Centre for Mental Health

Centre welcomes call
for a fresh start to youth justice

15 July 2010

"Too many young people with mental health difficulties are entering and getting stuck in the youth justice system", Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health joint chief executive Sean Duggan said today.

Responding to the Youth Crime Commission report Time for a Fresh Start, Sean Duggan said: "Today's report sets out in stark detail the scale of the challenge facing the Government in responding more effectively to youth crime and the difficulties so many young people who offend face.

"The report recognises the significance of early behavioural problems in children and the importance of very early intervention through effective parenting programmes. These programmes have been shown to reduce the chance of future criminal behaviour, to reduce the chance of adult mental health problems and to reduce the burden on the public purse.

"The report also acknowledges the significance of childhood mental health problems for those children who are entering the youth justice system. Young people in the youth justice system are three times more likely to have diagnosable mental health difficulties compared with those who don't get into trouble with the law. We have to tackle this link as a matter of urgency and we hope the Commission's recommendations will be taken seriously as a route to reducing youth crime and imprisonment."

The Centre's youth justice lead Lorraine Khan said: "Mental health problems in young people are often more difficult to detect and regularly go hand in hand with challenges such as learning disabilities, abuse, speech and communication problems, school drop-out and family breakdown. Many rely on drugs or alcohol to make themselves feel better. These difficulties too often get dismissed purely as 'bad' behaviour.

"It is crucial that young people who end up in the youth justice system have a thorough health screen by well trained workers at the point of arrest. Where mental health issues are identified, we need to get young people the help they need quickly and assertively.

"Without early intervention, young people's problems fester and escalate, limiting their life chances, causing problems for local communities and substantially increasing longer term costs for a range of government departments."