Our prisons are in crisis. Rising numbers have placed an intolerable burden on those already overcrowded institutions that are left to cope with the raw anger and alienation of the young men and women who arrive at their gates. Young offender institutions are now barely able to cope with the many demands of these youngsters, contributing to a rapid turnover of often-demoralised staff. No wonder re-offending rates are so high. So what can be done?
Actually, a lot is in place already, thanks to a number of intelligent initiatives since 1997. However, if we are to be serious about reversing the rising numbers of young criminals, we need to be serious about rehabilitation and the roots of the offending cycle. Broken families, exclusion from education, mental health issues and addiction are common factors in the history of the young men who appear in our courts. No one condones the offending behaviour that puts them there, but we need to understand its roots and acknowledge that incarceration on its own will not solve anything. We need to address the issues that face these young people or risk allowing them to re-offend and produce yet more victims.
Too many disillusioned officers, project workers and others leave the service. Too many appointments with inmates are cancelled because of a lack of resources. Too many young men re-offend within the first couple of weeks of release, simply because prison is the first time in their lives that they have had someone, somewhere, take an interest in them and because they have nowhere else to go.
Small armies of volunteers work in young offender institutions around the country. Unpaid and giving up as much time as they can spare, these people provide a unique opportunity for young inmates to express themselves without feeling that they are judged. It allows them to open up in a way not previously offered to them and discuss feelings and emotions that have long lain buried. My first mentee , the young lad described to me as loud, chatty, happy-go-lucky, was not the same as the self-harming, vulnerable lad who sat opposite me in a bitterly cold meeting room.
Unfortunately, these programmes are not nationally co-ordinated, do not receive funding from central government and rely on any donations they can secure. Yet these schemes do achieve results. Yes, some former mentees re-offend but many others go on to find work, to study and to achieve in a way that would have been lost to them if they had not benefited from this form of support. Many keep in touch with the people who helped them, ringing up out of the blue to say how well their lives are going.
These schemes deserve more support. They need the funding which would enable them to develop into a national scheme, sharing experience and best practice. More than that, these schemes, and the role of their volunteers, both within institutions and working in the local community, need to be acknowledged as having a vital role within the youth justice system in contributing to the development of young people, for whom a positive, constructive role in society is an achievable goal.