Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) orders are being used more frequently in England and Wales on children aged as young as seven years old. The orders are applied when a child is seen to be at serious risk from themselves or others and when depriving them of their freedom is believed to be the only way to keep them safe. The measure is intended to be used as a last resort when alternative arrangements are not immediately available and can be extremely restrictive.
Children may become confined under constant supervision, leading to them being cut off from their families and living in properties and environments which are not designed for care, including hotels and temporary accommodation. A typical placement can often be more than 55 miles away from their home.
Many young people who have experienced DoL orders spoke out and shared their experiences, describing a detrimental impact on their wellbeing, being subject to brutal restraint, and inappropriate restraint.
Since 2018, the use of DoL orders has grown twelve-fold, leading to criticism from the senior family judge in England and the country’s commissioner for children. They describe the issue as a crisis and traumatic for the children involved.
These statements are supported by the stories shared by young people who, for their own safety, were privy to the use of DoL orders. 14-year-old Katy Baxter from Bournemouth was one of the children who was subject to the orders for over two years as a result of absconding from home. The document obtained by the BBC revealed that Katy had serious restrictions placed on her which included 1:1 staff supervision at all times, no access to cash, phones, social media, or unsupervised internet access, receiving lengthy periods without contact with her family and being held across several care homes and different locations, including Bristol.
Although detention was significantly due to concerns about sexual exploitation, Katy notes
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