- Children placed in out of home care were found to be 4.5 times more likely to be cautioned or convicted for a criminal offence.
- Care experienced girls were 5.7 times more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system than girls outside of the care system.
- Children referred to welfare services, but not given formal interventions, were twice as likely to be cautioned or convicted compared with those without child welfare services involvement.
Findings, published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect showed that children who receive interventions from child welfare services are more likely to have experienced complex health issues, adversity or maltreatment.
Nathan Hughes from the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations and Calum Webb from the School of Education worked on the three-year study, led by Anna Leyland from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Using administrative records from the Department of Education and Ministry of Justice, researchers examined links between interventions from the child welfare service and the likelihood of contact with the criminal justice system by the time young people reach early adulthood.
Children placed in out of home care were found to be at greater risk of contact with the criminal justice system, being 4.5 times more likely to be cautioned or convicted for a criminal offence. Children referred to welfare services but not given formal interventions were twice as likely to be cautioned or convicted compared to those without welfare service involvement.
The largest impact was found to be on girls within the care system, who were 5.7 times more likely to see criminal justice involvement compared to those outside the care system.
Based on these findings, researchers call for local services to review their practices and policies that may be contributing to the criminalisation of vulnerable children.
This research was funded by ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK), a partnership transforming public sector data into research insights and policy evidence to improve lives. ADR UK is an investment by the Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.