A retired judge says the growing use of deprivation of liberty (DoL) safeguarding orders is symptomatic of a “catastrophic failure“ to provide suitable care for children with complex needs.
Sir James Munby said the UK Government has failed to address the lack of suitable care in any effective way.
Retired judge Sir James Munby has raised concerns about the lack of suitable placements for vulnerable children with complex needs
Application of DoL orders
DoL orders allow the High Court to lock up children in unregulated placements when beds are unavailable on mental health wards or at regulated children’s homes.
Munby, a former president of the family division of the High Court, shared his views in The Guardian.
He said DoL orders should only be used as a last resort. However, they had now become “the norm”.
Last year, there were as many as 1,368 applications for DoL orders.
A few years ago, the number of applications was considerably lower. Data from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) for England, covering 2020/21, showed 579 applications that year.
‘Disgraceful and utterly shaming’
Munby recounts how, almost seven years ago, in August 2017, he did what he could for a 17-year-old girl. She was self-harming and needed a therapeutic unit when none could be found.
The former judge wrote that the case involving the girl, who had a history of suicide attempts, was “disgraceful and utterly shaming”.
Munby added that “desperate children are being detained, cut off from their families, with no contact with the outside world and without the therapeutic treatment they need so badly”.
He accused the Government of doing “nothing” to improve the situation. Society as a whole shared the blame for failing to demand action, he added.
Another voice of opposition
Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, has also raised her voice in opposition to the growing use of DoL orders.
In a statement, she said she wanted to see more “therapeutic, supportive homes for children”. She said children with DoL orders have some of the “most serious and complex needs”. She added that they “deserve the same love and care as any other child”.
The Department of Education and NHS England say they are working together to improve outcomes for children who are subject to DoL orders.
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Published: 18 June 2024
