Too many children in care end up in the criminal justice system – we need to do better – Family Law

an article by Laura Cooper for the Family Law blog
"This article was originally published on the Just For Kids Law website and WAS reproduced with permission."

Laura Cooper writes about the crucial role that youth justice lawyers have to play in reducing the criminalisation of looked after children at the police station.




Imagine this scenario: A teenager gets into an argument with their parents. Voices are raised and the child refuses to follow mum and dad’s instructions. The parents call the police, who arrive to take the child into custody.

This might sound unlikely, because it is. Most parents understand that calling the police to intervene in a disagreement with their children is a last resort that should only be taken in extreme circumstances. Unfortunately, the same is not true for children in care. Recent research from the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed that children’s homes in some parts of England are calling the police as many as 200 times a year. [Link is only to a press release not to a report on the research.] Repeated contact with the criminal justice system puts children at risk of criminalisation, as they end up being pulled into a strong current of crime from which it is difficult to escape.

The children we are concerned about are some of society’s most vulnerable. Looked after children are likely to have experienced multiple disadvantage, trauma and abuse which can contribute to challenging behaviour and other difficulties. They may have also been affected by problems inherent to the care system which are known to adversely impact on support, well-being and behaviour, such as instability in terms of placement and social worker. And whilst some children’s homes and foster carers are excellent and provide specialist care which ensures challenging behaviour is addressed and supported, too many looked after children find themselves in placements where they don’t get the support they need, and the police get called unnecessarily. These factors all contribute to a situation where children in care are 10 times more likely to be criminalised than other children.

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