Outline
of the Services
Aycliffe
Secure Services is a 38-bedded Local Authority Secure Unit in
County Durham. It is comprised of four discrete residential houses,
an education department, sports hall, swimming pool, playcourts,
visitors’ and meeting rooms, all within a secure perimeter.
Each
house accommodates between eight and ten young people aged between
12 and 17 (average age 15); three houses are of mixed gender and
one takes boys only. Each staff team is comprised of up to 23.5
staff members including managers and support staff, and at any
one time there is a minimum of four staff on duty in each house,
with additional staff during evenings, weekends and holiday periods
to accommodate various interventions and activities. During school
days the young people attend the education department, which delivers
the national curriculum in small classes of up to five young people.
Initially
the young people do not leave the secure perimeter at any time
as a matter of course, court appearances excepted, until they
are preparing to leave secure accommodation, when they will have
a mobility programme which incorporates trips out of the unit.
As you can imagine, the close proximity of so many young people
and staff in very restricted areas gives rise to an intensity
in relationships that would not be possible or likely in the ‘real
world’.
The
Young People
Since
April 2001 we have had a contract with the Youth Justice Board
(YJB) for 35 of our beds and in addition the YJB ‘spot purchases’
a number of other available beds. We are a national as well as
a regional resource so young people placed with us may be a considerable
distance from home. The vast majority of our young people are
either with us on remand, serving the detention element of a Detention
and Training Order (DTO) or serving a longer (Sect. 91) sentence
for more serious offences.
These
young people are considered to be too vulnerable to be placed
in the other custodial accommodation (e.g. Secure training Centres
(STCs) or Young Offender Institutions), in that they may be at
risk of being bullied or attempting to commit suicide, and they
may have significant mental/physical health needs, such that high
levels of staffing and interventions are required.
Although
our contract with the YJB is prescriptive with regard to the key
performance indicators (KPIs) that we must meet, our ethos continues
to be based on care and relationships which we believe to be the
conduit to effecting change in young people’s lives.
Their
Length of Stay
A
very small minority of Durham young people (usually no more than
one or two at any point of time) are admitted on welfare grounds
(Sect 25), when courts find sufficient grounds to believe that
the young person is of significant danger to themselves or others.
These young people can be admitted under a 72-hour rule in the
event of emergencies on the understanding that a court order will
be applied for. Initial orders are for 28 days, at which time
a further three-month order can be applied for.
Subsequent
orders can be made if it can be proved in court that the young
person continues to meet the secure criteria. They are usually
young people with significant and complex needs both educationally
and with regard to their physical and mental health, who have
had multiple placement breakdowns which results in them presenting
challenging behaviours, incidents of self harm, and/or involvement
in criminal activities. In our experience, they are no different
from the other young people in our care, except that they may
not have been involved in much or any offending behaviours.
The
length of time that the young people spend in our care varies
greatly. Young people on remand or serving short custodial sentences
(DTOs) may be resident with us for two months or less. Others
may stay for 18 months or more. The average length of stay for
young people over the last two years has been nine months.
The
Facilities
Some
physical benefits of residence for these young people, apart from
those that may stay for only a few days, may be listed as :-
Enhanced
physical care Many young people admitted have been living rough,
may have been abusing drugs and or alcohol, be suffering from
sleep deprivation, or have had poor nutrition and inadequate clothing.
Obviously admission into residential accommodation addresses these
needs immediately.
A
period of stability The majority of our young people have been
living a chaotic and disrupted life style with few boundaries
around them. They may have had numerous placement breakdowns and
poor relationships with their families. Whilst most young people
do not wish to lose their freedom by an admission into secure
accommodation, many of them respond with relief that there is
some structure to their lives, albeit temporarily.
If
time allows, plans can be made and implemented for future provisions
for young people educational and residential requirements.
