WA children locked down in juvenile detention need far greater mental health support, according to the woman appointed to look after the interests of the state's children.
Commissioner for Children and Young People Jacqueline McGowan-Jones made the observation after visiting Banksia Hill Detention Centre on Friday, where the bulk of WA's youth offenders are held.
The same day she also toured Casuarina Prison's unit 18, located in an isolated part of the maximum-security jail, where young people who cannot be managed at Banksia Hill are detained.
Around a day later, two of the detainees at unit 18 assaulted a female supervising officer before taking her keys and using them to free other detainees from their cells.
A group of 13 inmates, including one aged over 18, then used a ladder to climb onto the building's roof before damaging infrastructure and pelting debris at staff, resulting in six guards being injured.
Premier Mark McGowan yesterday condemned the incident as "shocking" and "appalling", reiterating his promise that the government would introduce laws to move almost all detainees out of youth detention almost as soon as they turned 18.
'We need to find a new way': commissioner
Ms McGowan-Jones said while people needed to be able to go to work safe, a more punitive approach was not going to stop incidents like the one over weekend from being repeated.
"Most of them [the detainees] have cognitive and intellectual impairments. They don't have emotional regulation," she said.
"So they don't know how to control their fear, their anger, their distress, and they escalate really quickly, and we don't have sufficient supports for them to help them with their emotional regulation.
"We sent them from Banksia to Casuarina, to a more punitive environment, and it hasn't worked.
"We need to find a new way in which to get those in-depth supports in place for those kids."
Ground-breaking research in 2018 found rates of severe brain impairment among detainees at Banksia Hill could be as high as nine out of 10, with 36 per cent having foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
FASD results from prenatal alcohol exposure and can affect people's emotional regulation and their ability to understand consequences.
In February, the Department of Justice told the ABC that 21 per cent of youth detainees had been diagnosed with FASD.
But they said only a third of all youth detainees had been screened for "functional impairment", because many of those detainees were on remand and would only spend a short time in custody.
Plea for earlier intervention
Ms McGowan-Jones explained the difficulties with managing detainees she saw during her tours.
"Kids have said to me, 'but I've been good for two days miss', or 'I haven't done anything wrong today miss'," she said.
"They don't understand the longer term and they don't have the emotional regulation to get them to go, 'whoops, this is not a good thing'.
"So we need the right supports and services. Even more, we need to stop the pipeline.
"We actually need to learn from this that we have to intervene early, we have to give really quality, intensive, wraparound family supports so that families can keep kids safe. Kids then keep the community safe and we don't need Banksia [Hill]."
The state government has invested more than $100 million into upgrades at Banksia Hill, with money split between improving and strengthening security, and funding staff, supports and programs to better help detainees.
The $31.5 million Target 120 program has also been rolled out to 20 locations across metropolitan and regional WA, to engage with families to help steer young people away from the justice system, although it has struggled to reach families in some regional communities.
Former WA mental health commissioner Tim Marney has also been appointed to put a new model of care into place at Banksia Hill, which the government said would focus on rehabilitation "through a trauma-informed, therapeutic approach".
But CPSU/CSA assistant secretary Melanie Bray said its members were "sceptical" about what the new model of care would change, having seen multiple, similar and ultimately fruitless efforts over the years.
The union represents youth custodial officers who manage the detainees at Banksia Hill and Unit 18.
Concern over impact of staffing issues
Both Banksia Hill and unit 18 have struggled with staffing issues, limiting the amount of time detainees have been able to spend outside their cells as a result.
One detainee Ms McGowan-Jones spoke to at unit 18 said he had been locked in his cell for five days, with only half an hour each day spent outside.
She told ABC Radio Perth the detainee was "exceptionally distressed" when speaking to her through his cell door.
"And I can imagine that would explode," Ms McGowan-Jones said.
The commissioner recounted that the situation was not much better at Banksia Hill.
"The kids that were locked down while I was there, and were screaming out of their cells ... they are the kids that potentially are not as trusted [and] may have more challenging behaviours," she said.
"This all comes from their background and the need for really intensive support."
Staff still reeling from 'traumatic incident'
CPSU/CSA staff met with members at Casuarina today and said many were still dealing with the weekend's "traumatic incident".
Ms Bray said the fact a detainee had stolen an officer's keys was an "escalation" that had staff worried.
"Some people aren't back at work here, some might not be back at work for a period of time," Ms Bray said.
"Some people are back at work but this is their third or fourth traumatic incident in the last two weeks.
"Our members don't come to work thinking that they're coming to a lovely, caring environment that's going to be happy, but they certainly don't come to work expecting that they should be beaten and unsafe."
Ms Bray said more youth custodial officers were needed at both Banksia Hill and Unit 18 but that could not be achieved until current staff felt safe.
She said that meant improved safety measures for staff and looking at the way detainees are managed.
"While they're here, they need to experience some form of rehabilitation and engagement, and that can't happen when you don't have enough staff," she said.
Department 'continually' striving to improve safety
The Department of Justice said it was "continually reviewing how best to ensure the safety of youth custodial staff" and would take into account findings from a review into Saturday's incident.
"A range of supports and interventions are available to youth detainees. Nursing staff are onsite 24 hours a day," a spokesperson said.
"There is also a mental health team available during office hours. Psychologists are available at any time where an assessment determines they are required."
The spokesperson said detainees had been subject to "confinement orders" at unit 18 today to facilitate security checks, damage assessments and police inquiries.
"Banksia Hill Detention Centre has been operating under a school holiday routine, which is run in accordance with staffing levels and operational requirements.
