Seven officers at Polmont Young Offender Institution have just completed foundation qualifications in youth and informal education and community learning. Two are now progressing to full youth worker status by studying for a degree in community learning and development.
The Joint Negotiating Committee-approved course was studied long distance over a period of nine months. The training was initiated by youth work support body YouthLink Scotland, which has a three-year contract to run a youth centre at Polmont for inmates aged 16 to 21.
Lisa Hogg, senior development officer at YouthLink Scotland, who works at Polmont full time, said: "Working with young people needs specific training that prison officers don't usually get, so this makes the youth work at Polmont more sustainable. Rather than the officers just playing a disciplinary role, we thought it would help them to learn to interact better with young people."
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