Young Offenders Unit expansion to cater for females

New facilities at the Young Offenders Rehabilitation Unit in Mtahleb, limits of Rabat, will provide accommodation for up to 52 inmates, including the first intake of females, according to home affairs minister Carmelo Abela.

The minister, who was addressing a press conference at the centre on Friday, said that new education and therapy programmes would also be introduced shortly coupled with specialised courses for correctional officers dealing with young offenders.

The centre currently houses 17 male inmates – 10 Maltese and seven foreigners – between the ages of 16 and 20. Young female offenders are still housed at Corradino Correctional Facilities.

All young offenders were imprisoned for aggravated theft, drug possession or importation, or causing grevious injuries. Sentences handed down in the case of the young offenders at the centre were for a number of months imprisonment.

The new facilities will also include individual cells for the inmates, wheras the current structure currently only includes two dormitories, each able to house 10 inmates.

The dormitories wing at the Young Offenders Unit

Abela said that the new expansion project under way would cost €1.5 million, part financed by Norway, which was also providing technical expertise and professional instructors. The new phase of the project was expected to be completed by April or May 2017.

The centre already provides basic education classes, including English and Maltese, and organises art classes and workshops for the inmates.

Abela said professionals contracted by the deparment had pointed out that it was not enough to provide classes, sport activities and therapy, but that it was also imperative to address the attitude and outlook of the young offenders.

“Rather than berating them or ridiculing them, we want them to acknowledge that they have made mistakes and bad choices, but that it is possible and important to move on,” he said.

Construction work on the new facilities is well under way

“We also offer psychological support for the residents and try address other issues that many of them may be struggling with, such as substance abuse and addictions like gambling.”

The minister said it was important to point out that the courts were utilising the probation system extremely well, especially in the case of young offenders.

“It is clear that judges are choosing to offer most young offenders, and older people arraigned in court, a second chance and opting for probation rather than imprisonment,” he said. “This is a practice we need to encourage.”