A step forward towards a career guidance system in criminal justice

A European partnership involving nine countries has developed a training platform to provide career guidance to prison administrations, especially prison officers. This effort is built on research-based identification of the most critical training areas for these professionals.

European criminal justice systems have undergone significant progress in the past two decades. However, professionals in the sector still lack proper guidance to support their career management. This challenge has led to a call for an innovative approach to match the cultural change in correctional settings across EU jurisdictions.

The CCJ4C project – European Career Counselling Guidelines for Staff Working in Criminal Correctional Justice System – has been committed to filling that gap. For the past three years, the partnership has accomplished the development of a training platform that aims to provide guidance for prison officers and other professionals working in prison administrations and help direct policy proposals.

The platform includes training courses for correctional staff seeking to develop their competencies and skills.

The project sought to create a new approach to developing prison staff’s career management skills and to identify the elements of this model that translate into a change in public policies. By doing so, the CCJ4C project has contributed to enhancing the professionalism of correctional staff and contribute to improving results across criminal justice systems in the EU.

On the 21st of February, 2023, the CCJ4C project consortium hosted a Masterclass Conference in Brussels, where the partnership showcased the products and results of the three-year-old project.

The event brought together representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, ICPA (International Corrections and Prisons Association), EUROPRIS (European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services) and EPSU (European Trade Unions for Public Services), the project partners and different stakeholders from the countries involved in the project.

The highlight of the conference was the presentation and discussion of the CCJ4C e-Learning platform, which features a catalogue of skills designed to support the career development of prison staff.

The platform focuses on critical training areas that are common to prison staff, including materials to enhance mental health awareness, soft skills, knowledge of IT in prison settings, and learning contents on relevant topics, such as specificcrimes, or gender-based considerations.

The Masterclass Conference provided an excellent opportunity for the 50 participants involving prison staff, prison administration representatives, Unions representatives and training experts from the partners countries to share their experiences and learn from each other. The discussions were productive, and participants highlighted the importance of such initiatives in promoting professional development and improving the quality of services in correctional facilities.

Know more about this project

CCJ4C

European Career Counselling Guidelines for Staff Working in Criminal Correctional Justice System

The CCJ4C project is led by CPIP – Centre for the Promotion of Lifelong Learning (Romania), in partnership with IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Portugal), Timisoara Prison (Romania), Bremen Senate of Justice and Constitution (Germany), General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses (Turkey), CEIPES – International Centre for the Promotion of Education and Development (Italy), Baltic Institute of Technological Education (Lithuania), ICPA – International Corrections & Prisons Association (The Netherlands), York Associates (United Kingdom), BrainLog (Denmark) and SNPP – National Trade Union of Prison Workers (Romania).

The project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme: KA3: Support for policy reform – Initiatives for policy innovation European forward-looking cooperation projects in the field of education and training.

For more information on the CCJ4C project, please visit its website.