New project set to improve mental health of young offenders

5 March 2007

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) and the Department of Health (DH) are to join forces with the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) with a major new project to improve services for children and young people who offend and have mental health needs.

The Youth Justice Service Development project will test out the most effective ways health and criminal justice services can meet the mental health needs of young people in custody or involved with youth offending teams in the community.

Of these young people, 31% have mental health or related problems such as self-harm, psychosis-like symptoms and learning difficulties. This is three times the average in the general population.

Additionally, 35% (males) and 49% (females) of young people in secure establishments report themselves as dependent on a drug. Substance use, including alcohol and illicit drugs, can create additional challenges in addressing mental ill health.

The two-year project, which is joint funded by the DH, SCMH and YJB, will review the evidence of what work is most effective to address mental health needs. The results will be used to develop the most promising approaches locally. A steering group made up from the three agencies will monitor the project.

Ellie Roy, chief executive of the YJB, said: "Young people in the Criminal Justice System have disproportionately high levels of mental health problems and substance use. Such problems can contribute to difficulties, like poor attainment in school, which we know increase the risk of young people offending and reoffending. This is not about making excuses for criminal behaviour but about recognising that we need more sophisticated measures to stop young people reoffending. In this way, we can actually improve circumstances for these young people, their victims and communities."

Louis Appleby, national clinical director for mental health services at the Department of Health, said: "Our vision for a comprehensive child and adolescent mental health service seeks to ensure that all children and young people who need help get access to services. Young offenders are an important group with particular needs."

Graham Durcan, research and development manager at SCMH, said: "Statutory agencies have a long way to go before they can offer young people in custody or on community sentences the right level of mental health care. We need to know much more about how best to use limited resources most effectively to help this very vulnerable group of people. I hope this project will help us to get closer to that important goal."