JUSTICE TRENDS JUSTICE TRENDS Nr. 1 | June 2017 | Page 76

EUROPE / EUROPA
Union. So, the international support both in terms of funding
and know–how was really important. We had the privilege and
also the responsibility to observe the best practices in the area
of community sanctions and measures and to develop our own
model connecting it with broader values in our community.
Actually, the opportunities offered by the international funding
streams were significant also to establish and develop our
service, but of course, the tools of the probation service would be
different without the connection we have in the European context.
We invested most of the European funds in areas such as
developing specialized tools to work with offenders, including risk
assessment – this is what we are most proud of – and training of
our staff, improving the working conditions for the probation staff,
and promoting the service. Our service would be less equipped in
terms of knowledge and in terms of technology if it weren’t for
this international dimension of our work. Basically, the input that
we received from our partners in Europe was – and still is – a great
boost in terms of quality and working conditions.
JT: Some of the issues of the current probation context are
unrest, discontent and scarcity within the human resources.
What have you been doing in order to address and manage
such hardships?
MD: Our probation system is in a changing environment because
we started as a small department in the Ministry of Justice and
now we are a new institution and this kind of transition takes time,
and of course requires resources in order to have a successful
implementation. [In Romania] we have a kind of a quote, it’s
something like this: “hardship needs leadership and partner-
ship”; so, I find it’s important to be aware of why we are here
and how we c