Property Rights and Enforcement Component Lead, EU Project Pravo-Justice.

When presenting the manual, Oleh Yanchuk, Director of the “Probation Center” SI, noted that without the social and educational component, probation would be just police supervision.

“It is through social and educational work that the main goal of probation can be achieved – prevent a person from going back to criminal activities. The “Multitool PRO” manual has brought together various methods and tools of such social and educational work”, said Oleh Yanchuk and thanked the EU Project Pravo-Justice for the high-quality product, which will be much appreciated by probation officers once they receive the manual”.

Olena Subotenko, Deputy Director of the Probation Center, emphasized that the manual will be effective as a methodical support for the activities of probation personnel in the field of forecasting and correcting the behavior of persons who are in conflict with the law, its novelty consisting in the review of historical approaches to the theory of education from ancient times until today; international and national standards in the field of social and educational work; forms and methods of interaction with subjects of probation; peculiarities of conducting social and educational work with various categories of convicts.

“The publication is especially valuable for real stories that happened to probation officers at work and practical examples of solving problems that intersperse the manual,” added Olena Subotenko.

All 580 units of the probation service will be provided with the “Multitool PRO. Tools and Methods of Social and Educational Work in Probation” manual.