Delivering care to children on remand The implications of the LASPO Act October/November 2012

1. Delivering care to children on remand The implications of the LASPO ActOctober/November 2012

2. Background Current arrangements for remanding young people are complex: • Young people aged 12-16 may be remanded to local authority accommodation – e.g. specialised foster care, residential children’s home, the child’s own home (with local authority input and oversight) • They may also be remanded into local authority secure accommodation (Court Ordered Secure Remand (COSR)). As with a remand to local authority accommodation, young people subject to COSR automatically become LAC. • But: • Some 15 -16 year old boys, and all 17 year olds (girls and boys), can be remanded to prison (in practice these young people are accommodated in prison cells located within under-18 young offender institutions • These young people are not looked after, and local authorities don’t have any responsibilities to plan for their future* • *except where they were looked after prior to being remanded

3. LASPOA remand provisions • LASPOA received royal assent this year. • LASPOA simplifies the current remand framework: • all children (12-17) will be subject to the same remand provisions; • all remanded children will be treated as looked after by the local authority designated by the court when remanded securely. • NB – brings 17 year olds into the LAC system. (Consistent with UK obligations under UNCRC) • LASPOA provisions had wide stakeholder support – including ADCS and the campaigning voluntary sector

4. Policy rationale • equitable treatment for all children remanded to youth detention accommodation – no more distinction because of age/gender • consistent services for all remanded children are ensured– including resettlement support, if appropriate • incentive for LA children’s services oversee services for a vulnerable group of children – remanded young people may not have offended, but, if sent to youth detention accommodation will be uprooted from their home for a period of time (average length of stay 42 days) • * In acknowledgment of this change of policy in relation to older children there will be an associated transfer of funding from central government to local authorities

5. Designation of local authority • When a court makes a remand decision, they will designate a responsible authority. • This authority will be responsible for • fulfilling duties towards the young person in relation to their LAC status • paying for the cost of the youth detention accommodation • Therefore, it is important that • a child’s authority of ‘ordinary residence is ascertained at the earliest opportunity and • conversations between the YOT present at court and the relevant local authority take place as early as possible

6. Care planning • LAs have a wide range of duties regarding the care of looked after children. These include: • safeguarding and promoting their welfare; and • agreeing a care plan and reviewing its completion • LAs have wide discretion as to how exactly they will carry these out depending on each individual case • LAs must take the child’s wishes and feelings into account when discharging their duties towards each child LASPOA was not intended to introduce a new category of LAC with lesser entitlement to support

7. Planning in practice: • The decision to remand a child will be made by a Court. This decision may be made at short, or no, notice for the local authority concerned • But YOTs and local authorities should be engaged from the earliest opportunity, and can offer alternatives to remand • LAs may have very short-term relationships with remanded looked after children, lasting only for the period they remain remanded and therefore looked after • However, taking proactive steps to engage with a vulnerable child will improve overall outcomes • Where a child is remanded into Youth Detention Accommodation (YDA) they will not be placed by the authority that will become responsible for their care; rather they will be placed by the Secretary of State (for Justice). • This means that children will be placed according to their needs, but gives local authorities the opportunity work with children and their families proactively

8. Care planning for young people on remand • the local authority care plan need not include information relating to the long term plan for the child’s upbringing. • the care plan should include information about how the placement (if the child is remanded into local authority accommodation) or the remand to YDA will meet the child’s needs in relation to: • health (including mental health), • education and training, • emotional and behavioural development, • social, linguistic, religious and cultural needs, • contact with their family, • details of the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer • arrangements for family contact.

9. Continued: • DfE are planning to amend the Care, Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations to ensure that they are compatible with the circumstances of a child who is looked after solely due to being on remand. Proposed amendments include: • Regulation 7 • Local authorities • need not be responsible for the health care of children remanded in YDA • need not be responsible for arranging medical assessments for this group.Regulation 9 Placement dutiesLocal authorities: • need not draw up a detailed placement plan for a child who may only be remanded / looked after for a short period, but should indicate how any placement is appropriate for the needs of the child

10. Care planning for young people in YDA: • A care plan for a young person remanded in YDA might establish: • if there is a risk of self harm, • the child’s emotional state, • any practical support required whilst the child is in detention • the health unit and wing staff’s awareness of, and ability to meet, any health needs • the education staff’s awareness of, and ability to meet, the child’s educational needs, including any special educational needs, • an awareness of, and ability to meet, religious and cultural needs, • the child’s wishes and feelings • Are they aware of how they can access advocacy services etc • are the child’s parents/family able to maintain contact with them whilst in custody • Is it appropriate for the child to return home (or continue being looked after) on release : • has there has been a change in parents’ capacity to care for the child on release • would additional support enable the parents to resume care of the child • What alternative arrangements might need to be made

11. Guidance • There is already extensive guidance about the responsibilities of LAs for LAC in custody. Any future guidance will be based on similar principles • Care Planning Guidance (vol. 2) – chapter 8 • Planning Transitions Guidance (vol. 3) – pps. 42-44 (Relevant children in custody). Note Care Leavers (England) Regulations 3(2)(c)

12. Social workers • Chapter 8 CPPCR states: • A representative of the responsible authority must visit the child within one week of him/her being sentenced and detained [regulation 28 (6)]. This representative should usually be the child’s allocated social worker. The role must not be fulfilled by a YOT worker. Subsequent visits must take place at intervals of not more than six weeks for the first year and not more than three months after that. • There is an assumption that a young person who is LAC when they enter custody has an existing relationship with their social worker, which shouldn’t be interrupted by the young person being in custody • There is also a need for join-up between the work of the social worker and children’s services to ensure that where specific services and support are needed, the child can access them • It may be possible (for the remand LAC cohort) to achieve this by (for example) having a children’s services social worker seconded into the YOT

13. How will local strategic and operational arrangements respond to LASPO Actthink about the following… • Co-ordination with YOTs – how will children’s services know if there is a possibility of remand; systems in place to inform LA if child is remanded to YDA? • Communication with courts to avoid inappropriate remand • Arrangements for visiting the child in custody – location of YDA and communicating with NOMS and YOT • Do staff in children’s services need further training about the operation of the youth justice system; and YOT/NOMS about looked after children? • How do sufficiency arrangements take account of children who become LAC as a result of remand – e.g. scope for “remand fostering” or supported accommodation? • What are the challenges establishing the wishes and feelings of this group….