Majority of children in custody have been in care, report finds

In June this year, there were 434 young people, including 18-year-olds, in secure training centres (STC) and young offender institutions (YOI across England and Wales, down from 939 in 2016.

However, the report from HMI Prisons warns that progress made around the treatment of children in the youth custody estate after the Covid-19 pandemic has “stalled” with “things getting worse” in key areas including levels of violence in settings and trust between children and staff.

• Inspections Clinic: 10 key questions on STC assurance visits

• Special Report: Resettlement of Children

The report highlights that 66 per cent of young people in the youth custody estate have experienced local authority care, however, less than half of all children reported feeling cared for by staff, and nearly a third “did not have a single member of staff they trusted to help them if they had a problem”.

This is despite the report stating that youth custody settings are “richly resourced” with Werrington YOI employing 340 staff to care for just 89 children.

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons said: “For many, prison may therefore be the most stable environment they have known, and it should be an opportunity for them to build trusted relationships with staff who can help them to confront and move on from their past choices.

“It is therefore particularly disappointing to see that relationships with staff have deteriorated over the past year, and not even a third of children could name a single member of staff they believed would help them if they had a problem.”

Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief exececutive of Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers said the report “provides yet further evidence that children in care are over-represented in the youth justice system.”

“We are deeply concerned by some of the findings, such as rising violence in the youth estate, poor relationships and young people being locked up for worryingly long periods of time. It is also deeply concerning that care-experienced young people are more likely to be restrained or separated from others. This is no way to treat children who have experienced significant trauma.

“Children in care need love, support and stability to heal and thrive. Instead too many are being let down by a system in crisis and ending up in custody

“We urgently need ambitious action and investment from government so every child in care gets the support they need when they need it so they can have a future to look forward to,” she added.

The report also finds that 55 per cent of children in custody are from a racial minority while 30 per cent are classed as disabled.

Meanwhile, 42 per cent of all those in custody are on remand.

Overall levels of violence and self-harm across settings in England and Wales rose by just over a quarter and a third respectively in the year to June and 28 per cent of children reported spending with less than two hours each day outside of their cells.

Helen Lincoln, chair of the ADCS Families, Communities and Young People Policy Committee added: “The aim of any sentence must be to give children an opportunity to resettle into society and break the cycle of reoffending whilst keeping them safe and promoting their mental health and emotional well-being. 

“It is difficult to see how conditions described in this report, such as high levels of self harm, violence and spending long periods of time alone in cells, help achieve these aims.  We must do better for children in and on the edge of the youth justice system.”

A separate report, published following an inspection of Werrington YOI, reveals that at the Staffordshire setting, which houses 89 children, serious disorder had increased by 76 per cent since the last inspection a year previously.

Inspectors heard reports of multiple incidents requiring the deployment of national resources.

“This included groups of boys trying to smash through doors to get to other children. Inspectors saw a classroom that could not be used with a damaged door and shards of broken glass following one such incident,” the report states.

A recent report into conditions at Oakhill STC found a shift in focused towards a “child-first approach”, however, warned that improvements were still needed for the facility to be classed as “good”.