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Welcome to the EuroPris Knowledge Management System. The table below shows questions and responses from European National Agencies. Select a question for more information or use the filters on the left to narrow down questions based on Agency or Category.
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Introduction: Following an independent review of The Irish Prison Service organisation structure and governance of its Headquarters, the Irish Prison Service is currently implementing changes in its headquarters and is also reviewing structure and Governance throughout the organisation. Part of the governance review is looking at the reporting relationships between each prison/institution and headquarters. The Irish Prison Service would welcome responses to the following questions.
The Prison Director reports directly to the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?The Prison Director is sent overseas to attend refresher courses as deemed necessary
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?Same as above
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The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service.
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?The men and women of the Scottish Prison Service are uniquely placed to help catalyse the opportunities for change amongst those who are sent to custody. SPS staff can help those in their care to develop positive aspirations and turn them into real and sustainable life plans for the future. Senior management at Director level are instrumental in setting the strategic goals and objectives through which change can be achieved. Directors take the lead in delivering the operating task of helping to protect the public and reduce reoffending through the delivery of safe and secure custodial services that empower offenders to take responsibility and to fulfil their potential. Directors embody, uphold and promulgate the intrinsic values of the SPS: • Belief – a belief that people can change; • Respect – a proper regard for individuals, their needs and their human rights; • Integrity – the application of high ethical, moral and professional standards; • Openness – working with others to achieve the best outcomes; • Courage – the strength to care regardless of circumstances; • Humility – recognising the need to learn from others. In delivering the SPS transformational change agenda, Directors are required to take responsibility for leadership, leading by influence through their own personal attributes and behaviours. The observable behaviours of highly visible senior manager role models, such as Directors and Governors-in-Charge are a key driver in changing organisational culture. Defining good leadership within SPS means recognising the need for Directors to be flexible and combine using a command style of management together with a more participative approach depending on situation and circumstances. Directors require to demonstrate that they are strategic thinkers with good people management and influential behaviour, underpinned by self-awareness, personal presence and awareness of impact on others, emotional intelligence and coaching approaches. They are transformational leaders and need to operate as successful change agents in times of ambiguity. The challenge facing the SPS is to create an environment and a range of supports which will empower those in our care to unlock their true potential and to transform their lives as fully enfranchised and contributing citizens. Unlocking Potential and Transforming Lives will not only bring huge benefits for those in our care; those same benefits will also make a real and positive impact on those communities most affected by crime and more generally, society as a whole.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?The SPS has three Directors, who are Senior Civil Servants (SCS) and as such can access development/engagement with other SCS, informed and coordinated by Scottish Government. In the past two decades, direct entry schemes with accompanying in-house development programmes have diversified our senior management pool and a number of our Prison Governors and one current Director came through such a route. Our 13 Prison Governors meet monthly under the direction of the Director of Operations and they routinely undertake workshops and learning activities together, including reflective practice. Governors are able to make individual applications for continuing professional development and we have had several undertake HE courses, including the MSt in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management, and various others including Public Policy and Management, Applied Social Research and Criminal Justice and Penal Change. The SPS College procures and delivers additional learning events for senior managers and Governors and we will soon be developing a new Governor development programme with input from a range of partners, including Edinburgh University. This will look to include: • Democratic processes and institutions of state; • The UK/Scottish legal framework; • Scottish Parliament/Devolution (e.g. law-making, budget-setting); • SPS Framework Agreement; • Corporate Governance; • Rules and Regulations; • Policies and Policy Development; • Defensible Decision-Making; • Strategy development and corporate business-planning.
