New figures released by the Youth Justice Board show that the number of children in custody in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest since the YJB started collecting data in 2000.
 
From a peak of 3,175 in October 2002, the number of children in custody has fallen by nearly a third to 2,203 in December 2009, with last year recording the lowest child custody figures in a decade.
 
The drop in child custody levels is a tribute to recent efforts by the YJB to reduce the number of children entering the criminal justice system for the first time and the unnecessary use of custody. It also shows that recent steps taken by the YJB and the Out of Trouble campaign to encourage youth offending teams and courts to have confidence in alternatives to child custody are starting to bear fruit.

Recent research published by Out of Trouble has highlighted how the use of restorative justice and community alternatives to child custody in Europe and the US are often far more effective than imprisonment at reducing rates of reoffending. In Northern Ireland fewer than half the young people who go through an innovative restorative justice process post-conviction re-offend within a year, compared to over 70% of those who go to custody. The scheme also reports far higher rates of victim participation and satisfaction than traditional custodial approaches. In England and Wales, meanwhile, a new approach to keeping teenagers out of trouble and in the community, which sees them being fostered by specialist-trained carers, is being piloted in a number of areas. Through the intensive fostering scheme, available as an alternative to custody for sentencers in a number of areas, carers work with the teenager and their family to change behaviour and reduce offending.  
  
Out of Trouble Director, Penelope Gibbs, said:
 
'Today’s figures show we are beginning to make real progress, but Britain still locks up too many of its young and vulnerable children. In England and Wales children as young as 12 are imprisoned for non-violent crimes. For most young people, out of trouble should mean keeping them out of prison. Through our new website we aim to help our supporters keep up the pressure for reform'.