The proposals, designed to provide extra support for children on remand, will come into effect within the next year after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (Laspo) Act received Royal Assent yesterday.
But the ADCS has raised fears that “looked after” status may not benefit all children and that adhering to statutory guidance on looked-after children while a child is in custody could “create problems” for practitioners.
ADCS vice-president Andrew Webb said discussions with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Youth Justice Board (YJB) are ongoing over the detail of the changes.
He said that while the ADCS “fully supports” the notion of planning for a young person leaving custody, doing it through the looked-after children process may not be the best option in each case.
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