Main centre for young offenders pleads with minister not to increase number of detainees

Ken Foxe

Management of the country’s main centre for young offenders pleaded with the Minister for Children not to increase the number of boys detained there.

The chair of the Oberstown Children Detention Campus said they would struggle to manage even a small increase, given staffing shortages and rising levels of difficult behaviour.

In correspondence, Oberstown chair Koulla Yiasouma said higher occupancy levels and difficulties in recruitment were becoming a “source of concern.”

Ms Yiasouma said that custody for children should be a ‘last resort’ even as more were coming before the courts charged with serious crime.

A letter to Minister Norma Foley in May said: “Occupancy levels on the campus [have] been identified as the most significant risk for Oberstown and we continue to make every effort to recruit new staff.”

She said Oberstown relied heavily on the goodwill of its staff and their willingness to work overtime.

The letter explained: “The situation is exacerbated over the summer months, and I am concerned that this may no longer be sustainable, realising a significant risk to a deterioration of service to young people.”

Ms Yiasouma said they had some success in recruiting new staff, but the majority were newly qualified and required “extensive support” during induction.

The letter warned that any changes around capacity at Oberstown could be “regressive” and compromise the care of young people in the state.

The correspondence added: “Whilst we have a broad operating model of fifteen residential care staff per unit across the five units for boys, this has to be flexible so that we can accommodate children who require greater levels of support and supervision due to their behaviour resulting, for example, from trauma, disability or mental health issues.

“We have seen an increase in numbers of young people with such behaviours.”

Oberstown’s maximum capacity was forty boys and six girls, according to the records, which were released under FOI.

In a response in June, Minister Norma Foley said while detention should be a last resort for children, that it needed to remain an option when required.

She wrote: “I have been concerned by the low numbers of boys’ places available in Oberstown to the courts in recent months.

“Having considered the matter in detail, I believe it will be necessary to provide for a small increase in the near future in the maximum number of boys that may be detained at Oberstown.”

Minister Foley said she acknowledged the concerns raised and that the department would work closely with the detention centre.

She promised that if extra staff and additional resources were required, Oberstown would have the full support of the department.

Minister Foley added: “I am confident that, with the support of my Department, Oberstown will be able to absorb a modest increase in capacity while continuing to provide the high standard of care for which it is well-known.”