Secure Care in Scotland
Secure accommodation is among the most intensive and restrictive alternative forms of care available to children in Scotland, whereby children up to the age of 18 live within a locked care setting, having been placed there through the authorisation of the CSWO, the Children’s Hearings system or justice system, as a result of the significant level of risk that they pose to themselves and/or others. Secure care aims to provide therapeutic trauma responsive support, care, education and health to keep children safe and to meet their extremely high level of need and risk.
Robust regulation and monitoring processes are in place to ensure that children are only placed within secure care when absolutely necessary to manage their risk and this should be for the shortest practicable period of time. Children should receive appropriate transition support during and following any period of time in secure care.
Children in secure care have almost always experienced childhood adversity and challenges such as significant loss, abuse, neglect, trauma, and disrupted home and school experiences.
Since the end of June 2023 there have been 78 secure care places in Scotland. Four independent charitable organisations provide this care:
- Good Shepherd Centre (Bishopton) 18 places
- Kibble Education and Care Centre (Paisley) 18 places
- Rossie Young People’s Trust (Montrose) 18 places
- St Mary’s Kenmure (Bishopbriggs) 24 places
Secure Care Transport
There are currently seven private transport providers who operate a service within Scotland. Information on providers is available here.
Secure Care Pathway and Standards Champions Group
The Champs group formed around 2018 and members were crucial in the development of the Secure Care Pathway and Standards. For 2025 the group will continue to meet six weekly with a renewed focus on collaborative working that enhances secure care provision. The first quarter of meetings in 2025 will continue the work of 2024 by sharing progress in light of the Care Inspectorate secure care pathway review in addition to looking to develop language and processes around natural and logical consequences. Dates for the Champions group meetings are set out below:
14 January 13.00 – 14.00
25 February 13.00 – 14.00
15 April 13.00 – 14.00
27 May 13.00 – 14.00
1 July 13.00 – 14.00
19 August 13.00 – 14.00
30 September 13.00 – 14.00
11 November 13.00 – 14.00
Secure Care Practitioners Forum
The secure care practitioners forum provides a safe space for practitioners to discuss good practice, practice dilemmas and challenges. The forum meets two monthly and dates for 2025 are set out below:
25 February 14.00 – 15.00
22 April 14.00 – 15.00
24 June 14.00 – 15.00
26 August 14.00 – 15.00
28 October 14.00 – 15.00
Secure Care Pathway and Standards Scotland
The Secure Care Pathway and Standards Scotland (referred to as Pathway and Standards) were launched in October 2020. They set out what all children in or on the edges of secure care should expect across the continuum of intensive supports and services. They apply to all children at risk of being placed in secure care irrespective of their route, and to all individuals and agencies supporting these children. The Pathway and Standards comprise of 44 Standards focusing on the areas that children highlighted as the most important to them and had the greatest impact on their experiences. The following resources were developed to support implementation:
- A simple self-evaluation, learning and improvement template
- A half-day workshop session to raise awareness of the Pathway and Standards and to enable participants to contribute local areas or agencies baseline self-evaluation and plans for improvement (CYCJ continue to be available to facilitate sessions)
- A website co-designed with children which includes information on the Pathway and Standards; quotes on why these matter to children and young people; associated legislation, policy and guidance; and illustrative links to the Health and Social Care Standards and How Good Is Our School? Quality Indicators. This resource continues to be updated so please share any feedback or questions.
The Secure Care in Scotland Info sheet will be available early 2025.
Contact
Ruby Whitelaw is CYCJ’s secure care lead. Please contact her on ruby.whitelaw@strath.ac.uk with any related enquiries or to discuss collaborative working opportunities.
Related blogs and resources on the Standards
Secure Care Pathway and Standards: Coproduction process and implementation
plans: Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
Info Sheet: Secure Care Pathway and Standards Scotland
Launching the Secure Standards in style
Supporting secure care in East Ayrshire
Scotland – time for open hearts and minds
Coming soon…the Secure Care Pathway and Standards Scotland
STARR
STARR is Scotland’s only curated space for secure care experienced children, young people and adults. They are there to help inform, advise, challenge and change the pathways into, during and after secure care. Find out more. Contact julia.swann@strath.ac.uk.
Secure Care in Scotland – background
The Secure Care National Project (2015 to 2018)
Led by Alison Gough, as Secure Care National Advisor, the project worked with a wide range of sector leads, partners and care experienced young people to:
- ensure the effective delivery of service to children in secure care
- review current trends, achievements and risks
- make recommendations to partners about future configuration of the secure estate
Recommendations from the Project led to the establishment of a national Strategic Board to provide leadership and direction, giving a voice to care experienced young people and involving them in driving a long-term programme of transformation for secure care and approaches to young people in and on the edges of secure care in Scotland. As part of this, the STARR (secure care experienced advisory) group was created, bringing together adults and young people with lived experience of the care system.
Find out more about the work of the Secure Care National Project.
Related reports and documents
Secure Care in Scotland: A Scoping Study
Secure Care in Scotland: Looking Ahead
Chief Social Work Officers and secure care
Secure Care in Scotland: Young People’s Voices
IRISS FM podcast: Secure Care in Scotland
Secure Care Strategic Board: report to Scottish Ministers
Secure Care Strategic Board minutes
Secure Care in Scotland: Cross border placements
Secure Care Practice Development at CYCJ (2019 onwards)
CYCJ has continued to work with partners to:
- support and coordinate design, delivery and implementation of the Secure Care National Standards
- support improvements, and transformational change, in response to young people where there are extreme needs, vulnerabilities and actual risk of significant harm to self and/or others
- continue links with the STARR group
- build on research, evidence and data analysis
This work has fed into the Secure Care Group that was established to provide strategic oversight to ensure that the remaining tasks of the Secure Care Strategic Board are completed and that there is no overlap or duplication of effort with the work of the Independent Care Review.
Reports
Statutory Duties in Secure Accommodation: Unlocking Children’s Rights (Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, June 2021)
ACEs, Distance and Sources of Resilience: Results from the 2019 Scottish Secure Care Census
ACEs, Places and Status: Results from the 2018 Scottish Secure Care Census
Quality Framework for secure care accommodation centres (Care Inspectorate)
Submission on behalf of CYCJ to the Justice Committee on Secure Care Places for Children and Young People in Scotland. View the resulting report here.
Blogs and Information Sheets
From little acorns… (Fiona Duncan, Chair of The Promise)
Restorative Practice in the Good Shepherd Centre
Working together to achieve a rights respecting dream
Good deeds from the Good Shepherd Centre
Deprivation of Liberty in Northern Ireland