Children with learning disabilities more likely to go to prison

23% of young offenders have very low IQs of less than 70, and 25% have special educational needs – a far higher proportion than in the general population.

Seen and Heard: supporting vulnerable children in the youth justice system, published today (Wednesday 24 November) by the Prison Reform Trust and the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers, says youth justice agencies are not fulfilling their legal duty to prevent discrimination. It argues more should be done to identify and help children with learning disabilities and other impairments as part of the coalition government’s plans to “radically” overhaul youth justice.

Failing to identify and make provision for children’s support needs was the most significant factor identified by YOT staff in determining the likelihood of custody. For children whose needs were not identified, how they looked and behaved in court would often determine whether or not they received a custodial sentence. Eighty per cent of magistrates said “the attitude and demeanour of a young person influences their sentencing decision to some or a great extent” in a 2004 Audit Commission survey.

The report expresses concern that children with learning disabilities and other impairments may not be receiving the right to a fair trial, enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as a result of their difficulties in understanding the legal and judicial process.

Many of the 208 youth offending team staff who participated in the survey had positive things to say about work they were proud of and others recounted stories about individual children that they and other YOT staff had supported. The overall picture however was mixed and very worrying.

The report, which draws on the views of over half the YOTs in England and Wales, identified a lack of routine screening and assessment to identify children’s support needs. Information received from children’s services, such as special educational needs teams and child and adolescent mental health services, was limited. Although YOT staff spoke highly of specialist services and support, many reported gaps in provision. The survey found that:

• Only around half of YOT staff said they received any training to help identify when children might have particular impairments and difficulties.
• Most YOTs did not use screening or assessment tools or procedures to identify children with learning disabilities.
• Fewer than one in 10 staff said their YOT kept statistics on the number of children with disabilities serving court orders.
• More than one in five staff said their YOT did not have a mental health worker.

Writing in the Foreword to the report, Lord Bradley, who conducted a review for the government published in 2009 of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, said:

“To work effectively with this group of children – and influence them away from an adulthood of offending – we need to know who they are, what treatment and support they require, and be able to intervene swiftly and appropriately. With the coalition government’s plans to radically overhaul youth justice, there is an opportunity to build on what works and to replicate good practice as ‘standard practice’ across the entire youth justice system.”

Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“Vulnerable children in the youth justice system should be seen and heard. As this in depth report shows too many young people are in prison because their needs are not being recognised or met. There is nothing fair about a system where things are not explained or understood and where youngsters are not properly represented or protected.”

Jenny Talbot, author of the report, said:

“Children with learning disabilities, mental health problems and other impairments make up the majority of people in the youth justice system. Often they have passed through the education system with those needs unrecognised. We must ensure schools and other children’s services are properly equipped to identify and help these children – before they come into contact with the youth justice system.”

Diz Minnitt, Speech and Language Lead at the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers, said:

“The report illustrates a fundamental problem with the youth justice system. Courts are reliant on YOT staff to highlight a child’s learning or communication difficulties. If, as is highlighted, a sizeable percentage of staff do not have the appropriate skills or access to accurate screening and assessment tools, then the negative consequences are significant. A court faced with a sullen uncommunicative and defensive 17 year old tends to view the behaviour differently once aware that he has been assessed as having communication difficulties, cannot understand a lot of the language being used and is functioning at the level of a child 10 years younger.”

Dr Astrid Bonfield, Chief Executive of The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund said:

“The Prison Reform Trust’s No One Knows programme, which the Fund supported, showed us that the needs of adult offenders with learning disabilities are rarely recognised or met and this new research reveals the sad truth that, despite many committed individuals in youth justice services, children and young people with impairments and difficulties often fare no better. This timely report shows that we must put systems in place that both identify and protect the needs of young people with impairments and difficulties and provide them with the necessary support to engage with rehabilitation programmes that will stop them offending.”