Coronavirus restrictions in youth jails ‘impacting children’s wellbeing’

A study by HMI Prisons (HMIP) found that restrictions introduced in March 2020 had stopped almost all activities that afford young people time out of their cell each day including work, education, rehabilitative courses, the chapel, the gym and library, with time out of cell typically limited to as little as 45 minutes a day at the start of the pandemic.

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Inspectors found that being forced to spend so much time in their cells had caused issues with loneliness, boredom and anxiety. One child told inspectors how the lack of activity affected his mental health.

"It was like my life had gone to waste, I had nothing to do, absolutely nothing to do – couldn’t run – a feeling I’ve never felt in my life," the child said.

"It felt like I forgot myself, cos I was hardly talking… in my pad for that long I’d end up counting myself to sleep… I’d be that bored… cos I’d been in my pad for that long, I was counting every day, I’d count my toes, I’d count my fingers, I’d count my hands… I’d sit on my bed thinking, why am I counting? It felt like I forgot myself."

Although inspectors noted significant decreases in violence in light of the restrictions, children reported that it had started to take place in different locations, typically classrooms, which reopened last summer allowing children to participate in part time education for around five hours a day.

“This violence, though less frequent, was sometimes more extreme,” the report states.

Children also reported an increase in the levels of verbal abuse and intimidation at cell doors during the day and from windows and across landings at night-time.

“Although this type of bullying has always been common in children’s prisons, the sheer length of time children were alone in their cells listening to threats meant that the effect on them was more pronounced,” the report states.

“Those making the threats felt at liberty to escalate their abuse because they were unlikely to ever be unlocked at the same time as their victim during the current restrictions.”

Children felt that the loss of activities mixing with other wings left them unable to develop the coping and social skills they needed to mix with larger and different groups of people. The restrictions on interactions with others meant they felt ill-equipped for a return to the community or a move to an adult prison.

One child said: "You’re not developing those social skills, and you’re not developing those skills how to interact with different sorts of people… If you go to the adult estate you don’t know how to deal with somebody who’s volatile, and you don’t know how to… stay out of their way… The point of a young offenders’ institute for young people is to ready them for the adult estate."

The situation has also had an impact on young people who are yet to stand trial for the offence they stand accused of, with court delays as a result of coronavirus resulting in them spending greater periods of time on remand.

“We spoke to children who were in custody for the first time and were expecting to spend almost a year waiting for their trial,” the report states.

“This was a daunting prospect and felt very unfair to them. The uncertainty they described contrasted starkly with prisoners serving determinate sentences, who repeatedly told us how a release date gave them something positive to work towards.”

One child said: “I am going to be on remand for one year… The delay in my case has been the worst effect of coronavirus.”

On a more positive note, children told inspectors how their larger concerns about Covid-19 had put petty disagreements with each other into perspective. This had prompted some children to find ways to get along with each other.

One child said: "Since Covid, a lot of people have basically shook hands, said let’s lock all this off, all the beef, all the drama, so a lot of people have been sorting out their problems on their own."

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, said: “The cumulative effect of such prolonged and severe restrictions on prisoners’ mental health and well-being is profound.

“The lack of support to reduce reoffending and help prisoners address their risk of serious harm to the public does not fill me with hope for the longer term. Locking prisoners up in prolonged isolation has never been a feature of a healthy prison.”