There are few worse places to grow up than a young-offender institution. Gangs are rife, staff lack training, violence is common and education rudimentary (a lawyer says that, during a security lock-down, her client once received nothing more than a crossword slipped under the door). Seven in ten inmates reoffend within a year of their release. And it is an expensive form of neglect: jailing a young person for a year costs the taxpayer at least £60,000 ($90,500)-nearly double the price of a year at Eton College. In 2009 England and Wales locked up more of their youngsters than almost any other rich country. But since then the number in custody has fallen by 64% (while the adult jail population has not budged). The turnaround has three likely causes.
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