Identifying
and meeting needs Young people have frequently slipped through
the net with regard to their educational, physical and mental
health needs. All young people receive a physical check-up, mental
health screening and an educational assessment within the first
week of their placement. Recommendations are made as to any general
and/or individual interventions or treatment that may be necessary
and these are shared with local authority social workers and youth
offending workers.
All
young people who have offended are required to undertake general
offence reduction interventions based on a cognitive behavioural
therapy (CBT), including relapse prevention.
All young people participate in social and life skills training,
and are involved in post education work in their house. These
include sessions on substance misuse, sexual health, relationships
and other subjects.
Some
young people require more individual work and the secure unit
has service level agreements with Primary Care Trusts and the
Kolvin Unit (which provides adolescent psychiatric and forensic
treatment) so that the services of general practitioners, general
and mental health nurses, a clinical psychologist, a forensic
psychiatrist and an analytical psychotherapist are available.
Individual incentive schemes are used to encourage personal development.
Educational
provision Young people are required to attend education, and Individual
Education Plans (IEPs) are formulated. Educational activities
(citizenship, supported learning, homework etc.) take place in
the houses outside of school hours. A number of young people,
who may have been excluded from school for a considerable amount
of time, have grave concerns about re-entering the educational
system All of them do attend and many of them go on to make great
educational achievements.
Over
the last year:
•
5 young people achieved passes in General National Vocational
Qualification in Leisure and Tourism
• 6 achieved acceptable grades in General Certificate in
Secondary Education in Maths
• 5 achieved acceptable grades in GCSE in English
• 3 achieved acceptable grades in GCSE in Science
Numerous
young people achieved AQAs (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance
Certificates) in a variety of subjects from urbanization in a less
economically developed country, Geography units 1-3, Media and Historical
modules and miscellaneous baking methods.
Leisure
Activities (purposeful use of time) All young people participate
in a number of leisure activities in which they can learn new and
transferable skills, including sports, arts and crafts, organising
concerts, sub aqua club activities and participation in the Duke
of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Many of these pursuits lead to nationally
recognised qualifications which can be pursued in the community.
Emotional
benefits of residence
These
are of course harder to measure but include:
‘Time
out’ from/for families:- Often much needed respite from and
for families under pressure is welcomed. Parents do not need to
worry about a child’s safety; everyone gets a break from what
are almost always strained relationships. For some young people
and families it is the opportunity to rebuild their relationships
in one way or another. Family phone calls, letters and visits are
actively encouraged.
We
are however mindful that whilst young people are away from their
families and we are acting in loco parentis, we are very involved
in decision making for them. For a number of reasons parents may
not participate as fully in decision making processes so wherever
possible they are encouraged to take the opportunity to be involved.
Widening of life experiences :- Young people have the opportunity
to meet and get to know other young people and staff from a variety
of backgrounds. As previously mentioned they have the opportunity
to learn new skills, undertake education etc. etc and learn about
other ways of life.
They
are a “Captive audience” :- Their previous experiences
when there has been any sort of professional interventions may well
have been to run off. Here there is nowhere to go!!! Eventually
young people do engage with what is on offer to them be that formal
psychological interventions or assessment or education. The drip
drip effect works!!
Unconditional
Care :- Previously many young people have had the experience of
physical and/or emotional care being withdrawn from them because
of their behaviours. It is a new experience for them (and a difficult
one for many) to discover that this care will not be shifted because
of some sort of unacceptable behaviour. Workers will not reject
them but will continue to fulfill their needs as best they can.
Developing
appropriate relationships with adults :- Many young people have
had emotionally or physically abusive relationships with a variety
of adults in the past and are sufficiently lacking in trust to develop
“proper” relationships with adults. All young people
are allocated individual keyworkers and most are able to form a
positive relationship with them. There are also a variety of other
adults with whom they can communicate these may include teachers,
nurses, school counsellor, programme coordinators etc. etc.
