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The Prison Reform Trust has called for immediate action to improve conditions in prison for young people.

A new report from the trust calls for the setting of a prison service key performance indicator in order to measure length of time in a cell, and for staff to be trained in screening for potential mental health problems and promoting positive mental health.

It also calls for mental health assessments to include information on substance use, and for more provision of community mental health services to meet the needs of young people with emotional and mental health problems. Young people should be placed in environments with the emphasis on care and treatment in small scale settings rather than large scale institutions, says the report.

According to the trust’s research, more than 90 per cent of imprisoned young offenders suffer from personality disorder, psychosis, neurotic disorder or substance misuse.

The report, 'Troubled Inside: Responding to the Mental Health Needs of Children and Young People', has been endorsed by the NSPCC, the Association for Professionals in Services with Adolescents, the Standing Committee on Youth Justice, the National Children’s Bureau and other groups.

Finola Farrant, author of the report, said: "There is clear evidence that too many young people who have mental health problems end up in prison, and that the experience of prison can damage their mental health."

The report also claims a third of young people in prison have spent time in local authority care, more than 60 per cent left school before they were 16-years-old, and nearly 30 per cent of young women in prison have been sexually abused.

Juliet Lyon, director of the trust, said: "Vulnerable children and young people need secure care and treatment not punishment and neglect.

"Working together, the department of health and the home office must act now to introduce earlier assessment and intervention for troubled children in the community, respond to the largely unmet mental health needs of disturbed young people in Young Offender Institutions and transfer those who are severely mentally ill from prisons to health settings."

A Youth Justice Board spokesperson said: "The Youth Justice Board recognises there are problems in young people accessing mental health services and is concerned to improve this. We look forward to reading the report, and welcome the Prison Reform Trust’s recognition of our determination to improve health services for young people."

www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk