Girls will no longer be sent to youth prisons

[mcduffy]

I think the telegraph is doing share tokens now... not sure if it works for more than one click but worth a try!

telegraph.co.uk/gift/ebae2e40048172d2

I've worked a little bit in youth services for offending. Invariably the girls were trauma-impacted and more often than not there was a boy involved in the offending.

However, not putting them in young offenders places may well mean, 'leave them to the wolves'.

I wish we had very well run youth offending centres. With houses, nice staff, lots of services, lovely space, gardens etc. I briefly volunteered in one in Canada and it was MUCH nicer than UK.

That's interesting, MrsTP. I don't know a lot about youth offending but makes sense

What's not clear is what provision will be made for these girls?

Oh, gosh, I'm so naive. Scotland recently closed its last YOI and I thought that was a positive move. I didn't think it through - it's entirely dependent on what is put in its place ....

I am underwhelmed by the options but it sounds like provision for the 2% female population is poor.

The review found girls were often vulnerable and suffering from complex mental and physical problems, which meant that while they made up just 2 per cent of under-18s in youth custody, they accounted for more than half of self-harm incidents.
They will now be held in secure children’s homes or secure schools as the most appropriate settings in which to deal with their vulnerabilities.

archive version archive.is/PCfEY

Share the concerns about what care these girls receive.

This is happening at a time when special education is also much harder to access. Kids with backgrounds of trauma and unmet needs often really struggle in mainstream education.

Sometimes the care options for older teens are very hands off - I know of a house where they were often left to their own devices with very little adult input- which is also the absolute opposite of what troubled young people need.

The problem with this population, both boys and girls, is that society really doesn't give a shit about them until they make their presence known through some kind of criminal offence.

If anyone is interested, please look in your local area for any mentoring, support, volunteering roles with young women.

My friend does some interesting work internationally with young women (particularly care leavers) and says that the one thing they all identify as important is having one unpaid adult who cares about them.

I used to be involved in a program for teenage mums and you never know the effect you have. Until later.

Lovely post and nice one MrsTerryPratchett

Adding this to my volunteering plans when I retire.

Love you lot! And I can't imagine a better group of women to support young 'uns.

I have looked into mentoring, MrsTP. To be honest the recruitment process was an absolute arse ache and I gave up because of it. But I will maybe steel myself and try again.

A good idea. Will have a look in my area.

Of god yeah. To do the program I went through we had references and interviews and all sorts.

i'm in canada and based on what i've read, the profile of women who offend often involves drugs, alcohol and prostitution as well as having been in the foster system.

all this being said extremely few go to a prison type setting vs a secure day unit where they cook clean and attend classes.
some of the set up's involve the women attending jobs by day and returning for all other hours.