The new Oasis Restore school is being constructed in the former Medway Secure Training Unit in Kent, a detention facility with a history of allegations of abuse.
Work has begun on the nation’s first secure school for juvenile offenders, a “revolution” in juvenile justice.
The new school, dubbed Oasis Restore, is being constructed in the former Medway Secure Training Unit in Kent, which closed two years ago.
Rev. Steve Chalke, the creator of the Oasis Trust, which will operate the school, states that it must serve as a model for every child detention facility.
“Oasis Restore is a revolution in juvenile justice because it is founded on our knowledge of how the minds of adolescents develop,” he said.
“Therefore, we are not asking them, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ It’s what’s occurred to you, and we’re dealing with the suffering and difficulty they’ve endured throughout their lives.
“Those who have been psychologically damaged by trauma, assault, neglect, or abuse cannot be reformed by punishment and incarceration for an extended period. It doesn’t work.”
The Medway Secure Training Unit was at the center of a scandal involving charges of mistreatment and abuse.
2016 saw the proposal of secure schools as part of a review of adolescent justice services.
The idea was to provide increased education and rehabilitation for children in what was termed a “therapeutic environment” – a significantly different approach from the secure institution that previously occupied the property.
A prior inspection indicated a significant increase in the use of force, including techniques that inflict pain. Again, the center was deemed inadequate.
This week, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of Justice Dominic Raab visited the site to see for himself what is planned.
He stated, “The most important aspect is that it is a school behind prison walls as opposed to a tacked-on education unit or team.”
“This is crucial because many of these young people have committed very serious crimes and are being punished, but they also need the chance to rediscover and relearn some of the things they never had the chance to accomplish in the first place due to truancy, foster care, or expulsion.”
Providing educational or vocational skills would be “crucial to reducing recidivism and keeping our communities and streets safer,” he added.
It is anticipated that the secure school would open between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, at least three years behind schedule.
It will host 49 adolescents, most of whom will be between the ages of 16 and 19, but some may be in their mid-teens.
And at an estimated cost of over £36 million, it is far over budget.
However, Cara Beckett, the center’s director of learning and enrichment, has great hopes for its success.
“It will be their residence. “We’re not here to punish them a second time,” she stated.
“Their punishment consists of being separated from their friends, communities, and families.
We are here to provide children with love, care, a family-like environment, and access to a robust education.
She stated that as soon as the children arrive, the team will “give them the means to succeed when they return to their communities.”
They will reside in spaces resembling apartments, complete with en suite rooms, common areas, and communal kitchens and laundries.
However, many believe that youth should never be incarcerated.
Helen Woods, chair of the Criminal Justice Group of the British Association of Social Workers, does not believe that this is an efficient use of monies.
“Because there is only one secure school in the country, which was not the original concept for secure schools, the young people sent there are more likely to be placed far from home, and a proportion of them will be serving terms of three to six months,” she explained.
“Therefore, it begs the question of how effective any educational therapeutic input can be for these youth, and I believe, more generally, our worry at BASW is that youth would be better served in their communities, better served through community programs, as opposed to being incarcerated.”
