Children as young as 13 released from custody without a safe place to live, Barnados study finds
Children as young as 13 are being released from custody without a safe place to live, forcing them into a cycle of homelessness and reoffending, research has shown.
Barnardo's has found that thousands of young people leave custody every year and end up sleeping on friends' sofas, sharing bed-and-breakfasts with drug addicts and alcoholics, or being evicted on to the streets.
In 2009-10, youth offender institutions referred 4,147 young people to the charity, all of whom said housing was among their top five concerns.
"Young people who offend are among the most vulnerable in society; a quarter have special educational needs and almost a fifth have depression, yet children as young as 13 are sent back to families who can't cope and end up without a safe place to live," said Anne Marie Carrie, Barnado's chief executive.
Click here to read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/28/young-offenders-released-homelessness-crime?CMP=twt_fd
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