Offending Under 18s are sent to Secure Custody if a crime committed is deemed very serious, if the individual is a reoccurring re-offender, or if they are seen to be a risk to themselves and the public.
There are three types of Secure Centres:
Young Offenders Institutions - run by the Prison Service and private companies for young offenders aged 15 - 21;
Secure Training Centres - run by private companies for young offenders aged up to 17; and
Secure Children's Homes - run by local councils for young offenders aged 10 - 14.
There has been a striking drop in the number of Under 18s in Secure Custody
Data recently published by the Government displays that the number of Under 18s in Secure Custody has fallen by nearly 75% from a peak of 3,200 in October, 2002 to 829 in December, 2016.
This drop can be attributed to the success of Government action, namely the Youth Crime Action Plan which, from 2008, advanced schemes such as family intervention projects, common assessment frameworks, and increased police-school liaison.
Colin Allars YJB, Chief Executive of Youth Justice Board, said:
"This has significantly reduced the impact of young people's offending on society, their potential victims, and on the young people themselves, as well as helping to deliver savings to the economy"
The Government is also focusing on those who have been sent to youth custody with measures (such as educational and work-based initiatives) to assist in their rehabilitation and eventual re-integration into society
But how successful have Government measures actually been?
The total decrease in Under 18s in Secure Custody masks a significant problem; namely that whilst the number of White Under 18s in Secure Custody has dropped at a rapid rate, the number of BAME Under 18s has fallen at a much slower pace.
BAME Under 18s in Secure Custody are increasingly making up a larger proportion of all Under 18s in Secure Custody.
This means that, as of 2017, there are almost the same number of BAME Under 18s in Secure Custody as White Under 18s, despite only making up roughly 14% of the national population.
A recent exploratory analysis report of BAME numbers in Secure Custody highlighted that the high proportion of young black people in custody is "likely to be driven by arrest rates, [...] custodial sentencing at the magistrates' court, and the fact that they have spent longer in the custodial estate on average than other groups in the past four year."
This work is part of a final report on the treatment of BAME individuals within the Criminal justice System published by the Labour MP David Lammy which highlighted that BAME individuals face bias - including overt discrimination - in parts of the justice system. The review set out 35 recommendations for addressing this concerning imbalance.
Re-offending is still an issue: Under 18s are the most likely to re-offend
Despite Government programmes and educational initiatives aiming to assist the rehabilitation and reintegration of Under 18s in Secure Custody into society, rates of re-offending by those in Secure Custody within the year remain alarmingly high at roughly 70%.
This consistently high rate of re-offending highlights two things:
1) That the reduction in the Under 18 Secure Population has not been accompanied by a reduction in rates of re-offending; and
2) That offenders placed in the various types of youth custody are equally likely to re-offend. This displays how difficult rehabilitation and reintegration can be, especially given the variety of offenders' life stages, emotional needs, and levels of support required.
Moreover, increasing the scope of analysis to include all offenders - not just those in Secure Custody - reveals that young offenders (Under 18s) are proportionately the highest repeat offenders.
This suggests that successfully reducing the rates of re-offending by young offenders has not been achieved by reducing the Under 18 Secure Population. Indeed, the proportion of all offending Under 18s re-offending actually increased concurrent to the 2008/9 decrease in the Under 18 Secure Population.
Instead, as called for by Charlie Taylor in his Review of the Youth Justice System in England and Wales, the "Government must be prepared to change the entire way it thinks about youth custody" in order to formulate effective strategies for eroding the high rates of re-offending, and ensuring the smoother reintegration of young offenders into their local communities.
What does this mean for public policy?
1) The Government's successful reduction of Under 18s in Secure Custody will prevent many youths from suffering the long-term negative effects associated with incarceration. Nonetheless, the reduction has not decreased the proportion of young offenders re-offending.
2) It is important to match the quantitative decrease of those in Secure Custody with a qualitative approach to prioritise positive behavioural, emotional and academic/vocational development. This would go some way in abating high levels of re-offending and would provide a boost to local communities as anti-social behaviour is limited (see here for studies which investigate the negative effects of crime on local communities).
3) The Government should evaluate the effectiveness of current secure institutions in facilitating the rehabilitation of young offenders, as all three institutions, despite each serving different roles, have a similarly high re-offending rate. A robust and viable route to re-integration back into a working community and society at large is paramount. The Taylor review, for example, sees the creation of Secure Schools as such a solution.
4) The Lammy review provides key insights into why the number of BAME Under 18s in Secure Custody has not been decreasing at the same rate as White Under 18s. If the Government can act upon the recommendations and key findings noted in the review, firm steps can be taken to address the concerning imbalances.
