Details emerge on alternative to custody accommodation scheme

The settings in east and north London are to provide accommodation for up to five young people aged 16 or 17 for a period of up to six months. They may have an order to be held on remand in a secure setting after being charged with an offence or already be in custody and need resettlement into the community.

• Interview: Claudia Sturt, YJB chief executive

• Analysis: Nightingale courts not enough to reduce number of child prisoners, say experts

The London Accommodation and Resettlement Pathfinder is an innovative partnership between the Youth Justice Board (YJB), a handful of councils in the capital and children’s charities.

This month, it was announced that charity St Christopher’s Fellowship, which specialises in support for looked-after children and care leavers, will run the two settings while Wipers Youth CIC has been contracted to deliver a self-development programme for young people.

The pathfinder partnership expects the east London unit to open later this year and the one in north London in early 2023. The YJB hopes to open a further two units in London by 2025 and says if successful the approach could be adopted in other parts of England and Wales.

The units, which will be staffed around the clock, will be therapeutic environments and offer targeted specialist support with education and training, mental health and wellbeing, and independent living skills. They will include gym equipment and leisure activities.

Young people will also be supported to participate in off-site training placements and undertake work linked to any reparation orders.

The aim of the scheme is to reduce the number of young people going into custody, both first-time entrants and repeat offenders, by offering a more therapeutic, rehabilitation-focused living environment.

The YJB said it is being trialled in London because children in the capital are more likely to be in custody than in any other region in England and Wales, accounting for 21 per cent of all custodial sentences.

In addition, a significant percentage of children remanded in custody in London are black boys – this group makes up 20 per cent of the 10- to 17-year-old population of London but 37 per cent of all children who receive cautions or convictions.

Speaking to CYP Now about the plans earlier this year, Claudia Sturt, YJB chief executive, said: “We know 74 per cent of children on remand do not end up with a custodial outcome. 

“We know that, especially in London, remand disproportionately affects black boys and children looked after and we believe this is one of the important ways we can tackle the over-representation of these children in custody.

“Minimising the traumatic impact of custody on children will reduce the likelihood of future offending behaviours.”