289 Borough High Street, the After Care and Resettlement Unit (ACU) in the Inner London Probation Service 1965-1990
| Author | Dr Anthony Goodman |
| Pages | 9-28 |
289 Bo rough High Street, T he After Care And Resettlement Unit (AC U)
In The Inner London Probation Service 1965 -1990
9
2 8 9 BOROU GH H I GH STR EET, TH E
A FTER CA R E A N D RESETT LEM EN T
UN IT ( ACU ) I N TH E I N N ER LON DON
PROBAT ION SERV ICE 1 9 6 5 -1 99 0
Dr Anthony Goodman, Principal Lecturer in Criminology, Middlesex
University
A b st r a ct
This article focuses on the early history of the probation unit in Inner London that had a
specialist function to resettle t he homeless and rootless, particularly on their release from
prison. I worked in thi s unit from 198 4 to 1989 and was able to access material from its
inception. I was involved in researching changes in its function and organisation and
interviewed an Assistant Chief PO ( ACPO) from the early days of the unit. This ‘rich’
history illustrates the changes that occurred in the wider service, from the time when
individual officers were independent and could ‘do their own thing’. It terms of the AC U
it included setting up hostels, running volunteers and controlling their work. S enior staff
worked alongside the main grade and offered casework supervision. T hey were not
managers in the modern sense of understanding how management has quality control and
accountability responsibilities. Conversely, the management of the unit bec ame the senior
managers of the service as a whole, including the late S ir Graham Smith who became
Chief Probation Officer for Inner London and later Chief Probation Inspector. Init iatives
from key staff within the unit led to specialist programmes in the wider service. Quoted
material is from unpublished archive documents seen by me.
The ACU was born on th e 1st of January 1965, the product of a union between Officers
from the National Association of Discharged Aid Societies ( NADPAS), t hat were already
present working in the building, workers with the men's division of the Central A fter
Care Association (C ACA) , who had also been working there, and a number of probation
officers who moved into the building. NADPAS changed function to become the
National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACR O), a voluntary
penal campaign organisation and provider of hostels and many other services. Init ially
there was an Assistant Principal Officer and two seniors. In February 196 6 a further
senior arrived with a particular responsibility for training.
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