Programmes & Camps

Designed to cater to the needs of female probationers between the ages of twelve (12) and sixteen (16). Girls Empowerment Circle seeks to empower the participants to actualize their own personal goals, motivate them to change and challenge self-destructive and potentially harmful behaviours. The outcomes manifest in well-rounded adolescent girls who understand and value themselves and persons whom they encounter.

The aim of the AS MAN (Acquiring Skills Men Actually Need) programme is to divert young male offenders between the ages of twelve (12) and sixteen (16) on probation who were assessed as presenting a medium to high risk for further offending. By equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills, which would enable them to ‘think first’ and consider the consequences of their actions, the programme is consistent with the Barbados Probation Service’s mandate and core principles to protect the public and reduce the incidence of recidivism.

“Level Up” (AS MAN II) is a developmental programme targeting male probationers, ages seventeen (17) and twenty-four years (24) who present with moderate to high criminogenic risk factors. These risk factors include family and peer relationships, education and employment, environments supportive of crime, poor use of leisure time, substance abuse, and reproductive health.

The Department provides counselling for juveniles who display problematic behaviours at home, at school and in the community. The Transition Unit is a diversionary group providing educational and counselling services to a mixed gender group of adolescents between the ages of eleven (11) and sixteen (16) who are referred to the Department. The group is designed to help guide at risk youth to a diversionary path that would reduce likelihood to offend through targeted skills development.

The camps facilitated by the Barbados Probation Service provide educational experiences for clients of the Department during school vacations. The provision of camps for clients of the Probation Department is predicated on the reality that use of leisure time is a key determinant of the risk of offending and indeed re-offending; since school vacations are a significant period during which teenagers are often unsupervised, positive use of such time is desirable.