Justice Social Work Services: national throughcare guidance

10. Groups requiring further consideration

10.1 There are several groups that require further consideration in terms of tailored support. This includes specific groups such as young people and women, but also a person’s family or close contacts.

Throughcare support for families and peers

10.2 PBSW and CBSW have a key role to play in identifying family members, including children and young people, who may need extra support to manage the challenges when someone in the family is in custody. This is significant when the person in custody is also a parent or carer.

10.3 Research has shown that parental imprisonment and sibling imprisonment can have an adverse impact on a child’s development throughout their life. All areas of a child or young person’s life can be affected, including general wellbeing, educational outcomes, physical and mental health, and relationships. The Council of Europe’s (2018) Committee of Ministers (of which the UK remains part) states that children with imprisoned parents should be treated with respect for their human rights and that their views about decisions that affect them should be considered. Following the introduction of UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, all public bodies have a duty to evidence that they are implementing the UNCRC into policy and practice.

10.4 PBSW and CBSW have an important role in ensuring that the families of the people they are working with are aware of support that is available to them in the community from universal services and third sector organisations. If the family gives consent for a referral to be made JSW should make the referral at the earliest possible stage to the relevant agencies. Information gathered within the initial ICMCC will help JSW identify where there are assessed needs for family members. Every effort should be made to ensure family members are included (where appropriate) in such meetings.

10.5 CBSW and PBSW along with other social work agencies should aim to ensure that wider services are aware of the impacts on children when a family member is in contact with the justice system. Each stage of a parent’s journey through the justice system can be challenging for children, and they may experience trauma (e.g. when their parent is arrested), loss (e.g. when their parent is sentenced to custody), anxiety (e.g. in anticipation of their parent’s release), and frustration or anger (e.g. if a parent is moved to another prison). The support children may require will change at different stages, and the assessment of their needs, and offer of support, should be ongoing, rather than one-off. While not every child will need support, PBSW and CBSW can play a part in identifying children who may need extra assistance.

10.6 JSW should ensure that other agencies, such as SPS, children’s services, education and health are aware of what supports are available in the local community, as well as Prison Visitors’ Centre provision and specialist third sector agencies. Community Justice Partnerships may well have access to resources or material that can be helpful in these situations. It is vital that staff from all organisations and agencies that come into contact with children and young people affected by imprisonment understand how they may be impacted; a trauma informed approach is key. The Prison Reform Trust’s ‘A Child Impact Assessment framework’ is a practical tool that can be used by a wide range of practitioners to support children at all stages of the justice system.

10.7 Should PBSW or CBSW have concerns about child protection or adult protection they should follow their local interagency child protection procedures, ensuring that a referral has been made to their local child or adult social work team and/or police.

Young People in secure care and custody

10.8 Since the passage of the Children (Care and Justice) Act 2024, anyone under the age of 18 who is convicted of an offence that results in a loss of liberty will, be placed in secure care.

10.9 Scottish Ministers have a statutory responsibility for placing and managing the sentences of children under the age of 18 who have been convicted of murder or on indictment (i.e. under solemn procedure, not summary) by the courts and sentenced to detention.

10.10 The Scottish Government’s Child Placement Team lead on the management of sentences, working closely with the relevant local authority, secure provider and SPS. They will also refer cases to the Parole Board for Scotland at the appropriate points in a child’s sentence. Any breaches of licence conditions should be reported to the childplacementmanager@gov.scot.

10.11 In recent years, there has been a developing suite of evidence, as highlighted by the Scottish Sentencing Council’s Sentencing young people; sentencing guideline, which highlight the need to better understand the developmental milestones, environmental circumstances and risks associated with children and young people who become involved with the justice system.

10.12 Consideration must be given to the child’s developmental capacity (as opposed to focus on a chronological age). It is essential that, from an early stage in the process, the young person understands what is meant by their sentence and what the key stages of their sentence are.

10.13 Professionals within the secure care establishment, the Young Offenders Institution (YOI) or HMP should be clear what their roles are, so the young person is not being given the same information on several different occasions, which could be overwhelming.

10.14 Appropriate language and communication styles to the developmental stage of the young person must be used by all professionals.

10.15 The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) have comprehensive resource list and practice guidance that cover all aspects of young people and children in conflict with the law.

10.16 Where a young person is placed in secure care, a YOI or an HMP, professionals with relevant training should work with the young person. Where a young person under the age of 18 is placed in secure care, it is likely that a youth justice service or equivalent will work with the young person. Where there is not a youth justice service available, additional input from children’s services should be sought where applicable.

10.17 When children or young people come into conflict with the law, the Scottish Government’s framework for working with children and young people is the Whole System Approach to young offending (WSA).

10.18 The Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines indicates that alternatives to custody or secure care should be considered to support rehabilitation for children and young people. Furthermore, the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that the imprisonment of a child should only be used as a last resort. However, for some young people, the risk they pose to public protection and the offences that they have been convicted of mean the Court will have little option but to use detention or secure care if the child is under 18 at the point of sentence.

10.19 The WSA should underpin how the young person is worked with while in secure care, YOI or HMP and as they reintegrate into their community.

10.20 There should be a holistic assessment of need and risk completed to support work that will be carried out while the child or young person is deprived of their liberty. These assessments should include not just the child or young person’s view, but people around the child or young person including parents, carers and other professionals. Key aspects of assessments are:

a) legal status of the young person;

b) the purpose of the assessment and potential outcome of the assessment;

c) the young person’s wider circumstances and context;

d) the views of the young person and their parents or carers;

e) check with the young person and their parents that information is factually accurate;

f) ensure there are realistic expectations in relation to the developmental capacity of the young person and wider supports;

g) engage with existing professionals involved;

h) identify vulnerabilities and strengths, and how these may prevent or support the young person;

i) use language and material that the child understands and can follow;

j) all assessments and future interventions must be informed by an understanding of communication needs, development and trauma for young people; and;

k) all engagement and communication with the young person must reflect their level of understanding.

