'Stronger support needed' for vulnerable young people

'Stronger support needed' for vulnerable young people

 

27 February 2009 Some of Scotland's most vulnerable children and young people need stronger support to help them return to their communities from secure care, according to a review of the secure care services.

The report of the Securing Our Future Initiative (SOFI) was commissioned by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities  as part of the broader National Residential Child Care Initiative led by the University of Strathclyde- based Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC). It discovered that capacity for secure care had exceeded demand in recent years, partly owing to a shift towards managing high-risk young people safely in their communities.

It also found, however, that there remained, and would be for the foreseeable future, a small number of young people whose needs and risks could be managed only in secure care. It concluded that there had to be more coherent planning of throughcare, to prepare them for going back to their communities, and aftercare, to maintain the stabilisation of their lives and gain the best possible outcomes for them.

SOFI has made a range of recommendations, including:Support for local authorities and their partners to develop effective intervention, to ensure secure care is used only when necessary prioritising secure care in NRCCI's work to develop a robust commissioning model promotion of good practice around care planning and transitions and making secure care a focus in work to improve throughcare and aftercare urgent consideration of strengthening access to universal and specialist health services careful monitoring of the use of secure care, and alternatives to it, over the next year, with monitoring of progress towards the aim of fewer young people in secure care  a targeted reduction in the capacity of secure care, to ensure a sustainable estate, with the closure of 12 beds. It suggests further exploration of whether spare capacity could be put to use as- mental health provision for high-risk young people, a drugs and alcohol dependency unit or a continuum of care for vulnerable young adult offenders

The SOFI report found that the quality of secure care should be preserved anddeveloped, while practice in the care planning of all looked-after children should be strengthened. There should also be better provision of universal and specialist services for the most vulnerable young people.

The report states: "A period in secure care can help young people develop self-worth, improve problem-solving skills, enhance protective factors and develop resilience but the move on from secure care needs to be as seamless as possible and offer continuation of care with a consistent, trusted and reliable group of adults to avoid the move becoming another crisis situation."

The Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities are due to respond to the report early next month.

Romy Langeland, who chairs SIRCC and is a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde, said: "Children and young people in secure care, whether for reasons of welfare or of offending, are extremely vulnerable and have complex needs which must be addressed to bring them stability.

"An increase in demand for secure care was predicted but has not come to pass. This is a positive development, as our aim is to have fewer children in secure care but managed in their communities instead.

"We want to build on this progress and on the continued development of a full range of high-quality alternatives to secure care. There will, however, continue to be some young people for whom secure care is the best option, so our report aims to balance the demands of ensuring secure care places are there for the young people who need them and making the most of the estate."

SIRCC was commissioned last year to head the National Residential Child Care Initiative, steered by a project board with more than 20 members from public sector and voluntary organisations. Young people who have been in residential child care and their families also had the chance to give their views. The SOFI report will contribute to the wider work of the NRCCI.

Steven Paterson, Acting Director of SIRCC, said: "The findings of the SOFI group will be valuable in the broader context of the work of the initiative.

"It is vital that we gather all the relevant information to develop a framework which will deliver the best possible residential child care for Scotland."

Angela Morgan, Chief Executive of youth support agency Includem, and a member of SOFI, said: "The challenge in the current climate is to ensure that the range of both community and residential provision which is needed for these young people is developed, so that secure care can play an effective role within this spectrum of services. We cannot afford not to make this investment in our most damaged and vulnerable young people."

The Boards of Managers of the secure facilities at St Mary’s Kenmure, St Philip’s, Plains and Good Shepherd Centre, Bishopton- all units affiliated to The Cora Foundation- broadly welcomed the report by the SOFI group.

The Boards said the report’s recommendations accurately pointed to the need to reduce capacity within the secure estate for young people, while preserving the option of  re-introducing services at short notice should the need arise. They shared the desire of the report’s authors to ensure that the very best provision is made for Scotland’s most troubled and difficult young people.

The Management Boards said they would await with interest the response from the Scottish Government before deciding how to proceed.

Paul Mulvey, Chairman of the Board of Managers of St. Philip's Secure Unit, generally welcomed the contents of the SOFI Report but underlined the significant and continuing role of secure care and education for Scotland's most damaged and needy young people.

He said: "We would all like to live in a society where no young people lose their liberty but for the small group who do, there will continue to be a need to provide the best possible care and education for these young people to enable them to achieve the best possible outcome in life."

Devolved governments in Scotland have invested £20.5 million in the redevelopment of the secure care estate in recent years. This increased the number of units to seven and the number of places by 30% to 124.

The decision to increase capacity was made because some local authorities had problems earlier this decade in finding places for young people and some were placed in England as a result. Since then, however, use of the secure estate has remained relatively consistent and supply has exceeded demand for the past 18 months.

The current Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) commissioned the SOFI short-life working group to find ways of providing the correct range of sustainable services for young people and the public, while ensuring that decisions are made on a child-centred, rather than financial, basis.

ENDS

Notes to editors:1. The full report of the SOFI group, and documents containing secure care case studies and the full group membership, are attached. The report is available on the SIRCC website, at http://www.sircc.org.uk/sites/default/files/SOFI_report.pdf

2. The Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC) is funded by the Scottish Government and is a partnership of the University of Strathclyde, the Robert Gordon University, Who Cares? Scotland, and Langside College.  It was established in 2000 with the aim of ensuring that residential child care staff throughout Scotland have access to the skills and knowledge they require to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care.

 

3. More on Strathclyde at www.strath.ac.uk

Further information:Paul GallagherPress OfficerUniversity of StrathclydeT: 0141 548 2370E: paul.gallagher@strath.ac.uk

Ronnie Convery

Director of Communications

Archdiocese of Glasgow

E: Ronnie.Convery@rcag.org.uk(on behalf of the CORA Foundation)

Includem

1346 Shettleston Road

Glasgow

G32 9AT

T: 0141 763 3860

F: 0141 763 3861

W: www.includem.co.uk

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