00:00 Young people who find themselves in custody will now be offered a call to Childline, where
00:06 experienced counsellors will offer them advice and support in a confidential setting. In
00:10 addition to the call, they are still offered a solicitor. The initiative will essentially
00:15 act as a pilot as it is the first of its kind in the country.
00:19 We offer all the support in the world to young people coming through custody. The police
00:22 offer it, mental health, medical, all sorts of different support. We're aware that these
00:28 young people coming through custody are sometimes victims themselves, although they're committing
00:33 crimes they're doing it under coercion, they're part of criminal activity, county lines. Because
00:39 of that they're sometimes more afraid of the criminals they're dealing with as opposed
00:44 to the police. Because of that they won't accept any of our support.
00:48 The idea came from Deborah Rigby, a retired Merseyside police officer who's now a supervisor
00:53 at Childline in Liverpool. Through her work she could see many young people who come into
00:58 custody would benefit from the support Childline offers. Deborah approached Merseyside police
01:03 and they began to work together to make the idea a reality.
01:07 The counsellors are highly skilled in just being there for that young person, empathising
01:13 with what they're going through and signposting them where it's appropriate. We often talk
01:19 to young people about helping them consider in terms of their options and what's going
01:23 on for them, what might be the consequences so they can make an informed decision about
01:28 what they want to do next, potentially when they go out of the custody suite what might
01:32 be some decisions or choices that they've got.
01:35 When a young person comes into custody they're offered support but do not always take it
01:39 because the offer has come from the police. This often results in young people being released
01:43 without receiving additional support they may need and then re-offending, beginning
01:48 the cycle again. Their concerns are if they get the police,
01:51 they might go to social services and get their families involved which then they may be concerned
01:56 the criminal gangs may find out. Having Childline offering that support, that
02:00 although they may not take the Childline telephone call in custody, they may walk away and start
02:07 looking into it and this way it builds their confidence up. Childline will work with them
02:12 and give them the power to hopefully break the cycle.
02:15 In the last six months Merseyside Police have seen 787 young people come into custody and
02:22 the service has the potential to make a real difference to many young people's lives and
02:28 put them back on the right path. We are always recruiting, we open our arms
02:33 to applications and we think it's a really rewarding experience and our volunteers tell
02:39 us that, that they get a lot out of being here and if they can just go home feeling
02:43 they've listened to and supported one young person in the time they're here, it's a really
02:49 uplifting and valuable feeling. By offering a confidential call to Childline
02:54 while in custody it may result in that young person accepting support and providing the
02:59 first step towards breaking the cycle of re-offending.
Comments