Care Leavers and the New Offender Management System
Author | Paul Senior |
Pages | 195-198 |
195
THOUGHT PIECE
'Thought Pieces' are papers which draw on the author's personal knowledge and
experience to offer stimulating and thought provoking ideas relevant to the aims of the
Journal. The ideas are located in an academic, research, and/or practice context and all
papers are peer reviewed. Responses to them should be submitted to the Journal in the
normal way.
CARE LEAVERS AND THE NEW OFFENDER
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Jonathan Evans, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Criminology, University of South Wales
Jonathan Evans is a qualified social worker with experience of community development,
youth justice, probation and family court welfare. He worked as both a practitioner and
middle manager. Currently a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Criminology in the University
of South Wales, he is also a Welsh Labour & Co-operative Party councillor on Cardiff
County Council where he chairs the Corporate Parenting Panel.
Putting to one side the ethics and wider potential risks of reconfiguring the mixed
economy of welfare and punishment in favour of the market, this piece seeks to highlight
some of the challenges that young people will continue to experience as they transition to
independent living from the Looked After system. For so me these obstacles will increase
the likelihood of their entry into the adult criminal justice syste m.
The first New Labour government’s Children (Lea ving Care) Act 2000 represent ed a serious
attempt to respond to the well documented gaps in income maintenance and service
provision (Goddard, 2001) delivered to care leavers. Hitherto, the supportive measures
that had, for example, been contained in S ection 24 of the Children Act 1989 were
bestowed on local authorities only as ‘po wers’ rather than ‘duties’. The new statute,
however, placed responsibility on the local authority to put in place a Pathway Plan and
appoint a Personal Advisor to h elp the young person navigate their transition from public
care to independent living. This included advice, guidance and support in such areas as
accommodation, health, education, training and employment; but also involved attention
to such issues as emotional stability and self-este em. This service is in place until at least
the age of 21 years and, in some cases, longer (2 4/5 years). Although young people
British Journal of Community Justice
©2013 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 11(2-3): 195-198
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