Secure children's homes
Secure children's homes provide care and accommodation to young people who have been placed under secure welfare orders by local authorities, or under criminal justice legislation by the Youth Justice Board. Young people under secure welfare orders, called welfare placements, are placed in children's homes for the protection of themselves and others.
Consideration needs to be given to the best arrangements for commissioning these highly specialised services. This is an issue that we intend to explore in taking forward the proposals in the Green Paper Care Matters.
The liberty of children and young people can only be restricted in premises approved as secure accommodation by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. All 20 secure children's homes currently operating in England have approval for use as secure accommodation.
The letters below explain the legal position of children's homes in further detail. You can also find further information on the Secure Accommodation Network website, which promotes the work of secure children's homes.
Placement
of Under-13s in Secure Children's Homes (November 2006)
Letter to directors of children's services outlining the restricted
circumstances where children under 13 can be placed in secure
accommodation.
Restriction
of Liberty in Children's Homes (March 2007)
Letter from the chief inspector of the Commission for Social Care Inspection to
directors of children's services regarding the legal position on the
restriction of liberty in secure children's homes.
Placement
of Under-13s in Secure Children's Homes (September
2007)
Updated guidance on the procedures to be followed by local authorities
seeking approval to place children under the age of 13 in a secure
children's home.
Restrictive physical intervention
The DCSF commissioned the National Children's Bureau (NCB) to undertake
a project looking into the use of restraint in secure children's homes. The
findings of this project were published on 15 December 2008 in the
report, Restrictive Physical Intervention in Secure Children's
Homes. The DCSF is very grateful to the NCB, in particular Di Hart, for
this work.
The Government's approach to the future of restraint in secure
children's homes can be found in the response to the Joint Review of Restraint in Juvenile Secure
Settings.
The Independent Joint Review of Restraint in Juvenile Secure
Settings is available on the DCSF publications page.
This page was last updated on 15 December 2008
