Youth Justice

Breakthrough Britain: Youth Justice

• Young people who have experienced educational failure and family breakdown disproportionately end up in the youth justice system:
  • 42% of female young offenders have experienced domestic violence. [i]
  • 73% of young offenders describe their academic achievement as zero. [ii]
• Little investment in prevention: England and Wales spend 11 times more on locking children up than on preventing their involvement in crime in the first place. [iii]
• The youth justice system does not rehabilitate young offenders: the re-offending rate for young offenders leaving custody is currently 77%. The re-offending rate for young offenders leaving community sentences is currently 69%. [iv]
• Custody does not protect against harm:
  • 30 children have died in custody since 1990
  • In 2007, there were over 1,000 self-harm incidents among children aged between 15 and 17. [v]
• Failures of the juvenile secure estate:
  • Poor mental health care: despite the fact that up to 95 per cent of young offenders may have at least one mental health disorder, only 53 per cent received care from local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in 2006. [vi]
  • Poor education: The more welfare-orientated Secure Training Centres and Secure Children’s Homes provide formal education for 25 hours per week, 50 weeks per year. YOIs have a stated target of 25 hours per week, yet around 15 per cent of young offenders in YOIs only receive between 15 and 20 hours, while around 25 per cent receive less than 15 hours. [vii]
  • Inadequate support upon release: In 2004-2005, 54 per cent of those leaving YOIs had no recorded education, training or employment placement. [viii]
• Children in custody are getting younger: The use of custody for 10-14 year olds has increased by 550 per cent since 1996. [ix]
• Custody is not used as a last resort: Between 2003 and 2006, there was a 39 per cent increase in the number of children dealt with formally in the criminal justice system for minor offences. [x]

Key areas for review:

Youth crime is a disturbing symptom and consequence of social breakdown. It is those young people who have experienced educational failure and family breakdown who overwhelmingly end up in the youth justice system. The current youth justice system fails to properly rehabilitate young offenders so that they can go on to lead law-abiding and positive lives. Custody is currently neither a protective nor a productive place for children, and community orders appear to be equally as ineffective. Once a sentence is complete, many of these young people turn back to crime and end up back in the system as adults. The human and financial cost to society of such failure is staggering.

The Centre for Social Justice believes that the current youth justice system is in desperate need of reform and to that end will complete a wide-ranging review. Key themes of the report will include: cause and prevention of youth crime; progression from crime to the youth justice system; role and efficacy of youth courts; effectiveness of both community and custodial sentences; suitability of post-sentence support; and Governance and accountability structures.

CHAIRMAN

Mike Royal (Chairman)
National Director of the Lighthouse Group, a charity working with young people excluded from school across the UK. He has considerable experience in youth work delivered by the faith sector and has worked as an adviser to statutory agencies on gang related issues. He has considerable experience of policy formulation and was part of the CSJ Education Failure Working Group.

WORKING GROUP

Rod Morgan
Professor Emeritus at the University of Bristol, visiting Professor at the Police Research Institute, Cardiff University and the LSE and is a Government-appointed advisor to the five criminal justice inspectorates. Former HM Chief Inspector of Probation (2001-4) and Chairman of the Youth Justice Board (2004-7).

Vicky O’Dea
Operations Director at Serco Civil Government. Previously worked for HM Prison Service

Rob Owen
Chief Executive at St Giles Trust

John Pitts
Vauxhall Professor of Socio-Legal Studies and Director of the Institute for Applied Social Research at the University of Bedfordshire

Chris Stanley
Former Head of Nacro’s Policy and Research Division and was previously a member of the Audit Commission’s Youth Justice Study Advisory Group

Malcolm Stevens
Director of JusticeCare Solutions and an independent adviser/consultant to providers of healthcare, youth justice and children’s services. Formally the Government’s professional adviser responsible for youth justice policy, children in custody and children detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure and also the Director and Chief Executive of various services for children and in youth justice

John Sutherland
Superintendent (Operations) for Islington. Previously a Metropolitan Police Officer

Phil Thain
Founder and Chief Executive of Future Skills Training

Steve Crocker
Deputy Director, Children's Services, Hampshire.Previously Head of Service for the Wessex Youth Offending Service and Vice Chair and Chair ofthe Hampshire Criminal Justice Board.

Advisors:

Rob Allen
Director at the International Centre for Prison Studies at King’s College London, Chairman of CLINKS and a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee. Former Director of Research and Development at Nacro and a member of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (1998 - 2006)

Gracia McGrath O.B. E.
Chief Executive of Chance UK. Previously the Director of Islington Voluntary Action and London Director of a Carer’s charity