at the local level, there is 2 kinds of structures : prisons and probation services. at the head of each prison or probation service, there is a director: probation director or prison director who reports to a regional director. 3 levels of decision making process and implementation: •the national level : one Prison Administration Direction defines the strategy and the guidelines on human ressources, security, exit strategy; •the regional level : Interregional Directions implement the national guidances and coordinate all the P&P structures ; There are 10 regional level all over the country •the local level : 2 kinds of structures : prison and probation services
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?Directors can occupy positions of responsibility at the local, regional and national levels throughout their careers. In carrying out their missions at the regional and national levels,their field experience is sought to contribute to reflection to improve current policies in the penitentiary mater. They can also work at ENAP and participate in the development of training programs and work in the monitoring services of penitentiary structures where their expertise is useful.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?The duration of the training prior to tenure is of two years. It combines theoretical training and internships, with the second year being fully on a pre-assignment internship. The content of the training of a prison governor revolves around five axes: - Professional positioning: discovering the organization of the correctional system and measuring the challenges of the prison policies, discovering the profession of prison governor (representations, roles and missions), categories of staff, organizational sociology … - Communicating in situations of professional life: developing personal communication skill, administrative writing, communicating in a professional situation (dissemination of information, identifying the appropriate communication policy to the media and the representation of the penitentiary system to the authorities), using communication techniques and tools (communication plans, media, and protocol), voice and attitude workshop … - Inmates management: identifying and implementing policies for rehabilitation, probation and prevention of reoffending, individualizing the management of the inmates and probationers… - Ensuring the safety and security of the institution and individuals: identifying regulatory and managerial issues for safety and health in the workplace, risks assessment methodology, managing a crisis situation and promoting a safety policy (preventing prison violence, identifying security policy issues at interregional level)... - Managing services and resources: ensuring financial management, budgetary management and delegated management markets, human resources management and social dialogue, leading a meeting, decision making, conflict management and negotiation management, management by objectives, project methodology, professional project guidance, disciplinary procedures for the staff, identifying professionals risks, …
Prison Directors are in direct subordination of the Director General of the Latvian Prison Administration. In emergency cases they inform the Director General of the Latvian Prison Administration or the acting Director of the Latvian Prison Administration.
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?According with the educational plan approved by the Prison Director, staff trainings are organized in every imprisonment place, in addition, staff is regularly sent to training in the Training centre or to training within the framework of different projects.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?In Training centre organized qualification development courses Prison Directors receive the current information on different topics. Course topics may vary – e.g. current issues and problems in security, monitoring, safety and other areas, remuneration system, health care issues, training about physical person data protection and others. Within the framework of the courses, Prison Directors share their experience and impressions about foreign visits and discuss the current issues of their structural units, thus exchanging best practice examples. The topics are previously approved by the management of the Latvian Prison Administration. Courses are usually managed by the management of the Latvian Prison Administration, specialists of the respective department or area, as well as invited guest lecturers – representatives from the Ministry of Justice, specialists on current topics from other institutions, experts on penitentiary issues. Training centre organizes courses 1-3 times per year, however, if necessary and current topics arise, it is possible to organize courses more often.
The Criminal Sanctions Agency in Finland concists of Central Administration Unit and three criminal sanction regions. Prison Directors report to their own criminal sanctions region and the region director. Region directors report to Central administration Unit. A new system of prison leaders biannually reporting straight to Central Administration unit over the most important strategic goals is being established.
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?Every criminal sanctions region has its own executive board where the directors can discuss their experiences and insights. Three times a year a seminar is held where strategic policies and other current issues are discussed among all directors and management.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?The qualification requirements for a prison leader are prescribed by law. A prison leader is required to have a master’s degree and managerial skills. Complementary education is provided by the Training Center of Prison and Probation Personnel. Annual performance agreement between Criminal sanction regions and Central Administration unit includes strategical guidelines that are expected to be implemented in every unit. Prison policies and strategies are discussed in the forums described in answers 1 and 2.
They report to the Director General of the Prison Department
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?We have a Board of Prison Directors, who meet on regular basis to discuss relevant issues (from management to finances). Prison Directors participate in various trainings, meetings, discussions, they also participate in taking decisions re. structural reorganization, reform, etc.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?Prison Directors are offered higher level trainings for management and they may participate in various trainings on relevant issues offered at the Training Centre of the Prison Department
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service (SPSS) has five executive levels: • Director General (responsible for the Government of the SPSS) • Department directors • Head of units and regional directors • Heads of sections, and governors (prison director) • Group managers, assistant governors and principals In the SPSS there are 6 regions with 46 prisons. A governor leads every prison. The governor reports to the regional manager. At each prison there is one or more assistant governors, who leads the daily work and report to the governor.
