Girls in custody

Over the past 15 years the number of children (aged 10 to 17 years old) in custody has fallen significantly, down from 2180 in March 2010, to around 420 in November 2024. This has been one of the big successes of the youth justice system, delivered through a range of factors including effective prevention and diversion schemes and a strong focus on reducing the numbers of children entering the YJS. The number of girls in custody has also declined, with only about 10 in the CYPSE currently, making up less than 2% of the overall CYPSE population.

Ms Hancock concludes that these small numbers should have driven agencies to resolve the long-standing issue of appropriate placements for girls, yet found that the opposite has occurred. The system remains overwhelmingly designed for boys, leaving girls without strategic planning or gender-responsive services. 

Gender-responsive

Despite positive moves towards a child-first approach in the Youth Justice System, girls’ distinct needs (including education, health and equality protections), are often neglected. Many have experienced significant trauma, gendered violence, and abuse. Lacking proper community support, their trauma-driven responses can lead to justice system involvement. Many of these girls should not be in custody in the first place but instead require intensive therapeutic care through social and health services. For those who do require placement into custody, evidence shows that small, trauma-informed, gender-responsive settings have the best outcomes.

The report makes it clear that this is not about ignoring the needs of boys, many of whom are also highly vulnerable. But with 98% of the secure estate made up of boys, the needs of girls are too often overlooked.

The report finds that “despite the best efforts of committed staff”, neither Young Offender Institutions nor Secure Training Centres are appropriate environments for girls in custody.

Conclusions

The report makes its conclusions clear:

“The most appropriate placements for girls are Secure Children’s Homes and the newly opened Secure School. The evidence and most of the professionals and girls interviewed pointed to SCHs as being best placed to meet the needs of girls, including the most vulnerable girls. While the Secure School is still in its early days, given the trauma-informed, whole system model in place, it should be well equipped to deliver for girls. Ongoing investment and coordinated support are essential to sustain and enhance these provisions. Therefore, this review recommends that the YCS transitions to a model where all girls are placed in either SCH’s or the new Secure School.”

The report’s principal recommendation is that the YCS collaborate with a dedicated sub-group of SCHs and the Secure School, using a consortia model, to pilot a new approach for placing girls.

Recommendations

Other recommendations include:

End the use of Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for girls with immediate effect.

End the use of Secure Training Centre (STCs) for girls by the end of the contract with Oakhill STC in 2029.

The development of a national pathway for girls which defines the gender-responsive, trauma-informed services that girls in secure accommodation need and the commissioning required across departments to meet those needs.

Girls from Wales should be placed in the Wales SCH wherever possible.

A Girls Justice Strategic Board should be established to oversee the development and delivery of a strategy for girls across the youth justice system, including girls in the community and in the secure estate. This should link closely with the new Women’s Justice Board.

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here