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20 Crim. Behav. & Mental Health 1 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/cbmh20 and id is 1 raw text is: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health 20: 1-7 (2010) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/cbm.746 Editorial No One Knows: The bewildering passage of offenders with learning disability and learning difficulty through the criminal justice system GLYN JONES' AND JENNY TALBOT2, 1ABMU Health Board, Cardiff, UK; 2Prison Reform Trust, London, UK The No One Knows programme arose from an increasing awareness by the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) of an apparently hidden problem within the prison system. Prison staff, prisoners and their families were expressing concern that the needs of people with intellectual impairments were not being adequately addressed. An initial comprehensive literature review confirmed between 20 and 30% of offend- ers have a learning disability or similar impairments of intellect and/or adaptive functioning that interfere with their ability to cope with the criminal justice system. They are a vulnerable group who may be targeted by other prisoners. They are unlikely to be able to engage in and benefit from programmes designed to address offending behaviour (Loucks, 2007). Since the introduction ofthe Disability Equality Duty (Disability Discrimination Act, 2005), there has been a statutory responsibility on public bodies to identify and make reasonable adjustment for the needs of people with disabilities. This legislation specifically refers to a number of neuropsychiatric or developmental disorders including learning disability (the current UK term for mental retarda- tion or intellectual disability), specific learning difficulties (including dyslexia), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (hyperkinetic disorder/ADHD) and autis- tic spectrum disorders. It did not appear that these statutory responsibilities were being met in prison (Loucks, 2007; Talbot, 2007, 2008). Reference to the existing literature appeared to confirm a poorly identified and apparently disadvantaged population (Loucks, 2007), despite recent major developments in services for mentally disordered offenders, including prison in-reach teams and court liaison services. These appear to have concentrated almost exclusively on the care of people with severe mental illness rather than those with the wider spectrum of mental health needs. With funding from The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 20: 1-7 (2010) DOI: 10.1002/cbm