Child prisoners at ‘real risk of psychological decline’ after lockdown

In a report summarising short scrutiny visits to 35 prisons, including Cookham Wood, Wetherby, Parc, Feltham A and Werrington YOIs, between 21 April and 7 July, Peter Clarke says his concerns over an impending crisis must be “addressed urgently, so that prisoners, children and detainees do not suffer long-term damage to their mental health and wellbeing, and prisons can fulfil their rehabilitative goals”.

Clarke praises prison managers for keeping children “safe during an exceptional crisis” and says “this must not be forgotten” but highlights a lack of education and time out of cells as key issues likely to affect young prisoners' mental health.

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Children in YOIs lost out on 16-weeks of face-to-face education during lockdown, the report reveals, with cuts “disproportionately” affected children in public sector custody.

Only children at privately-run Parc received face-to-face education during the time in which strict lockdown measures were imposed on the youth secure estate, he says.

The report also finds that in every YOI except Parc, based in Wales, children were locked in their cells for more than 22 hours a day for 16 weeks from March, when restrictions were imposed, until early July.

Some children were only allowed out of their cells for 40 minutes during periods of the lockdown, Clarke adds.

He says: “The main cause of this reduced time out of cell was the cancellation, by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), of all face-to-face education, a decision which was enforced even when governors believed they had designed local processes to allow it to take place safely. Instead, children were offered in-cell education packs.”

Clarke adds that he “does not understand” why children in public sector prisons had face-to-face education suspended for 16 weeks while “throughout the restrictions, vulnerable children in the community and in privately-run secure sites were able to continue to attend school.”

The report states that public sector prisons were unable to relax restrictions themselves without permission from HMPPS Gold Command.

“This meant that 16 weeks after the restrictions were imposed, most of them were still in place. Moreover, women’s prisons and children’s establishments are usually managed as functional groups in recognition of the specific needs of the populations they hold. However, since the restrictions were imposed, these prisons have been subsumed into regional structures. Without the support of their specialist management, they have struggled to meet the specific needs of their populations,” Clarke says.

The report also finds that while all children released from prison during the lockdown were met by a suitable adult and placed in suitable accommodation, two boys leaving Feltham were forced to spend an extra night in custody due to their late release meaning accomodation was unavailable until the next morning.

It also highlights that children’s biggest concern during lockdown was the suspension of face-to-face visits from family members.

However, Clarkes says this was a “necessary restriction for a number of weeks early on in the pandemic”.

He praises HMPPS for “useful steps to promote family contact, providing prisoners with free phone credit, additional letters and mobile telephones” but says the service’s “previous failure” to act on recommendations to introduce video calling meant “prisons were unprepared for the demand during the pandemic”.

“The recent introduction of video calling appears likely to be helpful, but most prisons still do not have access to this facility,” he says.