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Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) are facilities run by
the Prison Service. They accommodate 15 to 21-year-olds. The Youth
Justice Board is only responsible for placing young people under 18
years of age in secure accommodation. Consequently, some of these
institutions accommodate older young people than Secure Training
Centres (STCs) and Local Authority Secure Children's Homes
(LASCHs). The Board commissions and purchases places for under-18s,
who are held in discrete juvenile wings.
YOIs have lower ratios of staff to young people than STCs and
LASCHs and generally accommodate larger numbers of young people.
Consequently, they are less able to address the individual needs of
young people. YOIs are generally considered to be inappropriate
accommodation for more vulnerable young offenders.
Inspections
YOI inspection reports are available on the
Home Office website. (Find reports for a
specific YOI by using the alphabetical links at the bottom of
the page.)
Juveniles in Custody - A Unique Insight into the
Perceptions of Young People Held in Prison Service Custody in
England and Wales (April 2004). (This link will open in a
new window).
Between September 2001 and March 2003, a team of researchers
from HM Inspectorate of Prisons visited 21 YOIs on behalf of the
Youth Justice Board.
The aim of these visits was to give a proportion of the young
people held at each establishment their chance to comment on the
treatment and conditions in which they were being held.
Over 1200 young people either completed a questionnaire or
attended interviews to provide their opinions of the establishments
in which they were living.
This is the first time a representative sample of the under-18
prisoner population has been systematically consulted concerning
their treatment and conditions in prison service custody in England
and Wales. |