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Lennox C, Duncan-Zaleski M, Nasim S, Shirley O, Ross K, Chitsabesan P, Robinson L, Shaw J, Leonard S. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for children in custody: An analysis of inspection reports. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304862. [PMID: 38900712 PMCID: PMC11189207 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children in custodial settings are a vulnerable group. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there were concerns about the safety of children in these settings. COVID-19 has had an impact on everyone but given the vulnerability of children in custody, there were concerns about the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. All custody settings for children are independently inspected and this research aimed to analyse data from inspection reports. Twenty-six inspection reports undertaken between March 2020 and October 2021 were analysed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on delivery of usual care/regime. RESULTS Data showed that across all site's children spent considerable amounts of time isolated and in some cases, this was deemed to amount to solitary confinement. There was evidence of some positive experiences, in the smaller sites, around COVID-19 slowing the pace of life allowing staff and children could foster relationships. However, in the larger sites, isolation was extreme and COVID-19 policies such as 'bubbles' appear to have created unintended consequences as sites have moved into recovery, leading to increased violence and stress. COVID-19 directly impacted staffing levels. This and the COVID-19 policies to reduce mixing also had an impact on how children's behaviour, welfare and safeguarding was managed. In some larger sites, being COVID-19 secure was prioritised over the needs of the children. CONCLUSIONS This research highlights the importance of multi-site longitudinal research to understand how children, staff and institution's function. The experiences of children in custody during COVID-19 differed by site type. The research suggests that the larger sites are struggling to keep children safe and there should be a shift towards smaller, more therapeutic environments. More research is needed to understand the longer-term unintended consequences of COVID-19 policy in custody, for these vulnerable children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Lennox
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Martha Duncan-Zaleski
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Sahara Nasim
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Olivia Shirley
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Kenny Ross
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Prathiba Chitsabesan
- Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Louise Robinson
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Preston, United Kingdom
| | - Jenny Shaw
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Leonard
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Bach-Mortensen AM, Goodair B, Barlow J. For-profit outsourcing and its effects on placement stability and locality for children in care in England, 2011-2022: A longitudinal ecological analysis. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2023; 144:106245. [PMID: 37258367 PMCID: PMC10933776 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The responsibility of local authorities in England to provide children in care with stable, local placements has become increasingly difficult due to the rising number of children in need of care and a shortage of available placements. It is unclear if the trend of outsourcing children's social care to private companies has exacerbated this challenge. This paper examines how the outsourcing of children's social care to the private market has influenced placement locality and long-term stability over time. METHODS We created a novel dataset of multiple administrative data sources on the outsourcing, placement locality and stability, and characteristics of children in care between 2011 and 2022. We conducted time-series fixed-effects regression analysis of the impact of for-profit outsourcing on placement locality and stability from 2011 to 2022. RESULTS Our fully adjusted models demonstrate that for-profit outsourcing is consistently associated with more children being placed outside their home local authority and greater placement instability. We found that an increase of 1 % point of for-profit outsourcing was associated with an average increase of 0.10 % points (95 % CI 0.02-0.17; p = 0.01) more children experiencing placement disruption, and 0.23 % points (95 % CI 0.15-0.30; p < 0.001) more children being placed outside their home local authority. We estimate that an additional 17,001 (95 % CI 9015-24,987) out-of-area placements can be attributed to increases in for-profit provision. DISCUSSION Our analyses show that placement stability and distance have deteriorated or stagnated over the last decade, and that the local authorities that rely most on outsourcing have the highest rates of placement disruptions and out-of-area placements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anders Malthe Bach-Mortensen
- Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Barnett House, 32-37 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER, United Kingdom; Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark.
| | - Benjamin Goodair
- Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Barnett House, 32-37 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER, United Kingdom
| | - Jane Barlow
- Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Barnett House, 32-37 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER, United Kingdom
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