Scottish government announces funding to restore capacity in children’s care across the country
Last week, the Scottish government responded positively to the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) report Reimagining secure care: a vision for the future and acknowledged an urgent need to address immediate pressures on the system.
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The newly announced funding aims to restore capacity of secure care across Scotland, as well as to enable a different approach to be developed to ensure that children with the greatest need can0 access intensive support. The funding will also be used support the creation of three four-bed secure houses and a further four-bed contingency resource.
This will add to the 82 existing contracted secure places provided by four independent charitable organisations in Scotland: Rossie, Good Shepherd Centre, Kibble and St. Mary’s Kenmure. Sadly, a variety of factors has meant that more than 18% of the contracted beds in these places has not been available. This has included the complexity of individual of individual children’s needs and an increase in their average length of stay, as well as an issue of reduced capacity at St Mary’s Kenmure.
The number of available beds has increased by four since April thanks to government support; the new funding will further strengthen capacity as part of an ongoing programme to enhance the service.
Natalie Don-Innes MSP, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, says: ‘It is imperative that we continuously improve how we care for those children who have the greatest need of support. We also need to address the challenges currently facing the secure care system, and this funding will ensure that both these aims can be met.
‘Scotland is rightly proud of our unique, welfare based and focused approach to care and justice for children and young people. We want to build on that tradition and the current strengths of the system, while embracing a future vision for change as set out in the Reimagining secure care report. And with that change, it is important that we maintain a resolute focus in ensuring that children and young people’s needs and rights remain at the heart of this process.’
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