Looked after children

Children in local authority care have higher average rates of offending than children who are still in the care of their families. Where parents would punish bad behaviour by grounding or stopping pocket money for example, in care homes punishment usually involves the police. Although it may be acting in the best interests of all involved, it is likely to criminalise looked after children when there are other options of dealing with this behaviour.

Guidance has been written, which can be downloaded from the link on the right, to help officers and children's home staff when dealing with difficult behaviour. They set out the different steps for everyone to consider before resorting to the formal criminal justice system. These guidelines will:

Help police officers use Community Resolution when called out to a children's home and allow them to have more discretion in this situation.
Give children's home workers a greater understanding of what will happen when they call the police and highlight to them that we can use different options when dealing with challenging behaviour in young people.