Family Law

At 31 March 2017, there were 203 children accommodated in secure children’s homes in England and Wales, a decrease from 210 last year.

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The Secure Accommodation Handbook is a complete guide to the law, practice and procedure in relation to Secure Accommodation Orders, which so fundamentally affect children, their freedom and the care planning for them.

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This statistical first release (SFR) gives statistics on children accommodated in secure children’s homes at 31 March 2017 and includes data from England and Wales.

This release includes information on the number of approved places and children accommodated by:
gender;

• age;
• length of stay; and
• type of placement.

Key findings from the report include:

• The number of places contracted to the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has shown an even greater decrease, from 138 places at 31 March 2016 to 117 places at 31 March 2017.
• At 31 March 2017, 80% of approved places in England and Wales were occupied, decreasing from 83% at 31 March 2016. The occupancy rate at 31 March has fluctuated between 70% (2013) and 83% (2010 and 2016) in the period between 2010 and 2017.
• The percentage of children placed on welfare grounds at 31 March 2017 has increased to 51% from 50% in 2016. Children detained or sentenced and placed by the Youth Justice Board has increased to 46% from 42% in 2016. Whereas children placed by local authorities in a criminal justice context has decreased to 3%, down from 8% in 2016.

Click here to view the full report.