Transitioning to adult prison and more
/
Oberstown is the National Detention Centre for children under 18 years of age who receive a custodial sentence.
Some young people serve short periods, others will reach their 18th birthday and automatically transfer over to adult prison.
Oberstown operates from a care model and aims to support the rehabilitation and personal growth of each young person who goes through their door. Solas Project has connected with Oberstown in different ways over the years.
At Solas Project we have always had a focus on supporting young people through key transitions in their lives.
Transitions such as from primary to secondary school or full time education into further training or employment can be game-changing moments in young people’s lives. Similarly, for young people transferring from juvenile detention to adult prison it is a daunting and unnerving process.
Like most of us, these young people do not know what lies ahead and may only be aware of what they have seen about prison on TV or from the exaggerated stories that do the rounds.
During the summer our Compass team developed an 8 week transition programme to educate and prepare young people for their transition.
We were able to respond to some of their fears in a practical way, sharing from our own experience and knowledge of the work we carry out in Wheatfield and Mountjoy prisons.
The course covered topics such as:
the rules and regulations of adult prison
managing conflict and stress
anti-racism work
We also had support from young people involved in our other programmes who themselves had spent time in adult prison. They contributed by answering questions and responding to concerns of the young people transferring over.
it was very real to talk to another young fella who had been there, you could ask questions you wouldn’t ask normally, it made me feel a lot more able and maybe it won’t be too bad if I know what I’m doing.
It was a privilege to support 5 young people from all parts of the country who voluntarily completed this programme. Through our Compass programme we plan to continue to support them through their time in adult prison too.
Alongside the transition programme our team also delivered music sessions and sports programmes in Oberstown throughout the summer.
Young people got the chance to express their feelings and tell their stories through songs and raps recorded and edited by us. We are hoping you might hear one of them on the radio one day.
Football was taken as seriously as a world cup final but always ended with a smile and shake of the hand.
The programmes were a big success and we received really positive feedback from the Oberstown staff. But the proof comes straight from the young people who came back looking for more!
We are delighted to be back in Oberstown since October continuing to support the positive development of young people.
We firmly believe that these young people can be more than the reason they found themselves in a juvenile detention centre and we are excited to be a part of bringing about this change.
