“Ragazzi dentro”: Foggia hosts General Assembly on juvenile detention

“Ragazzi dentro”: Foggia hosts General Assembly on juvenile detention

On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March the Pacinotti Vocational Institute in Foggia will host “Ragazzi dentro”, a two-day forum aimed at justice professionals, educators, social services and schools. Organized by the Camera Minorile di Capitanata and part of the “100 giorni per la legalità” project, the event will review custody practices, rehabilitative paths and prevention strategies for minors.

Key national figures informing the discussion include roughly 600 young people held in Italy's 17 juvenile detention institutions in 2025 (up from 532 in 2024), with a steady rise since 2022; more than 50% are of foreign nationality and 62% are under 18. Across all juvenile justice measures, 4,747 young people were subject to restrictive measures in the first nine months of 2025; 81.4% of minors were held in pre-trial custody.

In Puglia, recent reports from the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office show a 42.6% rise in offenses by minors in the provinces of Bari, BAT and Foggia, with cases increasing from 594 to 847 over the last monitored year.

Program and speakers

The sessions include:

• Friday 27 March, 16:30–19:00 — “Youth, families and loss of liberty: rethinking detention through rehabilitation, prevention and social reintegration”. Opening remarks by Giulio De Santis, Foggia’s Assessor for Legality. Moderator: lawyer Anna Lucia Celentano.
• Saturday 28 March, 9:00–12:30 — “Juvenile detention today: precautionary needs, certainty of penalty and rehabilitation”. Opening by mayor Maria Aida Episcopo.

Speakers include Maristella Mazza (honorary judge, Juvenile Court of Bari); Maria Emilia De Martinis and Roberta Di Bella (National Union of Juvenile Chambers); Gaetano Panunzio (social cooperative “Charlie fa surf”); Erminia Contini (National Union of Juvenile Chambers); Nicola Petruzzelli (director, IPM Fornelli, Bari); Giuseppe Tucci (penal mediator and honorary judge); Piero Rossi (regional rights guarantor, Puglia); Alfonso Schiavone (lawyer, Foggia).

Purpose

The assembly seeks to produce critical and operational recommendations to steer juvenile penal measures toward genuine rehabilitation and reintegration, underline the family's role, and promote integrated prevention involving schools, social services and community actors to protect young people's rights while ensuring public safety.