Tag: young offenders

No under 18s in Scotland’s Young Offenders Institutions

All under 18s who were previously detained in YOI Polmont have now been moved into secure care settings. New regulations came into force on 28 August and as of that date, there will be no new admissions of children under 18 to Young Offender Institutions.

Funding of up to £7 million is being made available by the Scottish Government to cover the costs of placements this financial year. This is in addition to £500,000 funding which has been offered to secure accommodation providers to support their preparations for the movement of the children, ensuring their wellbeing and safety is the top priority.

As part of wider work to embed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and to Keep the Promise, the 2024 Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act’s provisions aim to improve children’s experiences of the care and justice systems, whether victims, witnesses or children who have caused harm.

Minister for The Promise Natalie Don-Innes said: “We have been moving at pace since the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill received Royal Assent in June to implement this reform and ensure no under 18s will be detained in a Young Offenders Institution from now on, moving to suitable settings such as secure care.

“This move will ensure children in conflict with the law are placed in safe suitable accommodation which will ensure their wellbeing and rehabilitation is at the heart of their care, while also keeping communities safe.

“I value and appreciate the work the providers will undertake to make the young people feel settled. Implementing this reform has been an enormous collaborative effort.

“I am very grateful to the secure accommodation providers, the Scottish Prison Service, Social Work Scotland, Crown Office, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and the Care Inspectorate.

“The success of their combined effort demonstrates our commitment to ‘Keep the Promise’, further protect children’s rights and keep communities safe.”

Changes to children’s justice system ‘would help break the cycle of offending’

A Bill which would see most 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland referred to the Children’s Hearing System, rather than the adult justice system, could help address underlying issues and stop young people from reoffending.

This is one of the findings from a report by Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill.

Stakeholders told the Committee they were broadly in favour of the changes the Bill would introduce, which include raising the age at which a young person can be referred to the Children’s Hearing System to 18.

This change would lead to more young people being referred to the Children’s Hearing System. To account for this, the Committee is urging the Scottish Government to work with Children’s Hearings Scotland to set clear targets and timescales to recruit and train more of the panel members who make legal decisions with and for children and young people.

The Committee also expressed concern that the Bill effectively establishes the age of 17-and-a-half as the cut-off date for referrals to the Children’s Hearing System. The Committee believes that this is not in the spirit of the Bill and needs to be addressed.

The Bill will still allow for a young person’s offending to be handled by the adult justice system for the most serious crimes and where it is assessed to be in the public interest to prosecute.

The Committee supported this, but has called on the Scottish Government to ensure safeguards and measures are put in place to help young people better understand and participate in proceedings, whether they are attending a Children’s Hearing or a court.

Furthermore, the Committee has insisted that updated and full costings are provided ahead of the Stage 1 vote. Social work teams in local authorities will play a key role in delivering the reforms in the Bill. However, the Committee repeatedly heard about the financial pressures that local authorities face, and the Bill does not have enough information about how the additional work they will need to do will be funded.

Sue Webber MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said: “We welcome the changes in this Bill that will ensure that 16 and 17 year olds would have access to the Children’s Hearing System.

“As we heard time and again, where a child has committed an offence it’s important to consider why this has happened and we believe, if properly resourced, this Bill will help. It will protect children from harm and help find solutions to the problems that may have led to them offending in the first place. But improvements are needed before the Bill becomes law.

“We are alarmed that referral to the Children’s Hearing System seems to have an effective cut-off at 17.5 years old. This cut-off seems to be based on the length of time it might take for a case to be processed. We want the Scottish Government to address the delays the system appears to face and ensure that support is provided up to 18 years old, as was intended.”

Another change the Bill introduces would ensure that under-18s are sent to a secure accommodation provider, instead of a Young Offenders Institution, or prison.

There was strong support from witnesses, including Gerry Michie, Governor of YOI Polmont, and Sue Brookes of the Scottish Prisons Service, who told the Committee that: “16 and 17-year-olds, as children, should not be with us. Even if the rest of the establishment was empty, those children should be somewhere else.”

However, the Committee also heard about concerns with the financial sustainability of secure care providers. Given how vital secure care is to the delivery of the reforms within the Bill, the Committee has called on the Scottish Government to urgently investigate how the changes will affect their finances ahead of the Government’s planned release of a report on secure care in 2024.

Aid & Abet: The VOW project

City police are looking forward to working with CashBack for Communities who will be funding their VOW project from April 2021.

The VOW Project is a funded initiative which aims to reduce offending and harm to people in Edinburgh. This is done by building positive relationships with those caught up in the cycle of offending and building a bespoke service for each person, to meet their individual needs.

The project is unique in that, in addition to plain clothes police officers, it makes use of inspirational peer mentors who have lived experience of the Criminal Justice System.

The team engage with and empower young people (aged 16-24 years) to break the cycle of re-offending and to pick up their shattered lives, by assisting them to make positive decisions and changes to their lives.

By having an open and frank conversation with the individual about their life, actions and choices, there is a much greater chance to break down barriers between the offender and the police and this greatly increases the possibility that the person will engage with the project and work towards reducing and hopefully ceasing their offending.

The peer mentors carry out initial interactions using their own life-experience and decide if the young persons are ready engage and to take the next step in moving away from their harm inducing behaviour.

Existing strengths, are gradually brought out, through the peer mentors building a rapport and a positive relationship with the young person in a safe environment. They are then assisted in making positive choices and together, a plan of action is established around support, resilience building, signposting to partners, training and in some cases employment.

The ultimate aim of the project is for the young person to be assisted in moving forward with their lives in a positive manner.

The VOW Project also deliver presentations within educational settings,to local youth groups, Care Experienced Young People and statutory and third sector partners, where they to talk about positive lifestyle choices and resilience.

Pictured: PC Graeme Buchan & Peer Mentor Kevin Neary

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