Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:45 pm on 14 December 2016.
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. However, it was disappointing to read that a prison within my region has over 60 per cent of its 15 to 18-year-olds entering the prison with a drug-related issue. It was also highlighted that many of these teenagers will have spent time in the care system, truanted from school, or suffered with learning difficulties and/or mental health issues. With these indictors of vulnerability already highlighted, why is it that they were not supported sufficiently prior to entering prison, and have we already failed these teenagers once and, when they’re released from prison, unless we take action, they will be returned to the same environment and more likely to reoffend yet again? Cabinet Secretary, what systems do you have in place to support vulnerable young people to prevent them in the first place from entering the youth justice system, and what support has the Government, the Welsh Government, put in place to support young people leaving the prison in order to prevent the reoffending?