Secure school 'to prioritise therapeutic support' for young offenders
Neil Puffett
Monday, October 12, 2020
A new secure school will prioritise therapeutic support for young offenders, the charity tasked with running the establishment has vowed.
The school, which will be run by the Oasis Charitable Trust on the site of the former Medway Secure Training Centre, is set to open in 2022.
Concerns have previously been raised that using a former custodial establishment would “contaminate the culture from the start”.
But Oasis has announced plans to work with NHS England to “ensure that the delivery of primary health care, health education and therapeutic interventions are fully integrated into the daily provision and culture of the secure school”.
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Steve Chalke, founder and leader of Oasis, said: “Our national systems of welfare, health, education, and housing are failing the most vulnerable young people who, as a result, all too frequently find themselves caught in a persistent loop of exclusion that defines their future and inhibits their life chances.
“Working in partnership with the government, NHS England and a range of other partners across the charitable and public sector, it is our job to bring about much needed radical change.
“With a vision focussed on restoration rather than retribution, and creating a safe environment with a holistic approach to education, care and health, this unique project is at the very forefront of a long-awaited revolution in youth justice.
“The secure school places therapeutic, integrated and bespoke support for children, along with pathways for successful transition designed to enable them to make different choices and lead positive, productive lives at the very heart of the youth secure estate for the first time.”
Plans to pilot two secure schools were first announced in December 2016, on the back of recommendations made in Charlie Taylor's review of the youth justice system. Their aim is to place a greater focus on the education and rehabilitation of young offenders, improving safety in the youth secure estate and reducing reoffending.
Last month, the MoJ said it intends to change legislation in order to allow Oasis to run the secure school after questions were raised over a charitable trust's eligibility to run a youth justice facility.
Caroline Willow, director of charity Article 39, said: “Oasis is clearly very committed to getting children out of penal environments, though the same could be said of those who supported secure training centres back in the 1990s. They too were marketed as purpose-built for children.
“Secure schools are planned as a hybrid of secure children’s homes and 16-19 academies, which raises all sorts of legal and practical questions. That the government is now planning to change the law to allow charities like Oasis to deprive children of their liberty shows there is a lot that wasn’t thought through.
"Councils were prevented from applying to run the first secure school, due to the academies legislation, yet they manage all but one of the country’s secure children’s homes. Why would the government want to exclude that experience and expertise?”