Are care leavers let down by the justice system?

TWENTY THREE year-old Jake* was taken into care at the age of 10. After leaving the care system he found himself homeless, the victim of attempted rape and under pressure to sell drugs to survive. Prison, in his opinion, was a safe haven.

At the age of 15, Max* was taken into care. By the age of 19 he had lived on the streets, taken class A drugs and was in trouble with the law. In prison, at least he had a roof over his head.

These are the experiences of just two of the young people interviewed by Patrick Williams, a sociologist and criminologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Claire Fitzpatrick, a criminologist at Lancaster University.

They have been examining the success of Clear Approach, a pilot scheme by the Care Leavers Association designed to help young men like Max and Jake stay out of prison and rebuild their lives.

Crucial question

With almost one third of people in the prison population having experience of being in care, rising to 45 per cent of young women under the age of 25, the question of how to help care leavers is a crucial one.

But the research found that many practitioners in the justice system felt they lacked the knowledge and training necessary to deal with issues specific to care leavers.

Clear Approach is a unique scheme aiming to bring the issues facing care leavers to light, yet the professionals taking care of these young men appeared to rarely know that such schemes are available.

The ten-week programme is designed to empower young men to move on from their pasts and make positive decisions about their futures. The scheme takes the form of individual and group sessions, with an all-important “user perspective” angle, meaning that others who had experience of both the care system and the criminal justice system helped to deliver the sessions.

Improving lives

The young men who took part in the scheme said it helped improve their confidence and understanding of what was going on in their lives through the sessions. Jake went on to ask for help building up his CV, and was offered a job. Max had help to get a leaving care grant, which provided some much-needed financial stability.

In the paper, the researchers say: “The structure of Clear Approach allows for… empowerment to occur at an individual level but also at a collective level through group work and listening to the stories of outside speakers who have been through the care and criminal justice systems themselves.”

They say it is important that more funding and resources be made available for Clear Approach, adding: “In our view, Clear Approach should be viewed as an integral part of a much wider strategy to address the often-neglected needs of care leavers in the criminal justice system.”

Despite the benefits, practitioners interviewed by Williams and Fitzpatrick cited fear about “asking the ‘care’ question”, concerns about stigma and labelling and lack of time as reasons why the issue was not being fully addressed. But it is clear to the researchers that the scheme could fill an important gap in the system. They say: “Nationally, there is very little specific support available to care leavers in the criminal justice system, and an intervention like Clear Approach has great potential to help fill this gap.”

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Notes to editors

A copy of Examining ‘Clear Approach’: An Intervention for Care Leavers on an Intensive Alternative to Custody Order is available on request from Kat Dibbits in the Manchester Metropolitan University press office K.Dibbits@mmu.ac.uk.

Clare Fitzpatrick and Patrick Williams are available for interview.