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We receive more than 100 calls per week from children and young people in prison who need our help. Our successful legal work has transformed law, policy and practice, but it could not carry on without the generous support of our members. Please add your voice.
Join TodayLess crime
We work to make our communities safer and promote lasting solutions to crime. Our legal work has improved the law and secured support for young people when they are released from custody.
What we do →Safer communities
We ensure that children in trouble with the law are kept safe and not made the adult criminals of tomorrow. Thanks to our work with the police, the number of child arrests fell by 64% between 2010 and 2016.
What we have achieved →Fewer people in prison
We campaign to reduce the prison population and to change prisons. From challenging restrictions on prisoners reading books to ground-breaking research on sex behind bars, the Howard League is the leading voice on what should happen inside prisons.
Why the system is broken →This week there are 82,557 people in prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales.
Latest posts from Frances Crook
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17 Jul 2018
Funding cut for Circles UK will have far-reaching consequences for public protection
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9 Jul 2018
Notes from the cells in a city police station
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26 Jun 2018
Community Justice and the future of probation
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23 May 2018
Notes from Dame Glenys Stacey’s evidence to the APPG on Women in the Penal System
Find out more about our work
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What you can do
We need your help to support our campaigns
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The 3 Rs of Prison Reform
Our campaign to reduce prison numbers
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Briefings and submissions
The Howard League for Penal Reform is often consulted when policy makers need expert advice
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The role of the prison officer
This report, based on findings from focus groups and surveys with people working on the front line, underlines the need for urgent reform of the whole system.
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Nominations for the Howard League Community Awards 2018 are now open
This is the Howard League for Penal Reform annual awards for the country’s most successful community projects encouraging desistance from crime
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Children in residential care
Our programme to end their criminalisation
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Legal advice
Our lawyers provide expert legal advice to anyone aged under 21 in prison
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Recommendations for the government
Five broad areas that must be addressed