Speaking at a conference on looked-after children in custody, Ellie Roysaid: "The fact we pick up the tab when young people go into custodyencourages stepping back at the point when local authorities should bedoing more for that young person."
Roy cited evidence from the case histories of two young offenders whocommitted suicide in custody. "There were times for both of them when wecould have invested in better care and support but, because the childwas offending, workers stood back and took a fatalistic approach."
She added: "The reason a child comes into court is because of thefailure of others, for example to keep children in school or with theirfamilies. It's important because custody is so expensive."
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