Completion rate of probation up at 87% amid pandemic

Some 87 per cent of probation orders that ended last year were completed, the highest rate since 2012.

This amounted to 412 people who served out their probation, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in its Probation and Community Rehabilitation Service annual report yesterday.

The highest completion rate of probation orders was 88 per cent in 2011. It was 82 per cent in 2020.

The report said 434 new probation orders were issued last year, comparable with the 428 issued in 2020. More than half of the new probationers last year were aged between 18 and 20, with over 85 per cent of the new orders ranging from 13 months to two years.

Common offences for which probation orders were issued last year included voluntarily causing hurt, theft and fraud. Probation is a community rehabilitation sentence ordered by the courts that requires the offender to be supervised by a probation officer for a period of between six months and three years.

MSF attributed the increased completion rate to the rise in home-based learning and work-from-home arrangements during the Covid-19 pandemic, which allowed parents to better supervise probationers, and to be more involved in their rehabilitation.

MSF said local research shows that probationers with high family supervision are about 3½ times more likely to complete their probation orders than those without.

Since the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions in April, probation officer Famirah Farhana said some probationers under her care have skipped in-person reporting sessions, which are part of the probation requirements and were moved online during the pandemic.

"They are punctual coming to sessions on Zoom, but now that it's back to face-to-face meetings, they may be resistant, sometimes they don't show up or are late, and some are not even present for home visits," she said, adding that probationers may now also spend more time with friends who led them astray and find it tough to break away from such negative peer influence.

But Dr Martin Wong, Xin Yuan Community Care president and a voluntary probation officer, said the easing of restrictions will allow the probationers to be engaged in more meaningful activities.

He linked his charity up with MSF last year to engage probationers in community service, and had them pack and deliver fruits and vegetables to seniors' homes last year. But this year, the probationers started to interact with the seniors more by helping them use the exercise equipment at the activity centre in Toa Payoh.

"The life-changing moments are really the interactions they have with the seniors, who can be like grandparents to them, giving them guidance," said Dr Wong.

Samantha (not her real name), 20, is among those who started their probation last year.

She became rebellious after her father died when she was 14. She had a strained relationship with her aunt who was caring for her, and fell into bad company. She became pregnant at 16 and was placed on probation for 27 months last year after she was convicted of cheating offences.

The turning point for her came when she stood in court for the first time. She has since made positive changes in her life. "My aunt and I had a lot of miscommunication as I often stayed out late with my friends and treated her house like a hotel," she said. "But during probation, I started to spend a lot of time with my aunt, and started talking to her, telling her about bad things that happened."

Her aunt also helps to take care of her three-year-old daughter while she volunteered at a cat shelter as part of her probation, and as she juggles polytechnic studies and several part-time jobs.

"I want to graduate from polytechnic, get a stable job and become a good mother to my daughter," she said.