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?The answer to question 3 describes a number of different courses that governors can study where they can exchange experiences with other peers and spread good examples within the government. This type of exchange of experience can be of benefit to the SPSS’s governance in its entirety. Nor is it unusual for governors to temporarily receive new assignments within various projects that the SPSS operates at regional or national level. For example, a governor may be on leave, from their regular employment, to work on development assignments at the head office. The purpose of picking up governors in different projects is to take advantage of their experiences and knowledge from the local level.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?In order to work with the SPSS's clients in a safe, humane and re-enabling way, knowledge and understanding, skill and ability are required, as well as clear values and a common attitude in a number of different areas. Prison and Probation Service-education is a collective name for the general introduction and the development of competence for all the SPSS's employees. It consists of different training periods that vary in content and scope depending on the employee's profession. The official governmentintroduction is a mandatory part of the SPSS for all newly employed employees and is carried out over five days. The content of the governmentintroduction consists of knowledge in the following areas: • Human Rights • The Constitution of Sweden • The authorities-common laws that regulate the institution in various ways • The state value base and the internal documents that regulate how one should act as a serviceperson • The SPSS mission, vision and goals • The principles of risk, need and receptiveness (RBM) • Integration of equality • Norm-critical approach • LGBTQ perspective • Equal treatment • The role of the spectator in an equal conversation climate (Åjs) • Training in CPR In addition to the basic education/introduction, the SPSS has a managementprogram that is given twice a year. The managementprogram aims to utilize the leadership competence that exists in our authority by identifying and developing employees with the potential and willingness to become future leaders in the SPSS. The education takes its point of departure in the SPSS's values and leadership criteria and focuses on personal development and understanding of what it means to be a chief in the state, representing the employer and being a good leader. The program prepares the participants for a future managerial job in the core- and support levels. For newly employed first-line managers, there is also a managerial training - base which is given in collaboration with Uppsala University and gives 7.5 higher education credits. The education provides new and in-depth knowledge of the assignment as a manager by, among other things, taking part in research on the state administration, leadership and our environment. In total, there are also some sixty courses in various subjects, within the SPSS, which are aimed at managers at different levels and in different parts of the authority. An arena for the managers (including governors) to meet at is the SPSS’s regional management days. For a few days a year, all governors, assistant governors and regional directors meet together with experts in each region. The managerial days are an opportunity when the parties have the chance to develop and exchange experiences.
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In compliance with the Act No. 4/2001 Coll. on Prison and Court Guard as amended, prisons are headed by prison governors who are appointed and removed from the post by Director General of the Corps. Prison governors are accountable to Director General of the Corps.
How do Individual Prison Directors contribute the benefit of their operational experience and institutional knowledge to the overall management of the prison service?The main collective advisory board of the Minister of Justice of the Slovak Republic for the field of prisons is the College of the Minister of Justice for the Prison Field. It has following members: Director General of the Corps and his two Deputies (for economic and service affairs), chosen directors of departments at the Headquarters of the Corps and chosen prison governors. The task of the College is to assess the conceptual designs in the Corps as well as the tasks relating other development of the prison system.
What sort of training do Prison Directors typically receive in general and specifically in relation to prison policy and strategy development?Qualification requirement for the post of a prison governor is at least higher education qualification (completed in the system of general education) and passed the specialized expert education (completed in the departmental educational institution). Since last year, a Course of Managerial Education organised in cooperation with the Police Academy, takes place for prison governors, superiors from the Headquarters of the Corps and other management members from prisons. Whole-Slovakia meetings and expert seminars are a part of the continuous education determined for prison governors and directors of departments at the Headquarters of the Corps.