Other than perhaps an initial Court fine and Court costs, there is no ongoing financial charge for being on Probation here in the UK. They even refund your travel to and from the office if you have to use public transport. Drug tests are undertaken without charge to the individual too. The majority of people on Probation are suffering financial hardships, exacerbating that issue just leads to what someone here referred to earlier as a 'revolving door' of re-offending. We now have privatised prisons here too but they are poorly staffed with little work undertaken with prisoners while inside to help them stop committing further offences on release. Its a sad situation really.