Oberstown Detention Centre Celebrates Improvements
Oberstown Children Detention Centre held several talks earlier today to discuss it's improvements and show off the residents paintings.
The detention centre provides a safe and secure environment for young people under the age of 18 who have been sentenced or remanded by the Courts.
They have launched a new pathway in youth detention known as 'Oberstown: Building the future' in response to it's recent trouble with violence among the residents.
Several months ago the centre has been in the media for riots and fires started by inmates. Also staff had threatened to take strike action because of a number of people who had been attacked on the job.
Since these incidents the centre has had two Health and Safety Reviews and a Review of Security and as a result there has been a reduction in the number and level of incidents occurring in Oberstown.
The launch is focusing on continuing it's improvements and creating high standards of communication through it's education and mental health programs.
The event for the launch was held in the Smock Alley Theatre earlier today to mark it's first anniversary of the Children’s Detention Campus running as a single facility.
Professor Ursula Kilkelly, Chair of the Board of Management, outlined the contributions Oberstown is making in reforming the Irish youth justice system. While acknowledging it had been a challenging year for the Campus.
Pat Bergin, Director of the Centre, said "In the past year, significant improvements had been made on buildings and facilities on the campus and we have enhanced Campus policies and services as well as training and supports for staff".
The Centre celebrated improvements such as a drop in the number of young people detained in Oberstown and absenteeism dropping from 17.1% in May 2016 to 9.2% in 2017.
Lena Timoney, Deputy Director of Oberstown also talked about how these new initiatives are helping residents;
"Build rapport, build relationships, using every moment as a teachable moment so that our young people are developing their skills and ability to handle frustration and cope with day to day life in a better way to reduce the risk of re-offending in the future".
Lena also talked about the importance of showcasing the work the children do and celebrate the improvements through events like this.
The artwork of the children was hung on the walls during the event for everyone to admire.