Probation chiefs want to standardize regional services

TThe recently formed Caribbean Association for Probation and Parole (CAPP) has launched an ambitious initiative to standardize probation services in the region, in a bid to modernize the region’s criminal justice system.

CAPP positions itself to implement significant changes in the regional criminal justice system, with an emphasis on reducing crime, improving citizen safety and promoting cooperation among Caribbean countries.

At a workshop held at the United Nations Marine House in Hastings on Wednesday, CAPP President Cuthbert Henry outlined the association’s vision following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between regional probationary services on Tuesday. The MOU, which will remain in force for five years, aims to establish a formal network for CAPP to facilitate collaboration, share best practice and experiences, advocate for evidence-based policy changes and improve the effectiveness of these services.

Henry, the Director of Probation Services in Saint Lucia, explained that CAPP, which will be established in Barbados, brings together heads of probation and parole services from across the Caribbean. Their goal is to develop a formal regional structure to improve the effectiveness of probation and parole systems in tackling crime and improving the safety of citizens.

“Because crime is transnational, we want to create a regime that works in the genre of Caribbean criminal justice,” Henry said. “We use the same modalities of legal frameworks in the Caribbean. Many of our institutions have not had any form of reform in the last decades.”

As a first activity, CAPP, supported by the USAID-funded CARISECURE 2.0 program, is conducting a comprehensive evaluation of offender risk assessment tools. This includes evaluating the effectiveness of tools for sexual offending, juvenile offending, and substance abuse, with the goal of creating a standardized approach based on Caribbean-specific research.

“We’re scanning the tools that we’re using, and our goal is to produce a report that tells our leaders in government that this is the situation, this is the landscape of what we’re doing in terms of risk assessment,” Henry explained. “Some of those tools may very well, after being scrutinized, we may very well find that those tools are very appropriate in the format that they’re meant to be in for us.”

The workshop, which brought together participants from Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Barbados and other Caribbean countries, marks the beginning of a long-term effort to improve regional probation services. Henry emphasized the importance of professional judgment and evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for offenders and reduce recidivism.

“We will deliver a product that takes our work to a level of excellence,” he added. “We have excellent professionals in the field and we can support the work that is needed to reduce crime and increase citizen safety in the Caribbean by having the right equipment, the right training, the right understanding of professional judgment, how it measures in actuarial and scientific evidence-based applications.”

CAPP’s next steps will focus on formalizing their findings and presenting recommendations to regional governments. Henry expressed optimism that Caribbean leaders will support these reforms once presented with the necessary data and evidence.

“Our governments support everything we do,” he said. “It is our responsibility to provide them with the documentation and evidence they need to make informed decisions.”

(LG)