This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week in Europe, shedding light on the importance of prioritizing mental health support for probation clients and addressing mental health concerns within the criminal justice system. CEP plays a vital role in striving to enhance mental health services for probationers through various initiatives.

CEP convene annual meetings of the Expert Group on Mental Health and together with the Criminal Justice Platform Europe(CJPE) organizes a 4-day Summer Course on Mental Health Issues in Criminal Justice(Read the recap here). CEP also commissions and funds research, the latest was on “Probation officers’ knowledge of, and attitudes to, mental illness in Europe,” promoting evidence-based practices.

As the voice of Probation in Europe, CEP has the observer status in the Council for Penological Cooperation(PC-CP) at the Council of Europe (CoE). Recently, CEP was involved in drafting the White Paper regarding the management of persons with mental health disorders that aims to improve mental health support in both probation and prisons.