Government announces review of national protocol to reduce unnecessary criminalisation of children in care.
The improved protocol will be published in Spring 2026.
The national protocol on reducing unnecessary criminalisation of looked-after children and care leavers was published in 2018
This is essential reading for all involved with Residential Child Care
It encourages professionals to consider whether a child’s behaviour would lead to arrest if they lived with their family. However, the protocol is not statutory and is inconsistently applied.
The National Protocol, which asks professionals to consider whether a child’s behaviour would lead to arrest if they lived with their family, will be revised to better support this vulnerable group ‘treating them as children, rather than criminals’ said Minister for Justice, David Lammy.
The announcement has been welcomed by Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza as analysis by her office revealed children in care are 10-times more likely to receive a caution or conviction.
The commissioner is calling for urgent action on the issue, including an enhanced, reformed joint protocol between the MoJ, Department for Education and the Home Office.
She called on the government to consider making the existing protocol statutory, applied consistently across all local authorities and police forces, with a clear plan to monitor how effectively it is used.
Looked-after children with no previous history of offending were frequently charged with offences that would not attract police intervention in an average family home, such as lesser assault or low value criminal damage, finds the commissioner’s The Criminalisation of Children in Care report.
Recommendations include
Every police force must work with their local authority to jointly implement the area’s local protocol to reduce the criminalisation of children in care. Together, the police force and local authority must monitor and track data on police call outs to care settings.
The protocol must set out clear guidance for when police should be called
Remove barriers to children in care accessing diversion routes for children who have contact with the care system as it has been identified that some barriers within diversion schemes can disproportionately impact children in contact with the care system. The first of these barriers is the requirement for children to formally admit guilt to access some schemes. This can deter children with a low level of trust in institutions in general, in particular the police. The second is the limited number of times a child can be diverted, which should not apply to children looked after as these children are already at a disproportionate risk of interacting with the criminal justice syste
Reframe Outcome 22 as a positive outcome to send a clear signal that diversion is a constructive, child-centred response that supports safeguarding and reduces unnecessary criminalisation.
Outcome 22 enables the police to divert children who have committed offences to positive support that could protect them against future offending. Importantly, it does not require an admission of guilt. Yet despite its potential, Outcome 22 is not currently recognised as a positive outcome in the police reporting framework. This lack of recognition can discourage its use, even when it would be the most appropriate and protective response.
The report has many compelling statistics.
27% of care experienced cohort in the Commissioner’s research (10,038 children) had ever received a conviction or caution, ten times the proportion of the non-care experienced cohort (2.2% or 34,478 children). Just under half of the care experienced group (49%, 4,893) had been in care before their first contact with the criminal justice system, with most of this group (3,006) still in care at the time of this contact. A disproportionately high number of 3,006 children who had their first contact with the criminal justice system while still in care were placed in children’s homes at the time – 37%, compared with about 10% of the care population currently. A similar proportion (38%) were in foster homes, despite them accounting for two-thirds of care placements.
Just under half of the care experienced group (49%, 4,893) had been in care before their first contact with the criminal justice system, with most of this group (3,006) still in care at the time of this contact. A disproportionately high number of 3,006 children who had their first contact with the criminal justice system while still in care were placed in children’s homes at the time – 37%, compared with about 10% of the care population currently. A similar proportion (38%) were in foster homes, despite them accounting for two-thirds of care placements.
Across the whole cohort, 7,613 children had ever lived in a children’s home, of whom around a third (32%, 2,466 children) had ever received a youth justice caution or conviction while living there.
“For any other child, these would not be ‘incidents’ documented in writing,” the Commissioner said, adding: “They would be handled by parents or other caregivers in private, where children are allowed to be children.
“When it comes to children in care, we take away their innocence. They are criminalised for lashing out and damaging property, often with the staff tasked with caring for them the ones who call the police.
“As children’s commissioner, a question that guides me every day is ‘would this be good enough for my child – or for yours?’ If the answer is no, then we must step up and do better.”
The data also reveals the vulnerability of girls in care. Nearly one in five (19%) of all girls in England who were ever cautioned or convicted had their first contact with the criminal justice system after entering care – twice the rate of boys (9%).
In addition, by age 24, 15% of children in care had received an immediate custodial sentence compared with fewer than 1% of children who had not been in care.
Black children in these settings are also around 14% more likely than white peers to be cautioned or convicted.
