VISITS BY THE JOINT COMMISSION and respectful language. Any attempt to use youthappropriate language, as is the case in some facilities, the Joint Commission noted, can have the opposite effect. The language then no longer comes across as youth-appropriate but as a mark of a lack of respect. In the Joint Commission’s opinion, holding detainees in esteem also means that staff should knock on the detention room doors before unlocking them and entering. There are numerous other everyday situations in which the juveniles should not be dictated to unnecessarily. For instance, detainees in North Rhine-Westphalia are required to walk in a circle when they are in the recreation yard. Staff referred to security considerations, while the Ministry of Justice informed the Joint Commission that detainees had themselves established the practice of “walking in a circle” and that they continue this practice. The juveniles themselves should decide how they wish to spend their time in the recreation yard. They should not be set any rules in this regard. Fortunately, staff in nearly all the youth detention centres which the Joint Commission visited were motivated and had a good relationship with detainees. In the overwhelming majority of the youth detention centres visited the young offenders reported that relations with staff were good. Their dealings with the detainees were described as particularly friendly, open and helpful in the youth detention centres in Göttingen and Würzburg, for example. staff across from the adjacent prison. In another youth detention centre, which was not near a prison, there was only one member of staff on duty and another was on call at night. At night it should be ensured that two members of staff are immediately on hand in an emergency. In the case of youth detention centres located on the grounds of another facility, it may be sufficient for one member of staff to remain in the youth detention centre overnight if a second member of staff can be called in quickly from an adjacent building in an emergency. In all other cases two members of staff should always be on hand in the youth detention centre. On no account should a detention centre be without any members of staff whatsoever at any time. Detention centres which also hold female detainees should always have one female member of staff in attendance too. This was not the case, for instance, in Göppingen Youth Detention Centre. Staff qualifications and training In order to ensure that staff are able to react appropriately to the age-specific problems of juveniles, they must have the relevant education or training. Training courses are of particular importance where staff switch from penal institutions for adults or facilities executing youth imprisonment to facilities executing youth detention. The latter was the case in various youth detention facilities in Lower Saxony, where a special in-house training programme was developed in response to the new situation. The Joint Commission therefore welcomes the fact that the need for special qualifications has been provided for by law in the legislation pertaining to youth detention enacted in the Länder. Detention-specific training courses should not only be run on a one-off basis, but should be attended at regular intervals by all staff in detention centres. In the youth detention centres in Verden an der Aller, Nienburg and Emden the Joint Commission saw that the facilities’ psychologists regularly run inhouse training courses. Moltsfelde Youth Detention Centre offers its staff a comprehensive range of inhouse training courses dealing with youth detention. Staffing level Staffing levels in youth detention centres should permit concepts underlying the execution of youth detention to be implemented in order to be able to effectively carry out treatment and employment measures. Detainees should also be offered activities at the weekend so that they are not locked in their detention rooms over long periods without anything to do, unless this is necessary as an educational measure in a specific individual case. For instance, the insufficient staffing levels in the youth detention centres in Nuremberg and Arnstadt, amongst others, meant implementation of pedagogical concepts was limited. The youth detention centres in Moltsfelde and Gelnhausen have a very high carer ratio, which also enables them to offer detainees numerous activities at weekends. In some cases the Joint Commission found that the detention centres did not have sufficient staff on night duty. In one case the building in which the youth detention centre is housed is located on the grounds of a prison, and no member of staff is on night duty. Where necessary, detainees have to use a call button to draw attention to themselves and to call External contact In some youth detention centres juveniles are only permitted to telephone their families or partners, for instance, or to receive visitors during their period in detention in the event of an emergency. Entirely prohibiting contact is problematical from the human rights perspective. Restricting contact can only be an option where it is based on strategic or safety considerations. 30