 Shape is calling for a public debate on the use of youth custody |
Young offenders need help as much as punishment if they are to avoid a life of crime, according to a report published on Monday. Five leading children's charities are calling for a re-think on the way the legal system deals with youth crime.
They want a public debate on the use of youth custody, school exclusion, the links between crime and poverty and family problems.
The charities are the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Barnardo's, The Children's Society, the National Children's Bureau, NCH, crime reduction charity Nacro, with the backing of leading barrister Dame Helena Kennedy QC.
The initiative, Shape, is funded by part of the charitable Esm�e Fairbairn Foundation, Rethinking Crime & Punishment.
Director Rob Allen said: "Rethinking Crime & Punishment is delighted to support such a powerful coalition of charities in their efforts to bring about a system that better meets the needs of all children.
 |  Children in trouble are often children in need  |
"Raising the level of debate about young people in trouble is a high priority if we are to develop humane and effective policy."
Baroness Kennedy added: "Children in trouble are often children in need.
"But do we respond with sentences that work, rather than those that just sound 'tough'?
"And, crucially, do we rehabilitate effectively?"
Baroness Kennedy said Shape could breath fresh life into the debate with an approach that was "timely and crucial".
Director and chief executive Mary Marsh added: "Dealing with the causes of child neglect and abuse can go a long way to dealing with the causes of youth crime."
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