Scottish government response to "reimagining secure care" report

6. Scottish Government Response to Models Proposed in the ‘Reimagining Secure Care’ Report

The Scottish Government commissioned the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) to lead a project designed to create a comprehensive understanding amongst stakeholders of what is required to support secure care services to meet the needs of all children who may require them in the future.

CYCJ published the "Reimagining Secure Care: A Vision for the Future" report (“the RSC report”) on 27 September 2024.

The RSC report outlines a bold and transformative vision for the future of secure care, and broader children’s care, in Scotland. Central to this vision are innovative proposals which offer the potential to radically reshape how we avoid or minimise children reaching a crisis, and also intervene effectively in those cases where crisis point is reached.

6.1 Flex Secure

The RSC report proposes the creation of “flex secure” - a flexible, responsive model of secure care that moves away from the traditional, static model of locked secure accommodation facilities. Flex Secure envisions a continuum of care that can adapt to the changing needs of each child. This model offers the following features:

• Short-term, intensive support that can be scaled up or down to meet the individual needs of children.
• Emphasises transition planning and reintegration into the community.

Secure accommodation deprives children of their liberty in cases where that is necessary and proportionate, either due to the level of risk that a child poses to themselves and/or others. This model aims to provide a more flexible approach to care, particularly for children who may not meet the current criteria for secure accommodation but may require intensive support adjacent to secure care.

The Scottish Government agrees to explore this model in principle, subject in particular to consideration of legislative and regulatory changes that may be required to support it. It is likely that new standards and guidance would need to be developed to support the creation of ‘flex secure’ spaces, ensuring they provide therapeutic, trauma-informed, rights-based environments which fully meet the needs of children. This will require collaboration with care and justice partners, including children’s rights organisations, to explore the viability, understand likely benefits and mitigate risks.

The UK Government Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes provisions which propose the development of community-based liberty restricting accommodation as an alternative to traditional secure care in England. Should the Bill be passed, we will work with the UK Government to learn from their experience of introducing accommodation based on a ‘flex secure’ type model.

6.2 Multi-disciplinary Teams

The RSC report also proposes the establishment of “multi-disciplinary teams” (MDTs) – a model offering skills, knowledge and expertise from a range of professionals for children, young people and families. This model is in line with the Scottish Government’s multi-agency whole system approach to preventing offending by children, and offers the following features:

• Provides coordinated, wraparound support tailored to each child’s needs.
• Helps navigate complex systems and reduces fragmentation in care.
• Supports early identification of risk and need, enabling timely intervention.

Whilst the RSC report advocates for the establishment of MDTs, it is important to recognise that many local authorities in Scotland have already been operating variations of the MDTs for a number of years. Additionally, all secure care facilities offer a full curriculum of care, delivering a range of educational, health and behavioural programmes for the children in their care.

The City of Edinburgh Council – Trauma Informed Care System (TICS)

The City of Edinburgh Council established the Trauma Informed Care System (TICS) model, developed by Willow, in 2014 to provide support to women with complex needs and who present a risk of harm to themselves and others. These individuals often require help from multiple community services and frequently use emergency care and services. TICS aims to improve outcomes for both the individuals and the professionals who support them. Key to this model is the development of multi-agency response plans, ensuring cohesion across multiple services, systems and organisations, and providing consistent trauma informed responses. This is led by social work in collaboration with psychology colleagues and a psychological formulation underpins all work undertaken in the TICS.

Local authorities have also established the Care and Risk Management (CARM) process, which brings together social workers, mental health professionals, and educations to collaboratively assess and manage risks for children exhibiting challenging behaviours.

These existing practice exemplars offer valuable insights into what works well to address local needs. By examining and leaning from these established models and approaches we can build on tested foundations, foster collaboration across services and ensure efficient use of resources.

The Scottish Government agrees with this proposal in principle. Further exploration will be necessary with COSLA – and wider partners - regarding the scalability, impact and value of this model.

6.3 Community-based Hubs

The RSC report also proposes the creation of “community-based hubs” (CBH) - localised, multi-functional centres that provide early intervention, crisis support, and ongoing care within the child’s own community. This model offers the following features:

• Offers a range of services, including mental health support, education, family work, and crisis response.
• By intervening earlier with children in the community, this model aims to prevent the escalation of problems which might otherwise result in a child being placed in secure accommodation.

CBHs would need to be effectively integrated with existing services, such as education, health and social care, to provide holistic support. However, as with MDTs, it is important to recognise that many local authorities in Scotland have been operating variations of CBHs for a number of years.

Fife Council – Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect

Fife Council is developing MST-CAN (Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect), an intensive, evidence-based intervention designed to support families facing complex challenges such as trauma, neglect, and substance use. Building on 15 years of success with MST, this model aims to improve outcomes, reduce risk, and enhance collaboration across services. The multi-disciplinary MST-CAN team works intensively with families in the community to address underlying problems, tackle practical issues and help parents/caregivers to develop the skills to enable children to remain safely at home. The development of the MST-CAN team is underway and is expected to be operational this year.

By learning from existing local authority and regionalised multidisciplinary models, Scotland could develop a network of community-based hubs that provide effective, rights-respecting alternatives to secure accommodation.

The Scottish Government agrees with this proposal in principle. Further exploration will be necessary with COSLA – and wider partners - regarding the scalability, impact and value of this model.

6.4 Engagement

Whilst stakeholders have been broadly positive regarding the principles of the proposals set out in the RSC report, feedback confirmed the need to:

• preserve what is good about the system – improvements, innovations or tests of change must be made with care and be informed by data and evidence.
• improve the coordination and integration between different parts of the child care system. This includes linkages to, and integration with, health services.
• acknowledge that the RSC report represents an important stimulus, but Government thinking must go wider, and link the realisation of the vision back to the inherited constraints, realities and partnerships.