Stopping the neglect of children caught up in the criminal justice system

PET has responded to the call for evidence from the Commission on Young Lives, highlighting the poor treatment of children in prisons (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs).

Every year, hundreds of the most vulnerable children in England are neglected by the education and social services systems. Launched in September 2021, the Commission on Young Lives is a major independent commission to evidence and design a new national system to prevent crisis in vulnerable young people and support them to succeed in life. 

The school-to-prison pipeline

In our evidence submission, we highlighted the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ – the term used to describe the pervasive links between educational exclusion, social exclusion, and criminalisation. 

Many people in prison were labelled ‘troublemakers’ and ‘poor learners’ by teachers and subjected to interrupted learning. Almost nine out of ten boys (88%) in custody said that they have been excluded from school, and almost two in five said that they were younger than 14 years-old when last at school. 

Crucially, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with neurodiverse conditions are overrepresented in both school exclusion figures and the criminal justice system.

Another emotionally and educationally disruptive experience common amongst children in custody is having been in care. While fewer than 1% of children in England are in care, looked after children make up 61% of girls and 33% of boys in custody.

An effective alternative to YOIs and STCs

Further damage is caused to children’s education by the custodial environment – through use of force, solitary confinement, and ‘keep aparts’ (when children are assessed as a risk of violence to each other and kept separate for activities). 

These practices not only traumatise already vulnerable children, but also prevent them from receiving meaningful and progressive education.

An effective alternative for children in YOIs and STCs would be secure children’s homes, which usually provide far better outcomes for those in their care.

Creating a safe and supportive environment for children

The pressures facing the adult custodial estate, combined with inadequate resourcing and fragmented planning, is causing the continual neglect of the best interests of many of the most vulnerable children.

In our evidence submission we call for a national strategy for the children’s custodial estate that facilitates safe and supportive environments. Our recommendations include:

1. Trauma-informed teaching, with more initiatives that involve participation of families.
2. Embedded education outside traditional classroom settings as the norm, such as the use of digital technology, sports and the arts as ‘hooks’ for learning.
3. Regular publishing of data relating to educational progression and achievement, and education/training or employment on release.
4. The development of policies by the Ministry of Justice that ensure those recruited are well suited and trained to care for children in custody.
5. A curriculum of material that is racially and culturally responsive.
6. Opportunities for educational progress that are tailored to each learner, with particular attention to children with longer sentences.
7. A child-focused culture in custodial establishments, where young people’s voices are valued.
8. Proper planning for release and transfers to the adult estate to ensure the seamless continuation of every child’s learning journey.

Start a course with PET 

Prisoners’ Education Trust funds a wide range of distance-learning courses. To apply, you need to:

• Be serving your sentence in a prison in England or Wales;
• Have at least six months left to serve;
• Have gained Level 2 English (literacy). Some courses also require Level 2 Maths (numeracy);
• Be over 18 years old.

If you’d like any advice about which course to study or how to apply, you can speak to a member of our team for free on 0800 048 7520 on: Tues: 10am-12pm & 2pm-4pm. Thurs 10am-12pm & 2pm-6pm

You can also write to us at FREEPOST, Prisoners’ Education Trust or speak to your prison’s Education Department.