Under the current system children can be held in a range of settings, including young offender institutions and secure training centres, which can accommodate several hundred young people.
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner found a lack of consistency and wide variation in the type, level and quality of measures put in place to support the emotional wellbeing and good mental health of children involved with the justice system, particularly those in custody.
The report makes a total of 19 recommendations, the main one being that children in custody should be placed in units of no more than 150.
Other recommendations involve ensuring child-to-staff ratios are small enough to allow meaningful relationships with key workers.
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