Secure accommodation units at risk amid capacity concern
Admissions were paused at St Mary's Kenmure in Bishopbriggs – one of the four independent charities offering secure care – after the Care Inspectorate raised 'serious and significant' concerns, warning taking in more people could create 'serious risk to the life' of residents.
New admissions resumed in December, but capacity was restricted to 12 of the overall 24 spaces.
The Scottish Government announced four new beds in March, made available at Rossie in Montrose.
Capacity issues have been ongoing but exacerbated by law changes which requires under-18s sentenced to prison to be transferred to secure accommodation units.
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Scottish Tory MSP Roz McCall raised concerns vulnerable children may be 'overlooked' for secure care without more social workers and more beds.
While the Children (Care and Justice) Act has been welcomed, she told The Herald: 'It was to stop young people going into young offenders units. Nobody wants to be putting someone under the age of 18 into jail – but where were the judiciary going to put them? They were going to just look at it and send them to secure accommodation.
'That is exactly what has happened, which means that people who need to go to secure accommodation for their own wellbeing are now being overlooked because the judiciary is using the spaces.
'Those vulnerable young people are either left in an environment at home that might be a very toxic and traumatic experience for them, or they are going to have to put them into residential care, which comes with its own problems.'
She added: 'We just don't have the social workers. We said at the time the Care and Justice Act was going through parliament that we needed 500 more social workers to be able to enact this.
'We're a year on and we do not have the social workers. The whole system is grinding to a halt and the Scottish Government is not prepared.'
'This is not just an urgent problem, I think it is beyond urgent,' she said.
'It is a categorical failure.
"With every day that goes on and you're talking about a child from a traumatic background who experiences trauma, if they don't get the right support and they don't get the right care, then that just exacerbates that trauma.
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"Not only have they had a traumatic experience in their family, but that it is being made worse by a system that is meant to help them. That is a problem.
"The current state of the system is quite shocking. We are not looking after people properly.
"I am very, very concerned that if this is the status quo, the next time we have another statement from the minister, or another six months down the line, the amount of children that we will have failed will be absolutely shocking and what happens to them for the rest of their lives?'
The change in law followed a spate of suicides of young people detained in young offenders' institutes.
It freed up around 70 prison places and followed former first minister Nicola Sturgeon's pledge to 'keep the promise', which committed to ending the placement of 16 and 17-year-old's in young offenders' institutions.
Figures on secure accommodation are updated daily, with Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton, Kibble Education and Care Centre in Paisley and St Mary's in Bishopbriggs at capacity.
Rossie, in Montrose, has just two spaces available if a vulnerable young person is sent there.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Secure accommodation is the most complex form of care for children in Scotland and means capacity can shift daily. We have increased the number of beds available since the start of this year and there is currently capacity in the secure care estate.
'Decisions around the placement of children in secure accommodation remain with the relevant expert decision makers and the best interests of each child are prioritised in placement decisions.
'While employers are responsible for ensuring there is sufficient workforce capacity, the Scottish Government is contributing to capacity-boosting efforts and increasing access to social work qualifying programmes.
'From the next academic year, we are uplifting the annual postgraduate social work bursary to £11,000.'
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