ABSTRACT
This chapter considers implications associated with the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004, when deprived of their liberty and placed within young offender institutions and secure training centres. Statutory guidance as issued by HM Government defines safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as: protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children's health or development and taking action to enable all children to have the best life chances. Abuse constitutes maltreatment of a child which involves inflicting harm that may include physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect, or the failure to act to prevent harm to a child. Despite growing evidence of the detrimental effects and harmful outcomes associated with the prolonged solitary confinement of children, this remains routine practice within the youth justice secure estate.
