87% of probation orders that ended last year successfully completed, highest in a decade: MSF

SINGAPORE: A total of 412 probation orders were completed in 2021 - a completion rate of 87 per cent, the highest since 2012.

This was a key achievement highlighted in the latest annual report of the Probation and Community Rehabilitation Service (PCRS), released by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on Thursday (Jun 2). 

The report recognises the collective efforts of families, probation officers, volunteer probation officers, and community partners in supporting probationers in their rehabilitation journey.

Probation is a community rehabilitation sentence that requires the offender to be under the supervision of an officer for a period between six months to three years.

FAMILY INVOLVEMENT AND SUPERVISION CRUCIAL  

Families are a key partner in the rehabilitation process, said MSF in a separate press release. 

“Local research has shown that probationers with high family supervision are about 3.5 times more likely to complete their probation orders than those without,” the ministry said. 

“Recognising their positive impact on outcomes, probation officers work closely with parents and caregivers to strengthen family communication and relationships, and to increase the effectiveness of parental supervision.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in home-based learning and work-from-home arrangements allowed parents to “supervise probationers more closely” and to be “more actively involved” in their rehabilitation process, added MSF. 

Their families ensured probationers were “constructively occupied” amid limited social and recreational activities, as well as reinforced safe management measures and probation conditions. 

Continued support from families and the community remains important after probationers complete probation orders, to help them “sustain the positive changes”, said MSF. 

In its press release, the ministry highlighted the case of Samantha (not her real name), whose story reflects the “powerful impact of strong family bonds” in the rehabilitation journey.

When Samantha was growing up, her mother was “an uninvolved parent” who gambled and spent long periods away from home. Her father died when she was 14. 

Without close parental guidance, Samantha stayed away from home and eventually fell into bad company. At 16, she became pregnant and her then-boyfriend left her. And at 19, she was arrested for cheating offences and placed on probation.

Now 20, Samantha is pursuing a polytechnic diploma. She credits her paternal aunt and a community network for her “transformation in attitude and character”. Her aunt had supported her desire to change and built a good relationship with her. 

MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Beyond family support, connections with the wider community cultivate probationers’ “sense of responsibility” towards the community and “connect them to positive role models”, said MSF.  

Probation officers and volunteer probation officers work with probationers to help them build such connections, such as through community service. 

In particular, two community partnerships have been key in supporting the work of MSF’s PCRS and “mobilising the community to strengthen the rehabilitation of probationers”, added the ministry. 

These schemes are the volunteer probation officer scheme and the community service scheme. 

“We do not exclude or ostracise young offenders. Many of us have also been through a period where we were rebellious and non-conforming,” said Dr Martin Wong, a volunteer probation officer and President of Xin Yuan Community Care.

Xin Yuan Community Care had collaborated with a group of probationers and the Youth Advisory Group to organise virtual activities for children from low-income families for Children’s Day.

“Strong community support is needed to allow (probationers) to see and feel positivity around them and exercise their own will to change,” said Dr Wong. 

“Ultimately, we want the probation experience to motivate our youths to continue with positive changes beyond the probation order, and to pay it forward,” added Ms Carmelia Nathen, Chief Probation Officer and Director of PCRS.