An important part of the recent reforms of the Youth Justice System has been a review of the whole estate of secure facilities. Long term changes in the way units are managed and funded are among the consequences of this process. The National Youth Justice Board is playing a key role in determining the future shape of the secure estate and hi the setting and monitoring of standards for the delivery of services within establishments.
There are three main secure estate providers for those under 18 years of age; local authority secure units, Secure Training Centres and prison service establishments, i.e. Young Offender Institutions. Together these provide just over 3,100 places. There are also a small number of secure beds for young people ill health service provision.
As in the adult sector by far the greatest number of young people placed in secure accommodation are in the prison system (approximately 80% of the total population, i.e. 2,500 young people.)
Changes for Young Offenders
The Prison Service has undertaken a comprehensive review of its services for young people aged 15-27 years. The 1997 Thematic Review of Young Prisoners completed by the Chief Inspector of Prisons in 1997 was highly critical about the nature and delivery of secure care for young people in the prison service and the ways in which the provision failed in many cases to meet the needs of this vulnerable population. Considerable resources have been allocated by the Prison Service to address these issues and a separate range of facilities for the under 18 age group has been established. These facilities will provide a more focused regime and be required to meet the standards which will be set for all providers within the secure estate. The recently issued Prison Service Order, Regimes for Prisoners Under 18 Years Old (5) sets out the framework for the development of practice in establishments providing care for the under 18s and includes in some detail the essential elements that have to be present in a secure setting in order for the placement to have any possibility of helping young people to think about their experiences and for any change to occur. In particular there are two key ideas which underpin the practice: A recognition of the importance of development and growth in adolescence and the significance of protective factors for healthy growth which may exist in the external world of the young person and which, therefore, must be maintained and fostered whilst they are in custody.
The importance of daily regime routines and activities is highlighted in the Prison Service Order as is the delivery of high levels of individual and personal care within a consistent and well grounded framework of daily routines that promote the positive benefits of group living These are critical for any regime that is going to provide the essential psychological containment for such a volatile population which will include a high proportion of very disturbed young people.