Developing
appropriate relationships with peers :- This could be the first
opportunity that young people have had for a long time to develop
friendships outside of a delinquent culture. Many young people relish
the space and time to play games (lego experience) with each other,
to be children, to do the sorts of things that any young person
in the community would take as a matter of course as being natural
pursuits with friends.
Effects
of the Length of time spent in the Secure unit :- Have spoken about
a lot of the benefits that are there for young people resident within
the secure unit and what they can achieve. Obviously some benefit
more than others for a number of reasons which I could go onto bore
you with for ages. But to try to relate that to the subject of the
day ….the length of time young people stay within the secure
unit and the effects of that. I have consulted with a number of
colleagues who agree that the young people who benefit most from
what is on offer are those that stay with us for between 6 to 12
months. I think that within that time, unlike those who are resident
for significantly less time, they have the time and space to invest
in the placement and take some ownership of their House as their
home, but are more easily able to move on and return to their community
than those that spend a longer period of time with us.
For
those on short orders there are a number of reasons that stand in
the way : -
Length
of Time Resident
Less
Than 6 Months
Taken
from Community and Family
Some
orders can be as short as two months and these young people tend
to be younger (12 and up). This does not leave a great deal of time
to rebuild relationships with families which may be under stress,
on release to the community young people are more likely to ‘pick
up where they left off’- with regard to fitting on with delinquent
peers etc. Many young people can be frightened to come to a secure
unit, some may not have been away from home before.
Short
Term Interventions
It
takes a young person some time to ‘settle’ into any
new environment and sometimes there is just not enough time to effect
any change. Groupwork, mental and physical health needs etc cannot
always be met in the short term, relationships to be built for effective
therapeutic interventions.
Pinning
Hopes on Leaving
If
young people know that they are not likely to be resident for more
that 3 or 4 months they often focus on the fact and find it difficult
to engage with their surroundings. Their energies may be concentrated
on leaving, marking off the days on calendars and they are unable
to link into any benefits of the residential experience.
Future
Plans not Consolidated
There
may not be time to ensure that plans are in place for a young persons
future educational and residential provision. The worst scenario
is young people leaving without knowing where they will live (if
they can’t return home) with no school willing to educate
them or returning to exactly the same place they came without any
support to assist them to cope better in those circumstances.
Not
Long Enough to Form Positive Relationships
The
ethos of the secure unit is based on care and relationships and
the positive work that can be done through these to benefit young
people. These kind of relationships do not develop quickly.
12 Months or More
Estranged
from Home and Community Living
A
long period away from families and communities can be a real difficulty
for young people returning there. They may feel isolated, friends
have moved on, life and circumstances have changed and they have
not been part of it.
Institutionalised
The
very routines and boundaries that can be useful to stabilise young
people can also restrict them if they are too long in residence.
Many young people find a return into the community frightening and
difficult.
Relationships
As
above- young people can become too dependant on the relationships
they have with staff in the secure unit. The emotional support is
‘on tap’ whilst they are residents, on discharge it
is not so readily available and there may not be other emotional
‘struts’ in place.
Range
of Interventions
Because
of the set up of our establishment, within 12 months it is likely
that most of the benefits of our intervention, mobility programmes
etc have been utilised.
Individual
work has usually been completed and whilst educational provision
continues to be beneficial young people often feel they have ‘done
it all’ with regard to other interventions.
Effect
on Staff Teams
Young
people who have been resident for a long period of time have an
effect on the staff team who look after them. If they have made
progress and developed good relationships staff can often become
‘blind’ and complacent to areas that still should be
addressed.
Conversely,
if young people continue to be problematic staff have difficulty
seeing any progress they have made, the young person’s sense
of failure can be unwittingly supported.
Future
Developments
Our
experience has taught us that in order to maximize the benefits
of any period of residence the young people may spend with us it
will be necessary to:
a)
Develop services for young people who would benefit from a foster
carer rather a residential setting.
and:
b)
Develop services to assist young people’s return to their
communities.
