‘Child criminals being set up to fail on release’
CHILD criminals are being “set up to fail” on release from custody because there is inadequate support in place to help them turn their life around, according to inspectors.
The probation and prison watchdogs reviewed the support boys aged 12 to 17 received from services in their first three months after release.
They followed 50 who had all committed serious crimes or were repeat offenders and had been sentenced to detention and training orders, which meant they served half their time in custody and half in the community.
They all served time in the five young offender institutions (YOI) across Wales and England – Parc in Wales, Cookham Wood in Kent, Feltham in London, Werrington in Staffordshire and Wetherby in West Yorkshire.
In the three months after release, half of the group had been investigated by police, 10 had been convicted of more crimes and six of the group had gone missing.
Those who had reformed were “the exception rather than the rule”, inspectors said.
Richard Garside, the director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, called for the number of children sent to prison to be reduced, adding: “On just about every measure the state is failing children and young people leaving prison.”
Chief inspector of probation Justin Russell, who took on the role in June, said the results of the review painted a “grim picture”, adding: “This is certainly the most disturbing report I’ve read since starting in my new role.”
Nearly 80% of children and young people in custody have carried out violent crimes, robbery, burglary or sexual offences.
Between 2017 and 2018, the monthly number of people in youth custody was 894, with the average sentence being just over 16 months – while around 550 are released every year.
Mr Russell said it was “immensely disappointing” to find problems from 2015 remain and it was no surprise one of the offenders told inspectors he felt “like a parcel”.
He said a “major reason” for the problems was “poor support services” with planning meetings taking place too late so adequate services were not put in place before release.
There were still young people who days before release still did not have accommodation arranged, he said, which hindered efforts to set them up in education or register them for health services.
Children’s social services were “falling down” on their responsibility of sorting accommodation – but youth offending teams were “quite passive” and not “advocating” for the young people either, he said.
There was a “mad scramble immediately before release to try and find somewhere to put these young people” because councils were “reluctant” at a time of austerity to keep paying for their care home place while they were in custody, but described this as a “false economy”.
He called on the Government to come up with a “national accommodation strategy” for young people coming out of care.
Chief inspector of prisons Peter Clarke said: “In some cases, planning started just 10 days prior to release or even after release – this is too little, too late to be effective.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Strong resettlement support both inside and outside prison is a vital pillar of rehabilitation.
“We must improve standards so they are consistent and enable young offenders to move away from crime for good.
“That is why we are reviewing resettlement services at all young offenders institutions and are working closely with external agencies which provide accommodation, education, training and employment to improve support on release.”