According to the Home Office, good family contact is estimated to greatly reduce reoffending, but prisoners increasingly are being placed further away from their homes because of prison overcrowding.

HM Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution in Barnard Castle was involved in the research that informed the report, and have set up a parenting course and 'fathers inside' group in response to focus group discussions held at the prison. However, government statistics show that over three quarters (76%) of young inmates at Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution, come from over 50 miles away from the prison. To compound the problems experienced by relatives trying to keep in contact with prisoners at Deerbolt, there is no visitors centre attached to the YOI.

The majority of young people are sentenced to less than 6 months in custody, but the evidence shows that this is not an effective deterrent to further crime.

Home Office figures show that once a young offender has gone to jail - their chances of re-offending are very high - 80 per cent of 14-17 year olds are reconvicted within two years of leaving prison.

Helen Attewell, Smart Justice Campaigns Officer in the North East said 'Society is better served by low level offenders serving their punishment in the community, where they can pay back for the harm they've done as well as maintaining their family ties. It is not a smart solution to put young parents in jail if this results in them losing their homes and their children being taken into care. We run the risk of creating the next generation of disaffected kids and more crime.'

For further information please call:

Helen Attewell - Smart Justice North East on 0191 384 8241
Enver Solomon - Prison Reform Trust on 0207 251 5070

Notes to Editors:

1. 'Young Parents from Custody to Community' - a guide to policy and practice on the needs of young parents who offend - is published today by the Prison Reform Trust. It contains a foreword by Cherie Booth QC which states 'we need to make sure that today's sons and daughters of prisoners don't end up tomorrow's offenders'.

2. On 26th November 2004 the prison population of England and Wales stood at 75,164, an increase of just under 1,000 over the past year. The women's prison population stood at 4,371. There were 10,816 prisoners under the age of 21 in custody.

3. It is estimated that 150,000 children have a parent in prison. Seven per cent of children during their time at school experience the imprisonment of a father.

4. Home Office research has found that two-thirds of female prisoners are mothers, and each year it is estimated that more than 17,700 children are separated from their mother by imprisonment.

5. It is estimated that 25 per cent of young offenders are fathers and 39 per cent of female young offenders are mothers. Figures on the parenting status of prisoners are not routinely collected by the Home Office.

6. There are currently 102 places in mother and baby units reserved for prisoners who have children under the age of 18 months.

7. HM Prisons Inspectorate has found that 25 per cent of women prisoners stated that their children's father or a spouse or partner was caring for their children; 25 per cent were cared for by their grandmothers; 29 per cent were cared for by other family members or friends and 12 per cent were in care, with foster parents or had been adopted.

8. Just 5 per cent of women prisoners' children remain in their own home once their mother has been sentenced.

9. Many prisoners are held a long way from their homes. At the beginning of July 2004, 24,581 prisoners were held over 50 miles from their home town and 9,591 were held over 100 miles away. In 2003 prisoners were held an average of 53 miles away from home.

10. At the beginning of July just under half of all women in prison were held more than 50 miles from their home town and nearly a quarter were held more than 100 miles away. With so many being held a long way from their homes visits from families are more difficult. One Home Office study found that only half the women who had lived with their children or been in contact prior to imprisonment had received a visit since going to prison.

11. Reconviction rates are particularly high for young people. In 1999, 71 per cent of young people released from prison were reconvicted within two years of leaving custody.

12. Many young adult prisoners have a background of social exclusion. Nearly three-quarters were excluded from school at some stage, nearly a third have spent time in care and nearly two thirds were unemployed at the time of their arrest.

13. Behavioural and mental health problems are particularly prevalent amongst young prisoners. Of prisoners aged 16-20, around 85 per cent show signs of a personality disorder and 10 per cent exhibit signs of psychotic illness, for example schizophrenia.

14. Drug and alcohol abuse are major problems. Of prisoners aged 16-20, over half reported dependence on a drug in the year prior to imprisonment. Over half the female and two-thirds of the male prisoners had a hazardous drinking habit prior to entering custody.