Taking the Greater Manchester region as a case study, we worked with colleagues in youth offending teams (YOTs) to understand children’s welfare and vulnerability needs during the pandemic, and how YOTs responded to these.
In April 2020, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned of the “grave physical, emotional and psychological impact the Covid-19 pandemic is having on children”.
These wider anxieties were expressed by YOT professionals who discussed their concerns about children’s deteriorating mental health, increased exposure to domestic abuse and criminal exploitation, and worsening living conditions. Lockdown directives such as “stay at home” often resulted in a lack of good quality assessments in relation to welfare and safeguarding.
Also, when difficulties were recognised, they could not be fully addressed as many specialist support services were not operating or working at limited capacity.
Anxiety and poverty
Children’s levels of anxiety were a source of concern due to a range of intersecting factors such as isolation, lack of socialising, lack of routine, lack of physical activity and poor sleep patterns. There was agreement that some mental health issues that may have been dealt with pre-Covid as minor, escalated into what practitioners described as children “being in crisis”.
Concerns about poverty and neglect were raised including accounts of children living below the poverty line and unable to access free school meals. Related to this were concerns about safeguarding, with children isolated in their homes with family members in crisis, not attending school, and lacking interaction with friends and peers.
A nurse said: “We have a lot of young people under YOT whose home life is difficult. They might be living with domestic violence, parental mental health…we underestimated how much of a protective factor education is. Schools are safe places for those young people. Once we removed that, it was very difficult.”
Stay at home
Stay at home directives exacerbated risks, such as domestic abuse and neglect. These risks are inter-related with other forms of abuse such as exploitation and violence.
At a national level, concerns have been expressed about the stripping away of children’s protective systems while children were out of sight of professionals. These risks were substantiated across Greater Manchester with a view that children were at risk of organised crime, criminal exploitation and serious violence during the pandemic, and that exploiters would find innovative ways to operate.
Lessons for practice
The national picture illustrates that children’s vulnerabilities have intensified during the pandemic. Our study provides further insight into how these vulnerabilities have been identified and dealt with “on the ground” by practitioners.
The following areas are central for planning how the youth justice system can evolve and adapt to deliver a service that recognises and addresses the exacerbated vulnerabilities that children have experienced during the pandemic:
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A public health approach should be adopted with a focus on mental health, child criminal exploitation and domestic abuse. Addressing the impact should be joined up with schools, children’s services, youth work, health, housing and grass roots organisations.
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Recognition that children could be traumatised by their exposure to increased vulnerabilities during the pandemic is needed. Personalised approaches should be co-designed with children to ensure their trauma is addressed.
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Children should be supported to participate in the planning of post-pandemic services based on individual and local needs.
Research paper from https://tinyurl.com/9tazs66y
