Children in care who offend should not be sent too far away from their home areas, education and probation inspectors have warned.
In a joint report, the Inspectorate of Probation, Ofsted and Estyn said the overall outcomes and life chances for these children were ‘extremely poor’, and being sent away from home and frequently moved between institutions only damaged their chances of rehabilitation.
The watchdogs were examining youth offending teams’ work with the small number of children in care who get into trouble with the law. They visited six YOTs in England and Wales to assess the quality of work carried out both in local cases and on behalf of other local authorities.
They found the YOT staff were committed and worked hard but often failed to appreciate the emotional impact of being a child in residential care, the watchdogs found. They also said that being in care meant young people were brought into the criminal justice system at an earlier point than children living in family homes.
Chief inspector of probation Liz Calderbank said: ‘This very specific group of children and young people are among the most damaged in the care system. By the time they are placed out of area it is likely that most will have had a number of placements fail.
‘They are vulnerable and, in some cases, potentially dangerous. They need both protection and work to help them stop offending.’
Responding to the inspectorates’ findings, John Merry, vice chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: ‘While nearly half of all children in residential homes are placed outside their home area, there may be very good reasons for doing so. This could be for their own safety, to break gang affiliation or to access specialist services.
‘What is clear is that where children are placed out of area there needs to be better communication between all the agencies involved to make sure they receive the care and support they need.’
Merry added the historic problem of clusters of children’s homes needed to be addressed.
‘If we want to help make sure these youngsters can be placed closer to home, where that is the right thing for them, councils, with their knowledge and understanding of local areas, should have much greater control over where private care homes are set up,’ he said.
