From 16 to 18 April, the sixth edition of the World Congress on Probation was held in The Hague. This article gives an impression of the knowledge and experiences exchanged during the congress. Although there seems to be a striking unanimity on the objective and tasks of probation, probation practices vary widely around the world. Differences in political and social attitudes, legislation and criminal justice system, financial resources for probation and existence and therefore experience of probation organizations are significant. The need to learn from each other and form a global probation community is great and offers prospects for the future.

The article examines the evolution of community corrections, emphasizing probation and parole services. The term ‘community correctional’ encompasses both probation and parole, which vary globally in distinction and overlap. The article compares the practices of 1995 and 2024, highlighting the shift from stigmatizing language to a person-first approach to reduce negative labelling and move towards desistance. It explores changes in mission, structure, population size, performance, treatment programs, compliance management, and technology use in community corrections. The authors identify four grand challenges to advance the field: establishing community corrections as a standalone sanction, supporting desistance through relationship-building and community support, promoting fair treatment, and investing in resources to foster desistance and rehabilitation. This overview aims to improve the effectiveness of community corrections worldwide. This article summarizes findings from countries that contributed to a special handbook on global community corrections.

In recent years there has been a strong emphasis on risk management in probation work in many countries including the Netherlands. But probation officers also have the task of guiding and supporting offenders in their process of desistance from crime. This article focuses on the question how strength-focused and risk-focused approaches can be combined. Authors explain what these approaches mean and how they are reflected in some commonly used theoretical models in probation work. Then, using two case examples, insight is provided into how an integration of a risk-oriented and strength-oriented approach can take shape in practice.

For the purpose of a social cost-benefit analysis on the Dutch probation services, a typology of probationers supervised in 2016 (N = 12,017) was developed through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The theoretical basis for the typology consists of three pillars: Individual readiness to change, Contextual readiness to change and Punishable behaviour. A factor analysis of RISc 4.0 items was used to operationalise this basis. A cluster analysis yielded 15 unique types. This typology makes it possible to determine the added value of probation with more precision.

In April 2024, The Hague hosted the 6th World Congress on Probation and Parole. More than 500 participants from over 60 countries exchanged experiences on a multitude of themes related to probation and parole. Representing the Flemish Probation Service, we had the opportunity to highlight the victim’s position in the criminal justice chain and the judicial victim support provided by the Flemish Probation Service during a well-attended workshop. In this article, we will take a more detailed look at this form of judicial victim support and what steps are still needed to further strengthen victims’ rights.

Join the author and his colleagues in their ongoing quest to investigate the possibilities of using operational data in order to improve the business of probation and parole, both for clients and employees. Learn about their recent round table discussion with probation and parole specialists from all around the world. Evaluate the ups and downs of digital interaction and the new wave in Artificial Intelligence. And finally, read about their view on using AI today and in the near future. Because the Journey of Data only just really started: Data driven in optima forma.

At the sixth World Congress on Probation and Parole the so called Future Track sessions formed a series of coherent workshops. In these sessions, participants worked towards an agenda for the next World Congress in 2026, in Indonesia. The central question was: ‘How do we, the international probation community, deal with developments that will fundamentally change our field?’ To answer that question, they looked at five major global trends: the safe society, artificial intelligence, the rise of (ultra) right-wing politics, changes in the labour market, and cross-domain collaboration. In this article I provide a summary of the discussions and draw some conclusions.