My Job: Senior probation officer:

Name: Danny Tauroa.
Age: 49.
Role: Senior probation officer, Kaiwhakahaere for the Community Probation and Psychological Service (CPPS) in South Auckland.
Working hours: 40-hour week, with flexibility for duties such as completing report interviews with families after hours and visiting prisons out of Auckland.
Average salary: $57,000-$62,000.
Qualifications and institution: Qualified fitter turner/welder. (Degrees desirable but not essential).

Who do you work with?

I work with low- to very high-risk offenders from all age groups whose offences range from theft, burglary, fraud to sex offences - child and adult, and violence including the ultimate offence against a life, murder. Describe what you do.

I manage people who've been given sentences by the court or Parole Board, such as community work, supervision, intensive supervision, extended supervision, home detention, residential restriction, release on condition, parole and life parolees.

General daily tasks might include interviewing the offender, and their respective families and whanau, in preparation for court- or Parole Board-requested reports.

My role also includes liaison with other government departments such as Work and Income, Child, Youth and Family, Ministry of Education, police and non governmental community agencies and service providers such as Community Alcohol & Drug Service (CADS).

Currently one of my tasks is working with high-risk/high-profile youth in custody and due to appear before the Parole Board. To assist their possible return to the community we map out a simple plan based on the resources of the family and the community (including WINZ) and apply it to realistic options the young person may have chosen as a goal.

I am also Kaiwhakahaere for the Manukau CPPS area.

Explain the Kaiwhakahaere role?

Its focus is to work alongside my colleagues, helping them to gain more confidence working with Maori communities, whanau, hapu and iwi. This can include helping probation officers with facilitating whanau hui and promoting more direct contact with Maori who want or have an involvement with CPPS via their whanau.

Why did you choose this line of work?

It looked interesting and challenging and I'd left engineering because I wanted to work more with people.

Your history?

Engineering, market gardening, IHC fundraising co-ordinator, portrait consultant, computer media operator, property maintenance and probation officer. I've been here eight years, the past two as senior probation officer.

What training and experience helps?

Life skills, empathy, time and people management skills, computer skills. You also need to be able to learn and apply that learning in a challenging environment. The on-the-job training is excellent - we're required to have a good grasp of the law, especially the Sentencing and Parole Acts, and how it applies to those we're managing.

What skills or qualities are required?

An ability to separate yourself from the offence and deal with the person, while meeting the legal rules and obligations that apply to that person. And this is all under the microscope of public opinion. You also need good communication skills.

Best part of the job?

The job itself! I enjoy the fact that I can use all the skills I had before I came into the job and that I have a level of competency and knowledge of the job.

Also, once you get on top of the day-to-day "mundane" checklist-type activities, it is exciting to see the successes of those around me, whether colleague or offender. Most challenging part? Understanding what motivates an offender and encouraging or challenging him or her in a positive way. Define success in this job.

I've become involved in projects and initiatives that are part of what we do but are slightly out of the normal day-to-day running of our business, such as working with high-risk youth in custody.

As a senior probation officer I feel success when other probation officers move forward in their careers.

Although I'm relatively new to the role of Kaiwhakahaere, a successful outcome will be in seeing a well-supported and implemented process for an offender moving from the prison back to his or her community.

Advice to someone keen to do the job?

The essential thing that turns this role from a job to a career is having an understanding of your core beliefs and knowing that they match with assisting an offender back into their community while reducing the risk to that community.

Future prospects?
There are always interesting secondments, such as becoming part of a policy development group, but who knows. There are plenty of options but at the moment I'm content with where I am and what I'm doing now.