Most children are looking forward to Christmas – a happy family occasion. But nearly 3000 children will spend Christmas behind bars, often hundreds of miles away from their home and family.

As Youth Justice Board figures reveal that nearly 3000 children in England and Wales will spend Christmas 2006 in custody, an influential group of organisations – including Barnardo’s, the NSPCC, The Children’s Society, Nacro and others – have called for a new approach to youth justice.

In its paper 'Still Waiting for Youth Justice', the Standing Committee for Youth Justice (SCYJ) has called the increased use of custody for children ‘one of the most alarming developments within youth justice’. While recognising that a small number of children who commit serious offences need to be placed in custody in order to protect the public, in most cases the use of custody is an unnecessary, expensive, and ineffective response to their offending behaviour, and can be deeply damaging to children.

Most children in custody will be placed in prison service young offender institutions (YOIs) –often far away from their families, making visits difficult. Notwithstanding the best efforts of staff, YOIs – particularly when overcrowded - are ineffective in meeting the educational and rehabilitation needs of children.

Pam Hibbert, Chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice said:

This Christmas around 3000 children and young people will be in custody: many of them will not get a visit from their family because pressure on the system means they are too far away from home. Many of these children could be better dealt with by community penalties, ensuring they face up to their offending behaviour and make restoration in their own community. It is time for a new approach to dealing with children in trouble, one which is more effective, less costly and less damaging then the ever increasing use of custody

A copy of 'Still Waiting for Youth Justice' is attached to this release. For further information please contact:

Pam Hibbert: pam.hibbert@barnardos.org.uk ; tel 020 8498 7746

Notes to editors:

The SCYJ is a membership body which:

a) Provides a forum for organisations, primarily in the non-statutory sector, working to promote the welfare of children who become engaged in the youth justice system; and
b) Advocates a child-focussed youth justice system that promotes the integration of such children into society and thus serves the best interests of the children themselves and the community at large.

Membership:

Barnardo’s
Children’s Legal Centre
Children’s Rights Alliance for England
Children’s Rights Officers Association
Coram
CRE
Drugscope
JUSTICE
Nacro
National Association for Youth Justice
National Children’s Bureau
National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations
NCH
Newmartin Youth Trust
NSPCC
Prison Reform Trust
Rainer
Revolving Doors
Save the Children
Secure Accommodation Network
SOVA
The Children’s Society
The Howard League for Penal Reform
The National Youth Agency
Voice

Custody figures are taken from the Youth Justice Board website www.yjb.gov.uk. These figures reveal that the number of under 18s in custody was 2,996 at the end of October 2006. Of these, 213 were girls and 2,783 were boys. 223 under 18s were held in secure children’s homes; 257 in Secure Training Centres, and 2,516 in Young Offenders Institutions.

A letter by the Chief Executive of the YJB, Ellie Roy to YOT managers on 31 October 2006, highlighted the problem of children being placed many miles away from home: http://www.yjb.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B07678D0-C90B-4089-BF6E-B146EA12AB8A/0/LetterfromEllieRoy.pdf

The contents of this press release, and of Still Waiting for Youth Justice, do not necessarily reflect the views of each of SCYJ’s member organisations.