Agenda item

(1)           The Chairman of the Select Committee, Mrs Wiltshire, welcomed Nick Wilkinson, Head of Youth Justice and Safer Young Kent, KCC, to the meeting.

(2)          Nick, Members of the Committee present and Officers introduced themselves.

(3)          Nick had received questions and themes that the Select Committee were investigating in preparation for the meeting.

Please describe the roles and responsibilities that your post involves.

(4)          Nick advised that he was currently the chair of the Kent Criminal Justice Board, Chair of the Kent Out of Court Scrutiny Board and co-chair of the Kent Prevent Board.  He was previously a police officer for over 30 years; retiring as an Assistant Chief Constable with Sussex Police.  Nick was a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Children and Young Persons Group, Regional Prosecution Service and Regional Director, Association of Chief Police Officers member of the Children’s Interagency Group and National Participation Forum. He referred to the draft protocol that had been provided and said that his aim is to reverse the current situation where a former child in care is more likely to go to prison than to university.

(5)          He advised that his role did not include looking at cases but taking an overview, picking up issues and bringing them back to negotiate solutions.  He spoke about Youth Magistrates and the challenges there were as Youth Magistrates only saw what was put in front of them regarding the young person. 

(6)          He touched on the challenge in getting frontline Police to look at the issue of dealing with young people differently.

(7)          Nick tabled a paper that showed slides from theNational Institute of Mental Health Study.  The slide showed normal brain development from age 5 to age 20 and demonstrating the effects of trauma in a young person’s life on the brain. 

(8)          Nick referred to a case of a child placed with Foster Carers. The child had experience a significant childhood trauma – detachment. The child had been wetting the bed.  An incident happened after returning from school when he went up to his bedroom and urinated on his bed.  The Foster Carers called the police.  This was recorded as a crime.  The young person was arrested and was placed in a police cell.  Nick said that his team intervened. There was a clear responsibility.  This was cut off before it got in the justice system.    If the issue had proceeded any caution would have to be declared in later life when the young person was completing an application form etc. He is working with the Police to encourage the use of proportional and appropriate methods to avoid burdening young people with a criminal record. We now work with the child and the family to curb behaviour. He advised that when he attends the Partnership meetings Police officers refer to these cases as a pain because police were always being called out to incidents involving them.

(9)          Nick reflected that there are, and will be, occasions when the law option is appropriate.

Is justice failing?

(10)       Nick said that the study of the brain and the effects of trauma should play its part in challenging mind-sets regarding young people in care.

Are Children’s Services Directorate signed up to the South East Protocol?  Is there a way of reversing the damage to the brain from trauma in younger life?

(11)       Nick replied yes, the brain could be recovered with support and no the Directorate are not yet fully behind the protocol. 

(12)       There was some way to go with changes to frontline Police officers having to challenge back.

(13)       Nick explained the 4 step approach.  Foster Carers should deal with (via link Social Worker).  If a child becomes aggressive, the police may need to be called.  If the aggressive behaviour continued and did not calm down they could remove them from the home but this did not mean them being arrested. The proof of this approach working would be realised when the figures of children in care being arrested reduced.

(14)       Part of the problem is that to make an insurance claim a crime number is needed and to get a crime number the incident must be reported to the police. One insurance company, Towergate Insurance, do not ask for a crime number to make a claim.

(15)       Nick said that he had in the past worked with the Princes Trust when he attended in jeans and a t-shirt.  When the young people were asked what they thought Nick did for a living they did not guess correctly and when he revealed that he was a policeman they said that they did not like policemen but they said they liked him. 

Do you have a number of children going missing in Care?

(16)       Nick advised that Maggie Blyth, Regional Director for the South East and also the Chair of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Safeguarding Children Board, had set up a group “Missing”.  There were now systems in place where reports go to a single point of contact who looks at the reports of all children that were missing.  He clarified that his office received an email of all children who were missing so that all KCC systems could be checked to see if they are known to us.

(17)       Nick considered that those children who were found should be offered a return interview and there should be an assessment of risk.  He explained that his team pick up the measure as their responsibility.

(18)       He reported that there were overall 270 episodes the breakdown of this was as follows: 154 young people, 34% were children placed by another local authority in Kent and 31% were Kent looked after children.

(19)       Nick stated that other local authorities were contacted in their role as corporate parents and asked to complete a returning form. The returns were as follows:

·           10 episodes in West Berkshire

·           10 episodes in Suffolk

·           7 episodes in Greenwich

·           7 in Essex

(20)       In Foster Care there were guidelines Nick said that reports are recorded on Liberi (Specialist Children’s Services IT system) which has a pathway for social workers to follow. There has been training provided on conducting the return interviews and understanding risk factors. 

What can KCC do?

(21)       Nick stated that Members as corporate parents had a responsibility he advised that they needed to use their influence and knowledge to make the network links, they need to constantly challenge where a criminal judgement is made as this may not necessarily be the only way. Nick said that in his eyes they were children and it was getting that message across.

(22)       He referred to the Corporate Parenting Group saying that there was no Police representation on the group.

25% of adult prisoners have been in care how can we address this?

(23)       Nick explained that this was part of what the Kent and Medway Joint Protocol for Children in Care was aimed at addressing. This would be challenging.  The National Probation System did not record information on adult offender being brought up in care, when they become an adult offender research shows this up.  He said that this would be challenged back to the Probation Service.  Nick considered that the proof would show after 10 years with a reduction in the figures.

(24)       Nick advised that he was planning to achieve, by late summer, a Direct Panel.  This would be where every child that had been arrested would be discussed.  The intention was to curb that early behaviour.  This was going beyond Policy.  Nick advised that Police Chiefs were signed up to this approach, to make a difference.

How can you tell if this is damage to their brain through trauma or whether they choose to do those things?

(25)       Nick explained that he was not an expert but there were a range of experts and organisations that would say that what was happening now was not right.

What age can you attend juvenile court?

(26)       Nick advised young people attended juvenile court up to 17 years old.

(27)       Nick suggested that it was the role of the Corporate Parents to be informed and dispel myths about young people in care who were often labelled as “those problem children”.  He referred to Lambeth London Borough Council carried out study on young people.  He highlighted that one of the findings was that many of the children in care had not travelled to the centre of London.

(28)       Nick considered that the issue of child sexual exploitation should be made a priority for all corporate parents.   A review of the case for Operation Lakeland should be a priority for the organisation. A network of partners should be used to drive support for children in care. Members should agree on the prioirites and what that means in terms of actions. The issue of placements away from home needs to be taken on.

(29)       The Select Committee thanked Nick for attending the meeting.