Section two Focus on detention issues Transfers from secure children’s homes (SCHs) Secure children’s homes (SCHs) have very limited experience of transitions directly to the adult estate, because historically they have held younger children who may be less likely to be in custody for long enough to make the transition. Indirect transition, whereby a child moves to a children’s YOI in preparation for making the transition to the adult estate, has tended to be encouraged. However, as a consequence of the considerable rise in the average age of children in custody and the increase in the average length of custody, children in SCHs are more likely to move directly to adult settings. The Children’s Commissioner identified different approaches to transitions in four SCHs visited. The first three of these had identified two or three children who would finish their sentence in the adult estate and the fourth had held two children who would ultimately end up in the adult estate but had been transferred to children’s YOIs in the past year. Secure children’s home 1 This SCH had generally transferred children whose sentences meant they would end up in the adult estate to HMYOI Wetherby as an interim placement. This occurred as a planned move, and was agreed at a review with the child’s Youth Offending Team (YOT) worker and a governor from Wetherby who talked to the child about the arrangements for the move and the differences in regime. The SCH was also given materials about the YOI to be used by key workers to prepare the child for the move. There was no set age at which this process occurred, and there had been debates within the SCH about the advantages and disadvantages of keeping children as long as possible, or transferring them relatively early (especially when a child has a long sentence), in which case there was then a question about whether it was better for them to move onto the next establishment sooner or later. In practice, the transition age was decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on the child’s educational progress and vulnerability. Secure children’s home 2 This SCH had limited experience of transfers, but in the past had generally attempted to negotiate a transfer of the child to the Anson Unit at HMYOI Wetherby (a dedicated unit for children serving long-term sentences) at an appropriate point. This placement would serve as a stepping stone before moving to the adult estate. Secure children’s home 3 This SCH tried to keep children as long as possible, even if their sentence took them a little past their 18th birthday. The SCH took the view that children should remain in the least restrictive form of custody possible for as long as possible, and so would agree with the YJB, at an early stage, that the child would remain in the SCH until the point of transition to the adult estate. In one current case, the SCH were trying to ensure a child due to transfer to the adult estate achieved as highly as possible in education prior to transfer in order to support an argument that he should be sent to an establishment that offered a realistic prospect of progressing to A levels. 53