The Scottish Government provided the first report on the review of the operation of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 to the Scottish Parliament in June, and here Debbie Nolan, Practice Development Advisor at the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ), and Kate Mackinnon, Policy Associate at CELCIS, discuss what changes this Act was designed to bring about.

The Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 has now been in place for over a year and as more provisions of the Act commence, it’s important to remind practitioners what this means in practice. The Act aims to shift our understanding of what children need as they grow up, by prioritising a rights-based approach to youth justice and a shift in the consistency of the support available to all children who need care and protection.

Better understanding children’s needs will help us ensure the right support is provided when it is needed, especially when the behaviours of children include risk taking or when a child is in conflict with the law. Successful implementation of the Act relies on understanding how to listen to, support, and protect older children to stop the ‘cliff-edge’ of support when young people transition from children’s services to adult services.

Nearly twenty years after the creation of Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC), Scotland has cultivated a shared understanding that all children and young people should be able to access support across many services, although there is still work to do to for this to be realised.

We know that detaining children in Young Offender Institutions when they are in conflict with the law is not the best place for them to receive the support and care that may be necessary; that some young people need continued support after they turn 18, and that some 16 and 17 year olds who need support from the Children’s Hearings System can’t get this.

In CYCJ’s research into the policy reality for children and young people journeying through the justice system, young person Alex, said:

“Secure is more likely to help me if I was in there for a long period of time. I’ve been in and out, in and out of prison… This place doesn’t help me. I’d be better in secure.”                        

We know too that there is a need for better regulations to support young people who end up so far from home, often across local authority borders, when they should be cared for much closer to family and friends; and that support for people hurt by children who are supported in the Children’s Hearings System can be more complicated than it should be. This is where the new Act comes in. 

Understanding the needs of children

Children who require care and protection have nearly always been through traumatic or difficult life experiences, as well as disruption to their relationships, schooling or home lives. What the evidence tells us is that these experiences must be met with timely, compassionate, high-quality support that is tailored to the needs of each individual child. Where they aren’t, children’s distress can be compounded over time. An understanding of child development tells us that unmet needs in children can have significant and long-lasting consequences to their mental and physical health and wellbeing later in life and may mean these children require more support from services further down the line.

We’ve also seen that across Scotland, children and young people are experiencing critical gaps in accessing the support they might need, when they need it. Older children in particular can struggle to get the support they need from stretched services, especially where services are focused on the needs of younger children. The availability of services is being exacerbated by current funding constraints, the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis and so much more, affecting them and putting pressures on families. In order to achieve the aspirations of The Promise of the Independent Care Review, GIRFEC and adhere to children’s rights under the UNCRC, as well as existing and new legislation, Scotland must ensure services have adequate and consistent resources, staffing and infrastructure to provide support to children and young people who have experienced harm.  

What are the main changes within the Act?

The Act includes one particularly important change, which when commenced, will raise the age of referral to the Principal Reporter for children’s Hearings from the age of 16 to 18. The Principal Reporter is the professional head of the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) and is responsible for making decisions about a young person, including whether they require a children’s Hearing. Currently, access for 16- and 17-year-olds to the Children’s Hearings System is limited. Children deserve better. The Act is therefore intended to ensure that more children will be able to access support from the Children’s Hearings System if they need it. CYCJ’s Key Messages for Youth Justice describes how the Act “will end the current two-tier system of justice for 16- and 17-year-olds where some are legally defined as adults and go through the criminal justice system, whilst others are referred to the Children’s Hearings System or experience a child friendly justice system.”

Children’s Hearings, when terminating an order, will also be required to consider whether there is a continuing need for support or guidance after a child turns 18, and if so, the local authority will have a duty to offer this until the young person turns 19.

Another key aspect of the Act that was commenced in late August 2024, prohibits the use of Young Offender Institutions for all children, ensuring that where a children may be a significant risk to themselves, or others in the community, they should be provided with intensive child-appropriate support in secure accommodation. All children cared for in secure accommodation will be treated as a ‘looked after’ child under legislation and entitled to support that recognises their needs, risks and vulnerabilities.   

The Act, importantly, also considers those who have been hurt by children, with a new national service that is currently being developed to provide a single point of contact for information and support, to be provided to anyone who has been harmed by a child and is supported by the Children’s Hearings System.

Next steps for practice

Practitioners need to be aware of the changes and understand the provisions of the Act that may affect the care and protection of children they are supporting, particularly when children are in conflict with the law. CYCJ has produced an information sheet and briefing with the practice implications to help anyone working in this area.

The measures in the Act come into effect on a rolling basis at different times over the coming months. It will require people and organisations working together to support these changes by developing practice and services to accommodate these key changes so that the needs of any and all children can be better addressed.

Read the CYCJ Information Sheet

Read the CYCJ Briefing Paper

Read the CYCJ webpage on the Act

 

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