A previous inspection of prison services on the island raised the issue of housing 17 year olds in adult prisons as inappropriate. Therefore since January 2011, any 17 year olds receiving remand or potential custodial sentences have been accommodated at the Children’s Secure Unit, which is contracted to St Christopher’s. St Christopher’s is a major Child care provider on the island and the Department of Social Care and the Department of Home Affairs have worked together to ensure Children who are remanded in custody or receive custodial sentences are detained in appropriate non adult environments. This protects their human rights. Based on significant research it was found that outcomes such as reduced re offending, entering education, training or employment for young people receiving custodial sentences were all too often poor, resulting in further costs to society in the longer term. Ensuring they are secured in an appropriate environment with a robust regime of support can improve positive outcomes. Hon Martyn Quayle MHK, Minister for Social Care commented: “Specially trained staff at St Christopher’s are able to offer rehabilitative programmes in a targeted and intensively supported way to provide the best possible chances for 17 year olds not to reoffend once released back into the community. The root causes of criminal activity can also be better explored and built into preventative programmes which are then closely monitored and reviewed”. Member for Social Services and Home Affairs, Bill Malarkey MHK said: “whilst we are fortunate to have minimal numbers of children receiving remand or custodial sentences, when this does happen the Departments have demonstrated their commitment to the rights of the child whilst also focussing on the child’s responsibility to change behaviour. By working in partnership between the Department of Social Care and the Department of Home Affairs we can ensure that at the Secure Unit we are able to develop bespoke packages of support which further tackle the root causes of crime”. This move has also resulted in a joint initiative between the Department of Social Care, the Department of Home Affairs and St Christopher’s to explore alternatives to securing children on either offending or welfare grounds to reduce the need to detain children in a locked environment. The initiative is led by the Restorative Innovations Group and is in the early stages of scoping possible models from across the globe to bring cutting edge practice to the fore, here on the Isle of Man. - ENDS -