Having only being in existence for twelve years so far, the Department of Probation is making its presence felt in Anguilla as it continues its important work on the island.
The Department began celebrating its 12th Anniversary this week with its personnel attending the divine service at the Christian Fellowship Church on Sunday, June 4. Other activities included an Open Day at the Department’s offices in the Hubert Hughes Building on Wednesday and a Staff Development Day at the Anguilla Community College on Thursday. The theme of the anniversary was “Rehabilitate and Reintegrate: Moving Forward at 12”.
Minister of Social Development, Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, writing in the anniversary booklet, commented: “The theme is quite appropriate as we consider the work of the Department and its contribution to nation-building over the past twelve years. By now there are a number of success stories of persons, both adults and juveniles, who have completed Probation Orders, Residential Orders, as well as Parole Licences, and who are now contributing and law-abiding members of our community.”
In conclusion, the Minister added: “To the staff of the Department of Probation, I must applaud your achievements, thus far ,in managing offenders and networking with various stakeholders and communities of Anguilla. This has been to ensure that persons who have run afoul of the law, and who have recognised their offences, are now willing to change and are being provided with the tools and skills to do so.”
The Department is being led by the Chief Probation Officer, Ms. Jocelyn Johnson. An excerpt from the anniversary booklet states as follows: “Over the years, Jocelyn has developed and facilitated a number of training [programmes] both internally and externally. She has provided training in such areas as: Probation, Parole, Objective Setting, Community Service, Customer Service, Communications, Team Building, and Strategic Planning among other operational areas.”
The anniversary booklet provides useful information about the overall work of the Department of Probation. This includes the functioning of the Counselling Unit; Juvenile Unit; Adult Unit; Community Service Unit; and the Zenaida Haven Rehabilitation Centre.
