Section 4. Findings
Figure 39: Has anyone here helped you keep in touch with your family/friends?
4.83
Two-thirds (66%) of respondents said that they could use a phone daily if they had credit.20
There was a significant difference between STCs and YOIs, with 92% of children in STCs
telling us that they could use the phone every day, compared with only 61% in YOIs. The
variation between establishments ranged from 97% at Oakhill to 33% at Feltham.21
Figure 40: Are you able to use a phone every day (if you have credit)?
4.84
20
21
48
Overall, only 37% of children said that it was very or quite easy for their families and friends
to visit. Less than one-third (32%) of children who had been in local authority care said that
it was easy for their family and friends to visit, which was significantly lower than the 43% of
children reporting this who had not been in local authority care.
To be able to ring someone from the centre or institution, a child would need to have the phone numbers of their
families/friends added to their PIN and also have enough credit to pay for the call.
Of the YOIs, only Parc, Cookham Wood and the Keppel unit had in-cell phones. All STC had phones in cells.
Children in Custody 2018–19
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