Written evidence from the Prince's Trust
(AJ 08)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Prince's Trust is very concerned that vulnerable
young people have access to legal support. The young people we
work with tend to have chaotic lives. They are young people who
have been in care, in trouble with the law, have not succeeded
at school and are unemployed. We also work with young refugees
and asylum seekers, who can be extremely vulnerable and are navigating
a complex asylum system. Our clients have often experienced debt,
housing and benefit issues, the areas under proposed withdrawal
of legal aid.
When a young person joins our programme we ask them
what is the biggest challenge you face? Last year the majority
of the 40,000 young people we worked with said levels of literacy
and numeracy. We have concerns as to how these young people would
be able to navigate the criminal justice system and advocate on
their own behalf on issues that could compound their offending
behaviour or destitution.
The transition to adulthood for the most vulnerable
in our society can be a very difficult time when often the wrong
lifestyle choices are made. We believe there is a special case
for young people aged 24 years old and younger that they should
retain legal aid support at all stages of the criminal justice
system, as well as supporting the Howard League for Penal Reform's
particular campaign to improve access to justice for young adults
in prison.
Below we outline more information about The Prince's
Trust, our involvement in the Transition to Adulthood Alliance
and the recommendations of The Howard League for Penal Reform
in their recent report Access to Justice Denied: Young Adults
in Prison.
ABOUT THE
PRINCE'S
TRUST
The Prince's Trust was founded in 1976 by The Prince
of Wales to work with disadvantaged young people. Last year we
worked with over 40,000 young people - around 3500 of those young
people were in/leaving care.
We work with young people, aged 14-30, in difficult
situations (1) struggling at school (2) long term unemployed (3)
in /leaving care (4) in trouble with the law. We help them get
back into training, education, volunteering or employment. Our
programmes encourage young people to take responsibility for themselves.
TRANSITION TO
ADULTHOOD ALLIANCE
(T2A)
The Prince's Trust is a member of The Transition
to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance, a broad coalition of organisations
and individuals working to improve the opportunities and life
chances of young people (18-24 years old) in their transition
to adulthood, who are at risk of committing crime and falling
into the criminal justice system.
The T2A Alliance aims to raise awareness of the problems
this group face and to secure policy change to improve their lives.
Young adult offenders are a significant group within the criminal
justice system and are responsible for a third of all crime.
Over a half of young adults in custody go on to reoffend
within one year of release and up to two thirds reoffend within
two years. In 2005, the Barrow Cadbury Trust's Commission on Young
Adults and the Criminal Justice System launched its report, Lost
in Transition, which highlighted the complex
needs of this often-ignored age group. The report received wide-spread
support and subsequently, the Barrow Cadbury Trust has convened
the Transition to Adulthood Alliance to make real progress in
this area.
The T2A Alliance has produced a series of documents,
including its Young Adult Manifesto which calls for pragmatic
policy changes for this age group. The Alliance will also work
with practitioners and statutory bodies to raise awareness of
the distinct needs of young adults and to provide support and
guidance. www.t2a.org.uk
A NEWREPORT
PRODUCED BY
ONE OF
THE T2A MEMBERS
The Howard League for Penal Reform has recently published
Access to Justice Denied: Young Adults in Prison. The Prince's
Trust fully supports the recommendations made in this report.
This briefing reveals considerable unmet legal
need for young adults in prison and lack of awareness of rights. The
evidence uncovers a huge problem that requires urgent attention
and further investigation.
The access to justice service is run by the Howard
League for Penal Reform alongside our case and policy work. The
team members receive calls, emails and letters from young people
themselves, advocates working within the secure estate, partners
and carers, caseworkers and other outside agencies.
The work evidences that young adults find internal
requests and complaints ignored or rejected out of hand. They
need help to make sure that they are taken seriously. Many
young adults in prison are unaware that they could get legal assistance
to improve the failings of the system.
Prisoners' ability to access justice is restricted
by the costs of calls from custody and limited time out of cells.
They experience difficulties in obtaining appropriate information
from internal and external sources.
The report analyses the evidence from the Howard
League's access to service and legal work with young adults, legal
problems experienced by young people, case studies and offers
recommendations www.howardleague.org/access-to-justice-denied.
December 2010
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