The Youth Justice Board's (YJB) response to HM Inspectorate of
Prisons' latest review of survey responses from children in
custody.
On 22 September, HM Inspectorate of Prisons published its
analysis of 1218-year-olds' perceptions of their experiences in
custody.
Steph Roberts-Bibby, Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board,
said:
Every child in custody should be safe, supported to learn and
given the opportunity to build a positive future. The persistent
challenges highlighted by HM Inspectorate of Prisons show that,
despite significant investment and historically low numbers of
children in custody, we remain too far from consistently
achieving that.
There are important lessons from the progress made across the
wider youth justice system that can be applied to children in
custody. A clear approach informed by the Child First evidence
base has provided a unifying framework for police, youth justice
services and the judiciary, in helping to shift the system
towards prevention, diversion and approaches that recognise
children's strengths, needs, vulnerabilities and potential. This
is what works to prevent offending and reduce reoffending.
Youth custody has yet to benefit from the same consistently
applied, evidence-based model for working with children. We
believe establishing that clarity of purpose and translating it
into the everyday experience of children and staff will be
critical to achieving sustained improvement.
We also need to continue reducing the number of children entering
custody where safe and appropriate alternatives exist. The London
Accommodation Pathfinder demonstrates what can be achieved by
doing things differently. Its latest independent evaluation
provides promising early evidence that treating children as
children, diverting them from stigma associated with young
offender institutions, and supporting them to build positive
social identities can be achieved through community-based
alternative to custody. We champion this model to deliver better
outcomes for children, reduce reoffending and the number of
victims and provide better value for the public purse. As a
result, we very much welcome the government's investment in
alternatives to custody.
The evidence shows us that the current secure estate is not fit
for purpose: Poor outcomes are systemic, not simply isolated
operational failures. Large, prison-like institutions, staffing
pressures and restricted regimes are limiting safety and
rehabilitation. What is required is a clear, time-bound
transition towards smaller, child-centred provision - with a
specialist and stable workforce and an unpinning evidence-based
theory of change.
