National Preventive Mechanism Eighth Annual Report 2016–17 Secure children’s home 4 In this SCH, it was suggested to Children’s Commissioner’s staff that the YJB were unwilling to support lengthy post-18 placements because of cost, despite changes to Care Standards regulations allowing SCHs to do so. The tendency was for girls to remain at the SCH if they were to be released within six months of their 18th birthday, but boys were more likely to be transferred unless they were due to be released soon after turning 18. Where it was clear that children would end up spending considerable time in the adult estate, the SCH was developing a planned approach to prepare them for the transition. In one case, a boy had been transferred to the Keppel unit at HMYOI Wetherby at the age of 17 for a period, to prepare for his move to a young adult YOI. In another case, it was agreed that a 15-year-old boy on a life sentence, who had consistently been held on the enhanced regime, would be transferred to the Anson unit at Wetherby. The SCH had arranged for a case worker from the Anson unit to speak to the child about the regime he would be moving to. In preparation, the SCH moved him to a standard size bedroom and gradually towards a less generous regime with fewer possessions and reduced privileges that would be more similar to the regime he would experience in the YOI. After the move, he contacted the SCH to thank them for helping him to prepare for the change. 54 Transfer from Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre to Hydebank Wood Secure College In 2016, nine boys transitioned from Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre to Hydebank Wood Secure College in Northern Ireland, all of them aged 18. Four of them were sentenced and five on remand. No girls had made the transition. A protocol between Woodlands and Hydebank Wood aimed to support the successful transition of children through effective information sharing and collaboration. The principles underpinning the protocol were that children eligible for transition be identified at the earliest point, and their individual needs (to include legal status, risk of harm to self and others, mental health, physical health, education, training and employment, ethnicity, race, religion, culture and participation in reducing offending programmes) were reflected in a transition plan focused on providing a flexible and continuous service. Prior to transition, the child was given a pack of information (including a DVD and photographs) about Hydebank Wood. All relevant information about the child (including about education) should be shared before they moved to adult services, and the child and their families should be involved in the planning. Though the protocol states that a transition planning meeting should take place three months before transfer, in practice due to uncertainties around children getting bail, it was often only held a month before. After the child had been transferred, representatives from Woodlands were able to attend meetings and visits if required.