Care system found to counter youth offending

The care system can help steer young people with experience of abuse and neglect away from crime, a report by The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (Tact) has found.

The two-year research project, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, was prompted by concerns that a large proportion of children in custody have previously been in care.

However, the findings have challenged evidence that looked-after young people are more likely to go to prison, suggesting that the risk of offending behaviour is minimised when the child goes into care early and receives the right professional support from a range of agencies.

The research, which questioned 100 young people, also concluded that the risk of offending can also be reduced for adolescents who enter care for the first time by engaging them in constructive activities.

Professor Gillian Schofield, from the Centre for Research on the Child and Family at the University of East Anglia, which led the research, said: “The study found that even in adolescence and for very troubled young people there are windows of opportunity for change.”

She added that foster carers and residential workers can help young people in care “turn their lives around” by establishing “reliable, supportive relationships” with them.

The report identified a need for better collaboration between youth offending services and other children’s services to address risk factors for care and crime, and recommended the need for high-quality foster care placements to reduce the likelihood of offending.

The government was also urged to ensure children in care are not wrongly criminalised for behaviour that should be dealt with outside the court.

Kevin Williams, Tact’s chief executive, said: “Children come into care through no fault of their own, from backgrounds of abuse, neglect and chaos. This work shows that taking the right steps does transform lives.”