Call to end deprivation of children’s liberty in unregulated settings
Joe Lepper
Thursday, March 7, 2024
The government is being called on to “urgently” halt the practice of using deprivation of liberty (DoL) orders to place vulnerable young people in unregulated settings.
The orders are mostly used in cases where secure children’s home or mental health in-patient places cannot be found, and they are instead deprived of their liberty in unregulated placements.
But Nagalro, the professional association for children’s guardians, family court advisers and independent social workers, wants to ensure a child's liberty is only curtailed where necessary in “safe and secure therapeutic residential establishments”.
It has written to the secretaries of state for justice, education and health and social care urging them to work together to ensure their use in unregulated places is stamped out.
Their open letter warns ministers the children involved in orders “often have multiple needs, including mental health, behavioural and emotional problems and many will have experienced abuse, neglect and trauma”.
It adds that while DoL orders are intended to be temporary “we are seeing these children being kept for significant periods of time in unsuitable accommodation, often far away from their homes and communities and with no clear, therapeutic, exit plan”.
“It is not enough to simply keep children locked away without a clear treatment programme to allow them to return to normal, full lives,” states its letter.
Earlier this year the government confirmed that it had set up an expert group to look at the use of DoL orders.
This has been set up amid a rise in the use of DoL orders. According to Nuffield Family Justice Observatory analysis there has been a 462 per cent increase in their use in the three years to 2020/21.
Ministry of Justice figures show 388 children were subject to the orders between July and September 2023, compared with 358 the previous year.
Nagalro is also concerned over declining places for children where their liberty needs to be deprived for their safety. Since 2022, 16 secure children’s homes have closed, the professional association warns.
But in his Budget this week Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced a £120m investment in secure children’s homes. This will be used to maintain homes and to rebuild two sites, Atkinson Secure Children’s Home in Devon and Swanwick Secure Children’s Home in Southampton.
Treasury documents say this investment has been made to “reduce local government reliance on costly emergency provision and improve outcomes for children by providing them with more suitable placements”.
Last August guidance from Ofsted warned that unregulated settings need to register if they are providing a placement for a child who is subject to a DoL order.
“It’s unacceptable that some of our most vulnerable children with very complex needs are living in places with the least oversight; where we do not know if they are safe, or if the people caring for them are suitable or skilled enough to meet their needs,” said Ofsted's social care director Yvette Stanley.
