‘ACEs, Distance and Sources of Resilience’ shares findings from CYCJ’s 2019 secure care census, which measured the prevalence of a range of life experiences encountered by children resident within Scotland’s secure care estate on one particular day in 2019. This report complements the ‘ACEs, Places and Status: Results from the 2018 Scottish Secure Care Census’ and should be read alongside it.
Key findings include:
- 74% of children surveyed had been exposed to four or more ACEs prior to entering secure care – higher than the 64% recorded in the 2018 census
- Even greater levels of exposure were found amongst those children who lived in relative poverty, with 86% of children having been exposed to four or more ACEs.
- Being placed by a local authority from outwith Scotland was found to be a statistically significant factor in a child’s exposure to ACEs
- Most Scottish children were placed less than 50 miles from their family. For children from England and Wales, 69% were placed more than 300 miles away from families.
- Sixty three percent of children had been placed in secure care by a Scottish local authority, and 37% from England and Wales
- The majority of children from Scottish local authorities were boys, (63%) but most from outwith Scotland were girls (56%)
- There was an increase in the number of 16 and 17 year old children in secure care
To find out more, contact the ross.a.gibson@strath.ac.uk.