Date: Wednesday 9th September at 11.30am

Earlier this year due to lockdown, we were unable to run our workshop on the Use of secure accommodation for welfare purposes in Wales. ExChange Wales will now be running a free webinar in its place. We’ll be recording this webinar and it will be made available shortly after the live event. If you’re unable to join us on the day please visit the Cascade channel to view the webinar following the event.

Abstract

Secure accommodations are residential homes with approval to restrict the liberty of young people aged 10 -17 years of age who are a serious risk to themselves or to others. While young people often enter secure (or alternative) accommodation via the criminal justice system, many are placed by social services for welfare reasons and there is little sign of this practice diminishing. This troubling situation is further complicated by a scarcity of secure placements in Wales which sees many young people being placed outside of Wales or having no bed in secure care due to a lack of availability.

At present there is little research evidence of what had led to this or what can be done to improve matters. To give better insight a recent project commissioned by Social Care Wales and conducted by CASCADE at Cardiff University explored the experiences of young people from Wales prior to, during and following a referral to secure accommodation. Many findings caused deep concern and led to a series of recommendations.

The workshop will give an opportunity for practitioners and managers to hear about the study and its findings, and use these as a platform for collaborative discussion of

  • The study recommendations
  • The extent to which the recommendations map onto practice experience and whether they would profit from amendment
  • Barriers envisaged when implementing the recommendations
  • How such barriers could be overcome

Presented by:
CASCADE: Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre, Cardiff University

Related Link(s)
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