Custody for children should be a 'last resort', disproportionality report urges
Nina Jacobs
Monday, June 15, 2020
An alliance of youth justice organisations is calling on the government to ensure custodial sentences for children are used only as a last resort to tackle disproportionality in the youth justice system.
In its latest report, Ensuring custody is the last resort for children in England and Wales, the Standing Committee for Youth Justice (SCYJ) says its new suggested legislative criteria would be a “vital tool” in stemming the flow of children sentenced and remanded to custody.
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The alliance, in conjunction with an expert group of SCYJ members, has developed a series of proposals that it says will enforce that custody is only ever used as a genuine last resort for children.
It claims despite this principle already enshrined in domestic law and international human rights conventions, current practice shows it is not being applied as such.
Its report highlights despite declining numbers of children in custody over the past decade, the overrepresentation of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) children has worsened.
Last year saw more BAME children in custody than white children for the first time, the alliance said.
“Children in custody are extremely vulnerable and their experience of detention exacerbates and compounds this vulnerability.
“Custody is unsafe, and public bodies have a duty to protect children from such harm,” the report states.
The SCYJ, which comprises of more than 60 youth justice groups, said its tightened legal restrictions would apply more equitably to all children.
This would minimise the influence of a range of biases that result in disproportionately negative outcomes for BAME children and those in local authority care, it said.
Furthermore, the new criteria would ensure that custody is only made available for the most serious crimes, where the child poses a serious and continuing risk to the public and there is no way of managing that risk in the community, it added.
In cases such as this, the criteria for custody should also require courts to obtain an assessment of the child, considering their particular circumstances, and a report on arrangements that could be put in place in the community.
This would determine whether any sentence other than a custodial one would be sufficient to protect the public, the alliance explained.
Where custody was decided as an option, it recommends these children should be held in small, child-centred secure settings that are close to their community and support networks.
The report also suggests the flow of children into the justice system could be reduced through measures such as investment in prevention and early help, children’s and youth services.
“For children in the youth justice system, reductions in the number sentenced to custody could be achieved through improving specialist legal practice, ensuring high quality pre-sentence reports and bail applications, and coordinated work with youth offending teams, local partners and sentencers to raise awareness of, and access to, a range of community-based alternatives,” it states.
The SCYJ said it had submitted its report to the justice select committee as part of its inquiries into youth justice.
📅 On Tuesday from 2.30pm we will take evidence for our inquiry into the youth justice system.
— Justice Committee (@CommonsJustice) June 11, 2020
We will hear from:@HMIPrisonsnews @_YJB @AssnYOTmanagers @MagsAssoc@theSCYJ
📺 Watch online: https://t.co/4gBvvH34AZ pic.twitter.com/4UDeaMhyMd
Pippa Goodfellow, SCYJ’s director, is due to give evidence to the committee on Tuesday as part of its latest inquiry into children and young people in custody.