What's Sue Mitchell Thinking About?

Headlines of the Past Year: Going Inside Child Prisons

There are currently around 300 children aged 10 to 17 locked up in England and Wales. Secure units have been in operation for more than 40 years. But where they once housed only the tiny minority of children who commit really serious crimes, more recently they have been used to contain prolific young offenders, the children who can't, or won't comply with community punishments or settle down at home, in foster care or children's homes.

Now the sector is at a turning point and decisions must be made about the future of secure units, who should be housed there and for how long. A recent Government review reported no fall of in need for these places but rather a fall in demand driven by a change in ideology - some social workers regard locked children up as a failure and a breach of their human rights. There are concerns too about costs. It was against this backdrop that we gained access to the child prisons - to meet some of the children and to see what staff aim to achieve.

Most children in secure units are aged 14 and the average length of stay is four months. Residents are taught a range of subjects with an emphasis on basic literacy - many have not attended mainstream school for years. The government report calls for a clearer policy on the use of secure children's units and proper evaluation of what they achieve. It warns that good work may be being lost if it stops when children leave and cautions that if the closures are allowed to continue, some children will be denied a place in secure care, when that is just what they need.

This was the first access given to the child prisons and to therapies being tried there to reduce offending behaviour - from anger management through to drug and alcohol rehabilitation The success rates are low, particularly in comparison with community based initiatives like intensive fostering - an Oregon based approach that's now being piloted in the UK In Connecticut they've seen a 19 per cent reduction in reoffending since the introduction of multi-systemic therapy - an alternative to custody that's been so successful that the numbers being locked up have fallen significantly.

Tracking the Swine Flu Epidemic

At the moment I'm working on a documentary about swine flu - tracking the work of scientists, doctors and officials from the Health Protection Agency as they battle to contain the spread of infection in this country. The programme goes behind the scenes as data comes in from around the world and is used to inform decisions. Should schools close, for example? Evidence from abroad charts deaths rates where closures have been made and where they have not. At what stage should foreign travel be limited? In the event of a pandemic how many could be treated and who will be our priorities if intensive care provision becomes stretched?

The hope is that by autumn a vaccine can be developed should the spread become more difficult to contain. But there's nervousness as scientists track what's happening in Australia, which is just starting with its flu season. Having the freedom to record over time will allow us great access from the start to an important story which could become long running and changing.

Contact Sue by email or phone 011-44-805-602-8507 (w). 

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