Over the last 20 years Next Step Fostering has worked with a high number of young people who were having difficulties in their lives resulting in criminal behaviour. We are also aware that this vast experience needs to be drawn together, with published research in order to provide a Remand Fostering Scheme that recognises the complex associations between family back ground, childhood adversity, education achievement, peer relationships and structural irregularity and discrimination. It is known that less than half of the young people remanded to custody are subsequently given a custodial sentence, which suggests that the evidence of the offence does not warrant custody.
Next Step Fostering has a small group of foster carers who are trained and supported to work with young people involved in the Youth Justice System. We recognise that the service has to be incredibly robust and creative to ensure that the young person has every opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to addressing their offending behaviour.
We recognise that young people move through the Youth Justice System in a variety of ways and that we need to provide a pristine experience for them as they await the outcome of the court process. We aim to provide a warm and caring home as an alternative to custody to anybody and for every young person we ensure they will have:-
foster carers that offer full time commitment their own bedroom space to think and consider their actions support with education, training and employment transport to court appearances understanding regarding their background and family circumstances In order to ensure we meet the courts and our own expectations, we employ a Remand Fostering Co-ordinator, Louise Bowdery who is responsible for promoting the remand and bail support packages,