Published date:
By Laura Cotter and Kim McDonnell
This paper is a practitioner’s response to ‘Probation and mental health: Do we really need equivalence?’, written by Charlie Brooker and published in Irish Probation Journal, 2021. Brooker’s article provides robust data that highlight the need to ensure that mental health no longer remains the ‘poor relation ’in probation practice. This response focuses on the significance of research; the prevalence of mental health problems amongst those subject to probation supervision; the high incidence of comorbidity; levels of unmet need arising from difficulties with access to appropriate services; and the challenges of working with suicide ideation. The paper explores how the findings from Brooker’s research are reflected in an Irish context, drawing from the authors’ lengthy and direct experience of working with clients with mental health difficulties. Both practitioner authors are members of the Probation Service Mental Health Working Group, established in 2018.