3.1.3 NATIONAL FRAMEWORK CONCERNING ALTERNATIVES AND PROBATION According to the judge: It is an extraordinary coincidence if a person comes out of prison not further damaged and violent.261 It’s nonsense at best, at best. She has suggestions that along the lines of the social and educational work in the prison a link can be made with the Social Services Act and if there is no resource inside the prison itself, providers can be brought in and also the early release is a great opportunity to incorporate probation into the remainder of the probationary period and thus achieve a really smooth transition to unsupervised life.262 The District Court judge explains that she tries to engage the probation officers and convicted persons in real correctional work, not repression. Article 67 of the Criminal Code provides for the possibilities for the court, during the probationary period or conditional early release, to also assign educational care or a probation measure. This possibility exists, although these are “dead provisions”, but the court still has a legal basis in paragraph 5 that says that the control is carried out by the court. 263 The same judge elaborates further on the mechanism of developing “social intellectual disability” of convicted persons. 264 The interviewed psychologist from the prison in Lovech who also had worked as a probation officer explained the challenges he meets with: the lack of training, lack of a clear mechanism for work with disabled prisoners or persons on probation and lack of professionals who can be consulted once the disability is identified. According to him, there is no methodology in the probation services that takes into account a presumed psychosocial/intellectual disability or addiction, and even if such a problem is noticed, there is no referral mechanism. Both prisons and probation services use an outdated recidivism and harm risk assessment methodology (OASIS) to account for addictions. 265 It figuratively implies the presence of an addiction problem, IPD and behavioural disorders to some extent. Most often, probation officers work with a person sentenced to probation with mandatory probation measures (address registration and individual meetings). 266 Bulgaria, Interview with Sofia Regional Court judge M.T. on 13 May 2022. Probation plans are clichéd texts. I had a parole hearing today. I interviewed all the social workers who had worked with the prisoner. Basically, when you ask them what they do with him, they answer that they hand him papers and answer his questions, if he has any. Everyone deflects the question when the initiative is with the social worker himself, after all, what are they calling him for, what are they talking about. I was thinking of writing to the Minister of Justice again about this because I think it’s just unbelievable - what a dysfunction! 261 Bulgaria, Interview with Sofia Regional Court judge M.T. on 13 May 2022. 262 Bulgaria, Interview with Sofia Regional Court judge M.T. on 13 May 2022. 263 Bulgaria, Interview with District Court judge V.C. on 13 May 2022. For me, a successful job is the selection of some measure during the probationary period, and periodically I ask for reports of the probationer, I call them in court, the probation officer and the convicted. Otherwise, especially during the pandemic, especially at the local level, I think that we have a complete failure of the effectiveness of probation. 264 Bulgaria, Interview with District Court judge V.C. on 13 May 2022. Very often, convicted persons develop intellectual disabilities not because of a medical reason, but because of the environment in which they grew up. That environment has made them completely intellectually disabled - he is an adult, he does not have any mental illness or intellectual condition by birth, but in reality his social experience is that of a 6-7 year old child. Because he didn’t go to school and his marginalized environment is clear what can produce. And you have to work with this person like a small child - teach him, give him skills and opportunities. And they go and sign papers in the village to prove they still live at the same address, and even if they sign every day, it can’t produce any benefit in terms of achieving any goals for their future. The periodic meetings with the probation officer are not clear how and when they happen and almost all were suspended during the pandemic. And the content of these meetings through the programs. We try to include something more meaningful and have an alternative, but most often these 2 mandatory measures – address registration and meetings with the probation officer are applied, and for me it is better not even to have them. 265 This is a questionnaire that is filled out by a social work inspector or a probation inspector in the probation services based on an interview with the prisoner. 266 Bulgaria, Interview with prison psychologist, former probation officer, M.V. on 6 June 2022. When the sentenced person ap260 Bulgarian Helsinki Committee 61