25-10-2023 11:54
In the period 16 - 20 October 2023 a training of trainers for the implementation of the new "Bulgarian tool for assessing the risk, needs and strengths of prisoners" - BRiNSAT was held. The BRiNSAT tool and the methodological guide were developed in the framework of the project "Increasing staff capacity, building a pilot prison linked to a training centre and improving inmate rehabilitation" under the Justice Programme of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.
The BRiNSAT tool and the methodological guide for its application are the result of the joint work of Bulgarian experts - staff in penitentiary institutions and Prof. Ioan Durnescu - professor at the University of Bucharest and international expert of the Norwegian Correction Service.
A total of 40 employees of prisons in Bulgaria - social workers and heads of sectors "Social activities and educational work" were trained by prof. Durnescu to implement the BRiNSAT risk, needs and strengths assessment tool for prisoners. The trained officers, on the principle of cascade training, should train a total of 120 prison officers to use the BRiNSAT tool.
During the training, the current trends and main theories in the development of offender risk assessment tools were also presented. A representative of the Norwegian Correctional Service, Mr. Willy Giel, presented to the participants the current risk assessment tool applied in Norwegian prisons - BRIK, as well as the Norwegian experience "From OASyS to BRIK".
The BRiNSAT tool belongs to the category of structured professional judgement tools, is in its nature an updated version of the currently used tool and is also based on practitioners' experience with the OASyS prisoner risk assessment system. A digital version of the BRiNSAT tool will also be developed within the project.