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Press release: Young people in secure accommodation losing out on chances of rehabilitation

Some children and young people in secure care are being placed as far away as 200 miles from their families, damaging their chances of receiving coordinated support, according to a report published today by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

While young people generally receive good emotional support within secure establishments, the report Admission and discharge from secure accommodation highlights how the limited number and range of secure establishments undermines efforts to support them when they are admitted and discharged from a secure placement. Many young people are placed a long distance from home, depriving them of valuable family support and making it more difficult for agencies to plan and assist them as they prepare to return to life in the community.

Once admitted, young people usually benefit from close support from secure establishments, which work closely with the young people, their families and other agencies to assess and provide for their needs. Staff in secure establishments provide parents and carers with information and guidance and closely involve them in the assessment, planning, delivery and review of services. However, inspectors found that the quality of services was variable, with too many local authorities failing to meet their obligations to support and resettle young people.

John Goldup, Director, Social care, said:

'Young people moving through the secure estate need support which is well co-ordinated, continuous and as close to home as possible if they are to successfully reintegrate into the community. While a wide range of factors may lead to offending behaviour, it is clear that young people’s chances of avoiding re-offending are damaged if they lose contact with their families, with professionals who are trying to work with them, and with the education and training opportunities they will need on discharge.'

'Many of these young people are entitled to support from local authorities as young people who have been in care, and they are unlikely to get it if the local authority loses contact with them while they are detained. We hope that that the Youth Justice Board, local authorities and secure establishments learn from the examples featured in this report and consider the recommendations for improvement we have made.'

Young people who were on remand or had been sentenced in the courts often did not know where they were being taken, while parents were not told until their children had arrived at the secure establishment. This caused not only considerable distress to those involved but also made it difficult for the secure establishment to plan effective support. The limited options for placement were evident in one case cited in the report where a young person was placed in a secure establishment over two hundred miles away from his parents. His mother was disabled, could only travel by public transport, and had to arrange childcare for the other children in the family. The boy received only one visit in four months from his parents.

The long distances of some young people from their homes made it difficult for secure establishments to work effectively with families and the key professionals in the home local authority. For example, the distances involved meant youth offending teams from the home local authority did not always attend all review meetings. Local specialist services in areas such as drugs and alcohol misuse, education, training, and housing did not always have the capacity to deal with additional cases from outside the area, leaving some young people to miss out on the continuous support they needed as they moved from their home area to where the secure establishment was based.

Support for young people’s resettlement into the community was often lacking, and planned support from the secure establishments usually stopped when the young person was discharged. Here, distance was again a factor. The resettlement worker for one establishment attended all the reviews for young people who had left and now lived within 50 miles of the establishment but was unable to do so for those young people who lived further away.

While vocational placements and work experience were available, the arrangements to prepare young people to move back into society were variable. Delays in allocating appropriate placements for young people to live upon discharge sometimes left them with limited opportunity to plan properly for leaving secure care. Inspectors found where young people were not provided with the support, training and accommodation they need, reintegration into communities failed. Social workers and youth offending teams often failed to plan effectively for the young person’s release, or to engage the young person in planning their future. It was not uncommon for discharge arrangements not to be in place until the last days of the placement and in some cases young people were not even aware where they were going to live when they were discharged.

Notes For Editors

1. The report will be available on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/090228.

2.The term ‘secure establishment’ refers to secure children’s homes and secure training centres. Children and young people are admitted to a secure setting for one of two reasons:

• they can be placed there for ‘welfare’ reasons, under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, if their behaviour is placing themselves or others at significant risk

• they can be placed there on remand or to serve a sentence.

3. The evidence was drawn from visits between July 2009 and January 2010 to 16 secure children’s homes and four secure training centres, and responses to interviews and questionnaires by managers, specialist staff, young people and their families. A total of 407 people contributed to the survey, including 175 young people.

During the visits, inspectors examined individual case files, policies, procedures and other documentation. They interviewed 99 young people, individually or as part of a focus group. In addition, 109 parents, social workers and youth offending team workers were contacted and interviewed by telephone. Further evidence was gathered through written questions. Inspectors also met the placement team of the Youth Justice Board. Findings from Ofsted’s 2009-10 inspections of all secure children’s homes and secure training centres were also reviewed for this report.

4.The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

5. Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office through 020 7421 5866 or via Ofsted's enquiry line 0300 1231231 between 8.30am - 6.30pm Monday - Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359.

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