Youth Offending - tackling the hidden issues

The Howard League for Penal Reform has reported that the number of children being arrested in the UK has fallen by a third since 2008.

The latest statistics also suggest that there are fewer children being held in secure custody than there were a year ago.

While this will be welcome news for local authorities and youth offending teams, a recent study undertaken by the children’s commissioner has suggested that more could be done to reduce the risk of children and young people getting involved in crime.  

The study states that up to 76 per cent of young people in custody had experienced a traumatic brain injury at some time in their lives. It also revealed that up to 90 per cent of young offenders have speech and language difficulties and one in 10 could be on the autistic spectrum.

Early identification of those children whose background and circumstances put them at higher risk of criminality is critical to getting the right support in place to prevent them from following this pathway later on in their lives.  

Ofsted has proposed a programme of unannounced joint inspections to judge the effectiveness of multi-agency arrangements for the protection of children. This could be one way to ensure that the right information on children who have suffered a brain injury or are experiencing some of the other ‘key markers’ of future criminality is getting to the people who need it sooner so they can make a difference.   
 
And for those children who do end up in the youth justice system, having more information from schools, health and other agencies on the child’s background could support youth offending and probation teams in ensuring proportionality in the judicial process.  

According to the National Audit Office, if one in ten young offenders were prevented from going to prison through early intervention, it would save over £100m a year for the public purse.

But the positive impact of reducing youth crime on young people, their families and wider society is not something you can easily put a value on.