Almost all children deprived of liberty in national court subject to “constant supervision”

Almost all the children deprived of their liberty in the first 12 months of the National Deprivation of Liberty (DoLs) Court were subject to “constant supervision”, often by more than one adult, the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) has found.

According to the latest data collected by the NFJO, a total of 1,249 children have been subject to DoL applications in the year to June 2023, because of concerns about their welfare.

The National DoLs Court was set up by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, to improve the process for considering applications for under 18’s to be deprived of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court.

Described as a “last resort”, the measure allows children to be placed under severe restrictions.

While almost 60% of children subject to deprivation of liberty (DoL) orders were aged 15 or over, a “small but significant” number of applications (9.3%) were for children under 13, said the NFJO.

According to the organisation’s analysis of the first 12 months of data from the National DoLs court, almost all of the children were subject to “constant supervision”, often by more than one adult, and the use of restraint was permitted in more than two-thirds of cases.

Although DoL orders are intended as a temporary measure, the NFJO found that more than two thirds of children deprived of their liberty in the first two months of the court (July and August 2022) were still subject to a DoL order “almost six months later”.

Outlining the potential factors for an increase in orders, the organisation cited “an increase in the number of older children coming into care, a reduction in the number of children placed in youth custody, the closure of secure children’s homes, and falling numbers of inpatient child mental health beds”.

The NFJO’s analysis of 208 files from the court showed that almost all children (96.6%) were already in care at the time of the DoL application. Further, during their time in care, more than half of children had experienced the breakdown of multiple placements.

The NFJO found that in the majority of cases (62.3%), children were reported to have experienced “ongoing exposure” to issues in the family home, including neglect, abuse, parental substance misuse, and “other adversities throughout their lives”. The organisation added that the actual figure is “likely to be far higher”.

Lisa Harker, director of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, said: "We have to ask, is this care or incarceration? Our evidence shows that these are some of our most vulnerable children. Many have faced ongoing trauma, or have learning and physical disabilities, or are at risk of sexual or criminal exploitation, and their needs are simply not being met, and at worst more damage is being done.

“The number of children deprived of their liberty in unregulated placements has substantially increased in recent years, possibly more than doubled since 2020/21 according to the data available to us – illustrating an urgent need to rethink how we care for children with complex needs.

“There is no simple solution – but we must start with what we know about these children and the care they need to keep them safe and have meaningful lives."

Last month, Ofsted warned that “too often”, children subject to deprivation of liberty (DoL) orders are placed in illegal unregistered settings without external oversight.

The regulator has updated its guidance on how it prioritises applications to register children’s homes when local authorities need urgent placements for children.

Lottie Winson