10.21 Young people who are in an HMP go through adult processes as detailed in Section 5 and Section 6, however, within the work that is carried out there should always be consideration of their life circumstances.

Transitions through secure care, YOI and HMP

10.22 If the young person’s sentence means that when they reach the age of 18 they will still require to be detained, planning for the move will begin around 6 months before the move. An agreed planning process is in place between the Scottish Government’s Child Placement Team and the Scottish Prison Service.

10.23 Any child (under the age of 18) being released from a period of detention will be subject to licence conditions set by the PBS, whether this is a short term sentence or long term sentence.

10.24 The local authority who holds responsibilities as the corporate parent will remain the local authority responsible for the young person. Where there is post release statutory supervision, PBSW and a community based young person’s social worker should be involved in the planning around the transitions.

10.25 The roles of PBSW in YOI and laterally in HMP will be to complete the relevant risk assessments, support the development of the case or risk management plan and prepare the person for the transitions between establishments.

10.26 Once a young person moves from secure care to YOI, SPS become responsible and will lead on the management of their sentence.

10.27 The timeframe for when PBSW will complete all relevant risk assessments should be agreed at the transitions planning meeting. Risk assessments produced within secure care/ youth justice system should be shared with PBSW prior to transfer to YOI.

10.28 The Child’s Plan and the case or risk management plan must be completed in collaboration with all professionals that are involved in the case, as well as the young person and be completed prior to the initial ICMCC within the YOI once the young person has moved.

10.29 The ICMCC should take into account the young person’s communication needs and developmental stage. Professionals within the YOI should take time to explain the different meetings that will take place while the young person is in the YOI.

10.30 In line with The Promise, the young person should be able to have access to their parents or siblings when appropriate. If the young person has family members who are also in custody, the young person should still be able to have regular contact with their family members.

10.31 PBSW, and either CBSW or children and families social work, should collaborate to plan how the young person can maintain contact with family members where appropriate. If the young person is care-experienced and not in contact with parents or carer, there should consideration to the young person having contact with other important persons within their life. The young person should be offered advocacy support to ensure their views are represented throughout the planning.

10.32 The young person’s views should be respected when planning the transfer from secure care to the YOI, however, there will at times be limitations on what can be offered to the young person. The workers that have the best relationship with the young person should communicate with them throughout the process of transitioning and any other important decisions about them.

10.33 Section 17A of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that children detained in secure accommodation are to be treated as looked after children.

10.34 Where the young person is a care leaver, they should be made aware of their rights in relation to aftercare support. Young people will be able to receive after care support up until the age of 26 from the local authority where they are from.

10.35 When any young person enters custody under the age of 26, SPS should enquire if they are care-experienced and they should be told about the support available to them. Where the young person has asked for aftercare support, a referral should be made to the local authority where the young person is from.

People convicted of domestic abuse

10.36 Domestic abuse continues to be a significant problem in Scotland, where predominantly men can pose a risk to their partners or ex-partners. Domestic abuse includes, but is not limited to, physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, coercive and controlling behaviours towards a partner or ex-partner as defined in legislation under Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. To address this type of offending there is a need for a partnership cooperation to focus on providing support for victims as well as managing the assessed risk posed by the persons convicted of such offences.

10.37 Incidents of domestic abuse can continue to take place while a person is in custody. A person can use family members to threaten or coerce victims to attend prison visits; make threats during visits or over the telephone; and with the introduction of virtual visits, there can be acts of coercive and threatening behaviours remotely. If SPS staff or PBSW become aware of these situations, information about the identity of the victim should be sought and shared with the local authority where they reside.

10.38 PBSW should update information on the SPS PR2 system with the detail of the person’s domestic abuse offending, for SPS to be aware of the risks surrounding visits and communications with others.

10.39 At the point when a person in custody is being released either on home leave, parole or at the end of their sentence, part of the pre-release planning must take into consideration the risks surrounding domestic abuse.

10.40 When there is an assessed risk of domestic abuse posed towards a current partner, consideration should be made to the Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS). Consideration must also be given to Adult Support and Protection and Child Protection and the relevant actions taken in relation to local policies and procedures.

People subject to Sexual Offences Registration and Notification

10.41 When in the community the person will be managed under MAPPA and will go through the same processes as other statutory persons in the community. While the person is subject to licence conditions the Local authority will be the lead authority and be responsible for completing regular MAPPA updates and on-going liaison with the other responsible authorities including Police Scotland Sex Offender Policing Unit (SOPU) to ensure sharing of all relevant information.

10.42 CBSW will have a responsibility to update MAPPA at the relevant review periods depending on the MAPPA level.

Sentence: Prison sentence of 30 months or more

Length of time subject to SONR: indefinite

Sentence: Order of Lifelong Restriction

Length of time subject to SONR: indefinite

Sentence: Admission to hospital subject to a restriction order

Length of time subject to SONR: indefinite

Sentence: Prison sentence of more than 6 months but less than 30 months

Length of time subject to SONR: 10 years

Sentence: Prison sentence of 6 months or less

Length of time subject to SONR: 7 years

Sentence: Admission to hospital but not subject to a restriction order

Length of time subject to SONR: 7 years

Sentence: CPO with Supervision Requirement

Length of time subject to SONR: length of supervision requirement

Sentence: Any other sentence (e.g. fine, admonition)

Length of time subject to SONR: 5 years