Secure Accommodation: Young Offenders

(asked on 15th October 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on the placement of young offenders into secure children's homes.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 20th October 2021

The Youth Custody Service (YCS) placement team is responsible for placing children under the age of 18 that have been remanded or sentenced into youth secure accommodation. This includes Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs), which are operated by local authorities, and accommodate boys and girls aged 10-17. The YCS contract 107 beds for children sentenced or remanded into custody at eight SCHs, however, children held on secure welfare orders are also present at SCHs.

A decision on the most appropriate accommodation to place a child is made following an assessment by a local authority led Youth Offending Team (YOT). The YCS will then make a decision about the most appropriate placement after consideration of each child’s individual needs and their YOT’s placement recommendation, against a view of the available accommodation. Decisions will be made with the child’s best interests as a primary consideration, with areas of consideration including age and gender; previous history; risk of harm (to self and others); family and resettlement; and maturity. Some particular considerations may make a child more suited to a particular type of accommodation. For an SCH placement, these might be a young age; particular vulnerabilities; better suited to living in smaller groups: and/or a requirement for high levels of support.

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