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

...physical restraint and handcuffs to force compliance instead of using supportive de-escalation techniques. We know from the data how damaging these early experiences can be on a child’s future, and that care leavers face greater risk of poor life outcomes when compared to their peers. For example, as a recent report undertaken by the Hope instead of Handcuffs campaign showed, care leavers make up 25 per cent of the homeless and 24 per cent 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 stati...

Care Talk Article

...physical restraint and handcuffs to force compliance instead of using supportive de-escalation techniques. We know from the data how damaging these early experiences can be on a child’s future, and that care leavers face greater risk of poor life outcomes when compared to their peers. For example, as a recent report undertaken by the Hope instead of 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 demonstr...

We must pledge to change our approach to looked-after children

...�they use restraint or why it was supposedly necessary. Children’s transport provider Serenity Welfare, who funded the report, are calling for greater government oversight in this area. Founder Emily Aklan says that, since the company’s inception 5 years ago, by using de-escalation and mentoring they have never had to use handcuffs on a child. In short – they treat these children how they would want their own family to be treated. Over the past decade, we have seen a 25% increase in the number of children in care. At the same time, funding for early and preventative interventions has been cut by around 60% in real terms. The net result of thi...