Researchers call for statutory duty to prevent criminalisation of children in care

Local authorities should stop using ‘a one-size-fits-all’ approach to tackling behaviour issues with children in care and avoid calling police into care settings, new research argues.

These are some of the findings in a paper led by Manchester Metropolitan University and published in the journal Youth Justice, seeking to prevent unnecessary criminalisation of some of the most vulnerable children and young people in society.

The researchers are now calling on the government to make it a statutory duty on local authorities to prevent unnecessary criminalisation.

With children in residential care disproportionately likely to receive a criminal caution or conviction – as well as the number of children in care in England at a record high – the researchers are calling for an overhaul of the current system which, they warn, may be accidentally making the situation worse.

A team from Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University, Liverpool John Moores University and University of Bristol, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, analysed 36 local protocols which were created in response to the government’s non-statutory 2018 ‘National Protocol on Reducing Unnecessary Criminalisation of Looked-after Children and Care Leavers’. These are used to guide carers on how to deal with these scenarios, and authorities are free to develop their own localised versions of the national protocol.

Their analysis raised concerns about the excessive use of police involvement and record keeping, significant differences between the scope and content of individual protocols, and lack of consideration of the gender and ethnicity of children – statuses that require distinct approaches in care settings.

Dr Katie Hunter, criminology lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and lead author of the paper, said the research shows there is an “urgent need to critically consider the unintended consequences of these different approaches to reducing criminalisation.”

“To make a difference, local authorities must develop protocols that recognise the distinct needs of specific groups of children in care and care leavers and move beyond a reliance on ‘one size fits all’.”

The majority of protocols analysed by Dr Hunter and the research team required staff to work closely with police forces in managing challenging behaviour, with some even requiring regular visits by police officers for intelligence gathering purposes, including the disclosure of non-serious incidents.

This points to a culture of routine information sharing with local policing teams, warn the researchers – posing a risk of ‘normalising’ police involvement within care settings.

Dr Hunter added: “The over-reliance on policing in some protocols is concerning. At best this contradicts the spirit of reducing criminalisation and at worst, could result in more children being criminalised in the long term.”

Only one in six local protocols analysed in the study make specific reference to gender and one in nine make reference to ethnicity, both factors that affect the risk of criminalisation of young people. Excessive and potentially detrimental record keeping was another finding, with almost all the protocols stipulating that carers keep records of incidents within placements.

Dr Hunter said: “While it might intuitively seem appropriate to keep a record of incidents, the requirement to record all instances of challenging behaviour could be detrimental for children in care who are already dealing with stigma.”

In response to the new research, David Graham, National Director of the Care Leavers Association, said: “The Care Leavers Association has repeatedly called for an end to the unnecessary criminalisation of young people in care.

“Professionals in the care system and police officers should always ask the question ‘would this situation lead to an arrest or caution if the young person was living with their family?’ Often what we see is young people being punished for exhibiting emotional reactions – often in response to not being heard or not having their needs met.

“We support the call for a statutory duty which should include training for care system and police professionals to better respond to trauma, and which should promote more effective alternative resolution options.”

Dr Hunter added: “We must protect children in care and care leavers by placing a statutory duty on local authorities to prevent unnecessary criminalisation and improve life chances. When well-developed, these protocols have huge potential to influence outcomes for care experienced children.

“It is vital that ongoing training and resources are available to embed a long-term, sustainable commitment to preventing unnecessary criminalisation into practice. This is an urgent issue which requires urgent action.”