The awful practice of handcuffing children during transport must end | Sarah Champion

The awful practice of handcuffing children during transport must end | Sarah Champion The awful practice of handcuffing children during transport must end | Sarah Champion Local authorities often use private service providers to transport children in their care, but unlike schools or care homes, transport providers are not required to report when they restrain or use handcuffs on a child That’s why I'm supporting the “Hope instead of Handcuffs” campaign, which is calling for instances of restraint against looked-after children in private transport to be reported to the proper authorities, as well as an end to the handcuffing, restraining or caging of ch...

Hope not handcuffs

...andcuffs campaign showed, care leavers make up 25% of the homeless and 24% of the prison population. They are also more likely to suffer with poor mental health and more likely to be classified as Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), in the years after they leave school. These statistics demonstrate exactly how looked after children are slipping through the cracks in the system. There is a clear disparity between how the general public view, and therefore treat, children within the care system compared to those outside it. Looked after children are considered to be more responsible for their behaviour and actions than their peers. This leads to many...

Children's rights campaigner Aklan calls for change of narrative around looked after children

...Writing for CareTalk, Emily Aklan, founder of Serenity Welfare and the children’s rights campaigner behind the Hope Instead of Handcuffs initiative, calls for a change of attitude around vulnerable young people and urges government to help dispel the myth that such youngsters are responsible for their own troubles and invest in the services they require. In my many years of working with vulnerable young people, one thing which never fails to shock me is the negative attitudes targeted towards children in care. The archaic view of looked after children as “little thugs”, responsible for their problems, is more widespread than we might like to admit....

Children's rights campaigner Aklan calls for change of narrative around looked after children

...Writing for CareTalk, Emily Aklan, founder of Serenity Welfare and the children’s rights campaigner behind the Hope Instead of Handcuffs initiative, calls for a change of attitude around vulnerable young people and urges government to help dispel the myth that such youngsters are responsible for their own troubles and invest in the services they require. In my many years of working with vulnerable young people, one thing which never fails to shock me is the negative attitudes targeted towards children in care. The archaic view of looked after children as “little thugs”, responsible for their problems, is more widespread than we might like to admit....

The Government must take action to stop data gaps from putting our children at risk

...andcuffs campaign found in its recent report, this reflects a wider attitude, particularly in Government, that children living in or on the edge of care in England are a problem to be dealt with, rather than a human being that needs to be understood, helped and supported. Data gaps like this are a common obstacle when it comes to addressing the challenges facing children in England’s care system. Not only is no data collected on self-harm in the system, but no data is also collected on other harmful practices, such as restraint. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the secure transportation of care-experienced children. If a child living in or on the edge...

Care Talk Article

...Handcuffs campaign showed, care leavers make up 25% of the homeless and 24% of the prison population. They are also more likely to suffer with poor mental health and more likely to be classified as Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), in the years after they leave school.   These statistics demonstrate exactly how looked after children are slipping through the cracks in the system. There is a clear disparity between how the general public view, and therefore treat, children within the care system compared to those outside it. Looked after children are considered to be more responsible for their behaviour and actions than their peers. This leads to...