The word "justice" is highlighted in green marker on a page in a book

News: Investment announced for new Bairns’ Hoose test sites across Scotland

Posted 02.06.23 by Alice Hinds

New funding has been announced to establish Bairns’ Hoose test sites across Scotland, providing “coordinated, comprehensive support under one roof” for children and young people in the justice system.

Informed by the Barnahus model, which was first developed in Iceland, local authorities, health boards, the Police and third sector organisations will partner to apply for a share of the new £6 million fund for 2023-24, establishing safe spaces where children, as victims and witnesses, can access a range of trauma-informed support.

Currently, according to Children 1st (click here for more), children involved in a crime may have to relive what has happened to them up to 14 times, speaking with different people in different settings, including police, social workers, doctors and nurses. Sometimes this happens without a family member or loved present, adding to the trauma of being a victim or witness of crime.

Implemented as a key action from The Promise (click here for more), and underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Bairns’ Hoose model ensures therapeutic support, child protection, recovery and justice services are available in one place.

Available support will include Police and social work-led joint investigative interviews, including deployment of the new Scottish Child Interview Model, health and wellbeing assessments, and counselling services for both the child and wider family.

The fund is expected to enable five multi-agency test sites to be created, with learning providing a blueprint for a full pilot of Bairns’ Hoose in 2025.

Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise, Natalie Don said: “The creation of Bairns’ Hoose is a key action in Keeping the Promise and I would like to pay tribute to the determination and resilience to everyone who has contributed their expertise and time to help bring the Barnahus model to Scotland.

“The experiences of the children who will access Bairns’ Hoose are in many cases absolutely appalling and ones which nobody, let alone a child, should have to go through.

“This funding marks a significant step in the development of Bairns’ Hoose in Scotland, and offers us a chance to provide wrap around care, recovery and justice for children in a way which best responds to their trauma, needs and circumstances.”

Last year, Children in Scotland joined a partnership, led by Children 1st, calling for the development of a Barnahus model in Scotland, and our Manifesto for 2021-26 (click here for more) includes a call for political parties to commit to learning from the findings of the Scottish Barnahus pilot.

News: New child-led research into justice in Scotland

Posted 22 April 2022, by Jennifer Drummond

Children think justice should create an opportunity to learn from mistakes and have a second chance, new research reveals.

‘Thinking About Justice’, which explored children’s aspirations for and understanding and experiences of justice in Scotland, found that children often felt powerless and judged, and highlighted the important role adults play in their experiences.

The research from the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) reports children’s aspirations for justice include being heard, access to support and services, and equal and better treatment for everyone.

Commissioned and funded by the Scottish Government, CYCJ worked with 32 children in online and face-to-face youth-led workshops, encouraging children to raise issues that were important to them.

Research findings

Key themes emerging from the research include:

Support for traditional philosphies of punishment
Rehabilitation as the most significant aspect of justice, with a clear recognition of underlying causes of the offending behaviour
The desire for a protection of the sanctity of childhood
The importance of trusted, respectful and child-centred relationships in ensuring a child’s access to justice is fully supported
The role of gender, with girls in particular feeling forced to change behaviour to avoid misogyny or gender-based violence.

Children also shared their feelings of being victims of unjustified surveillance (being watched or followed) and pre-emptive warnings about causing trouble.

They also shared a deep mistrust and dissent for formal processes of justice, viewing alternative, informal, community-based systems of justice as fairer and more effective.

Ensuring young people’s experiences are shared

Fiona Dyer, Director of the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice said:

“Building a truly rights-respecting justice system in Scotland requires an understanding of children and young people’s conceptualisation of justice, which was why we undertook this research.

“That children and young people experience justice differently to adults is not surprising to hear, given that conceptions and the implementation of justice have been almost exclusively developed and designed through the eyes and needs of adults.”

"There are opportunities for children and young people to influence change in the justice system. However, this tends to focus on aspects of the system, or processes, rather than conceptualisations of justice.

The focus on rehabilitation was encouraging, as it suggests that children may be supportive of the significant development in sentencing guidelines for young people, which prioritise rehabilitation as a central aspect of the judicial process. In addition, the children’s desire to be heard in relation to issues that are important to them has significant implications for The Promise, UNCRC incorporation, and aspirations for a rights-respecting youth justice system.

As Scotland moves further towards alternative approaches to traditional justice and punishment, it is our hope that these findings will play a significant role in improving outcomes for children and young people who come into conflict with the law, and all those affected.”

Launched on Wednesday 20 April, full research findings are available in a variety of formats including a full report, a summary animation and a child-friendly version.

Click here for more information