Figures released today have shown that providing child offenders with safe and suitable accommodation upon their release from custody save up to £70,000 per child over three years.
Children’s charity Barnardo’s have warned that gaps in the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke’s plans could lead to failure.
Barnardo’s have stated that children as young as 13 who get caught in a cycle of homelessness and re-offending can cost the Government as much as £116,094 over three years, but up to £67,000 per child could be saved if they were given the support they needed.
Figures showed that a total of 4,147 referrals were made to Barnardo’s to help young people in custody in 2009/2010, with their housing needs being a key concern.
Annie Marie Carrie, Barnardo’s chief executive, said: “These children can be all too easy to ignore, but our report shows that we do so at great cost to their young lives and society.
“Young people who offend are among the most vulnerable; a quarter have special educational needs and almost a fifth have depression, yet children as young as 13 are sent back to families who can’t cope and end up without a safe place to live.
“The Government is on the verge of a self-styled ‘rehabilitation revolution’ – but there are gaps in the Ministry of Justice’s plans which must be filled to ensure we do right by these children and society by bringing down crime levels.”
“We don’t say this lightly, we are all too aware of the cuts being made across the UK in an effort to fight the effects on the economic crisis we are in, but surely, if ever there is a case for return on investment this is it.”
A Government spokesman said: “There are already a range of statutory obligations on the part of local authorities to provide safe accommodation and related support for those unable to live in the family home or with relatives. This includes young people leaving custody.
“The Ministry of Justice has outlined a range of proposals in the ‘Breaking the Cycle’ Green Paper, which we are currently consulting on, to further incentivise local authorities to achieve reductions in youth offending.”
He added that the Government recognises that young people leaving custody are some of the most vulnerable young people in society and that “the effective resettlement and support of these young people is critical to breaking the cycle of offending”.
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