ABSTRACT
2020 has seen the world we know change beyond recognition. The COVID-19 pandemic has meant we are now further away from one another, working differently or prevented from working altogether, we are less able to physically connect, and we have lost loved ones. These factors present multiple opportunities for adverse effects on mental health, which are magnified within the Criminal Justice System, and specifically probation. Evidence is emerging around detrimental effects for service users from the enforced social isolation, loss of employment or inability to work and increased risk of domestic abuse. The National Probation Service and community rehabilitation companies responded to the pandemic through implementing the Exceptional Delivery Model which sought to sustain core probation services through limited or remote delivery. The mental health challenges of this shift in operations were wide-ranging, with the impact on service users and staff sometimes profound. Drawing on data from several research studies and lived experience of working in a community rehabilitation company, this chapter explores (1) the mental health experiences of those receiving and delivering probation services during the pandemic, (2) the implications of these experiences and (3) how probation practice might need to adapt and change in this post-pandemic world.
