Charity boss backs reform of prisons for children

The head of a leading penal reform charity has said that the rest of the UK could learn from Scotland’s “welfare based approach” to youth justice.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, made the call as she delivered a speech calling for radical changes to children’s prisons at this year’s National Youth Justice Conference, which was held in Dundee.

Crook told conference delegates about what she claimed were the poor conditions for youth offenders in institutions in England and Wales and said prison is never an appropriate place for a child.

RELATED CONTENT 

Stop putting young people under 18 through adult courts, urges report

Independent monitor call for female offenders

She was a keynote speaker at the conference, organised by the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice (CYCJ), the Scottish Government and the National Youth Justice Advisory Group (NYJAG).

Crook suggested that Scotland had a more effective approach to dealing with young offenders, which she said was welfare-centred.

She said: “Teenagers test boundaries and always will, it’s up to us as adults to respond and deal with this appropriately.

“We’ve got to recognise the criminal justice system is a sign of failure – we want to prevent that from happening, from things getting to that point.”

Crook, speaking to conference delegates, added: “Youth courts and a welfare based approach is something we can learn from Scotland…I came here to learn from you!”