Volunteers in Probation

A volunteer probation officer is appointed by the Chief Probation Officer to work with a specific individual to assist that person in fulfilling the conditions of their probation order or conditional sentence. A regular probation officer maintains legal authority over the probationer and provides guidance to the volunteer during the term of appointment.

Volunteers are appointed for various reasons, but they tend to fall into three categories. These include:

• probationers who require the closer supervision provided by a volunteer through weekly contact;
• probationers with special needs who can be matched with volunteers who can help to address those needs. A common example is a probationer with an alcohol problem matched with a volunteer who is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous; and
• probationers with little support from family or friends who require support from another person.