Failures in 'last resort' schools

RESIDENTIAL schools for young offenders were meant to give youngsters a fresh start and a chance to break free from their past. As such, they were warmly welcomed, and the managers were entrusted to run these schools efficiently, compassionately and effectively.

That is why our revelations today will be profoundly shocking to many. Hundreds of young offenders are being failed by these "last resort" schools, more than a third of which are not meeting basic standards of care. Inspectors from the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education have catalogued a string of weaknesses in a system that was supposed to protect, rehabilitate and educate 1,200 of the country's most unruly and needy children.

Now, there are many such schools in which dedicated and professional work is done, much of it on a voluntary basis, to help turn youngsters round from a life of petty crime. This needs to be recognised and applauded. But others, it seems, are ineffective in steering vulnerable youngsters away from a life of crime. In one (admittedly extreme) case, drug and alcohol abuse among pupils was rife. Bullying of staff was also commonplace. This would suggest that - for some establishments at least - what was supposed to be a solution has become an extension and perhaps even amplification of the problem. Many of the young people are especially at risk. They have weak family ties, where such ties exist at all, and totally depend on these establishments for their psychological as well as physical welfare.

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Might the money be better spent on community rehabilitation programmes? The question is moot, because each placement costs between 1,500 and 3,000 and is funded by local councils. There is a searching debate to be held on this issue. While it is tempting to conclude that community care may be more effective, there are real questions as to whether bad habits and associations can be permanently broken in this way. An outstanding feature of "turnabout" schools is that by taking young people out of a drugs and criminal environment they are better able to respond to rehab programmes and to make the emotional changes necessary for effective and sustained change to take root.

The need here, surely, is for more frequent and rigorous inspections of residential schools and for management changes to be made where there are insufficient signs of improvement. Another change for the better would be the rewarding of successful schools which show low relapse rates, and for a system of "best practice" so that problem schools can learn and adapt.

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