Purpose
Proven or promising international youth justice residence models, frameworks, and tools:
Oranga Tamariki is looking to develop a new model of care for its youth justice residences. As one part of a wider piece of work, the youth justice residences team asked the Oranga Tamariki Evidence Centre to prepare an international literature evidence brief on proven or promising models of care found overseas.
This report provides a high-level summary of the key findings from the main report: International Best Practice Models for Youth Justice Residences: Evidence Brief.
Physical restraint and de-escalation best practice:
This report gives a high-level summary of the Evidence brief: Physical restraint and de-escalation: best international practice as applicable to secure youth justice residences.
Introduced in 2019, the Oranga Tamariki youth justice residences’ model of physical restraint is called Safe Tactical Approach and Response (STAR). This bespoke model was designed and developed by Oranga Tamariki in consultation with the New Zealand Police Tactical Training Wing; as such it draws on some elements of the New Zealand Police’s approach to physical restraint.
Over the past few years there have been concerns about the physical restraint of children in residences in New Zealand. The evidence brief sought to provide evidence from New Zealand and overseas jurisdictions on restraint and deescalation models, policies, requirements for effective approaches and the interface with care models and frameworks.
Methodology
Proven or promising international youth justice residence models, frameworks, and tools:
Academic and professional journal articles, books, and book chapters were collected using EBSCO and Google Scholar. Using Google, the review also encompassed:
- specialist journals that cannot be accessed through academic journal databases
- grey literature from government and other agencies, and
- websites including evidence-based and systematic review sites.
As well exploring literature on overseas youth detention centres, system-models, Manualised Evidence-Supporte Treatment (MEST) programmes, frameworks, and evidence-based practices, five illustrative overseas case studies were developed from Spain, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and Australia.
Physical restraint and de-escalation best practice:
Academic and professional journal articles, as well as some book chapters were identified using EBSCO and Google Scholar. In instances where no content, or only abstracts, were available, alternative sources were used where possible to access material e.g. the MSD library service and inter-library loan access, Google, ResearchGate, and DeepDyve.com.
Although most of the literature for the review comes from academic journal articles, using Google the review also encompassed:
– grey literature from government and other agencies and organisations; and
– select evidence-based and organisational websites.
As terminology varies across countries, the use of search terms and search strategies were generally iterative rather than pre-determined.
This evidence brief has some limitations:
- As an evidence brief rather than a full literature review, this report aims to represent a good, but not necessarily an entirely comprehensive, summary of existing literature.
- This report focuses on physically restraining children (and the much more limited research on de-escalation). However, the way individual researchers and jurisdictions define and frame physical restraint, and the extent to which they conceptually link its use with forms of seclusion, varies widely. As such, wherever identified or not, some researcher’s published findings may go beyond physical restraint.
- There has been some recent growth internationally in the available empirical and theoretical literature on the use of physical restraint with children in residential care. However, this mostly comes from the US, Canada and the UK; while no comparative international studies have been identified, some anecdotal evidence would suggest that the use of physical restraint in residential childcare may be much less widespread in non-Anglo-American countries.
- The topic generally remains under-researched. Most of the empirical research is relatively small-scale, and since 2002 only two relevant systematic reviews (i.e. Roy et al., 2021; Slaatto et al., 2021) by Canadian and Norwegian researchers respectively, appear to have been published.
- As most research studies occur in a national or state/province context that reflects particular legal, policy and practice approaches and orientations to child welfare and mental health in particular, there are limitations on the extent to which overseas findings can be applied to New Zealand.
- While perhaps understandable, it is worth noting that across the literature there is generally little differentiation between the use of 'appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ physical restraint i.e. 'appropriate’ as a last resort and for the shortest period possible by well-trained and supported staff that fully complies with the law and organisational policy, and ‘inappropriate’ where that is not the case and may be a breach of criminal law or the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Association for the Prevention of Torture, n.d.; United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, n.d.).
- There is no New Zealand research on the use of physical restraint with children in statutory care. Furthermore no New Zealand studies on the physical restraint of children in Education or Corrections settings has been identified either, although there has been one recent New Zealand study in a child and adolescent mental health inpatient unit (Black et al., 2020).
- No studies have been identified on the use of restraint and Indigenous children.
Key Results
Proven or promising international youth justice residence models, frameworks, and tools:
The evidence brief identified some international system models that have promising aspects, including:
- The Missouri Model of Juvenile Rehabilitation – a move from large correctional facilities to smaller, therapeutic environments.
- Close to Home – this is a New York City programme based on Missouri with the addition of some higher-level security features.
- Washington State Juvenile Rehabilitation Integrated Treatment Model – a clinical approach incorporating elements of the Risk-Need-Responsivity framework.
- Multifunctional Treatment in Residential and Community Settings – a Scandinavian programme combining residential care with support at home and working with families.
- Secure Children’s Homes – this network in England and Wales accommodates vulnerable children in ‘home-like’ facilities with high staff ratios.
Physical restraint and de-escalation best practice:
The review of international best practice approaches to physical restraint and de-escalation in youth justice residences determined that:
- the area is under-researched and data is often incomplete
- there are usually negative consequences when restraint is used
- young people appreciated that sometimes restraint was used (and was necessary) to keep them safe
- getting the basics right, e.g. effective management and supervision, professional standards and a well-resourced workforce can help to improve child and staff safety
- an organisation/system-wide commitment to a culture where violence and aggression are not tolerated is needed.
The review of international best practice approaches to physical restraint and de-escalation in youth justice residences determined that:
- the area is under-researched and data is often incomplete
- there are usually negative consequences when restraint is used
- young people appreciated that sometimes restraint was used (and was necessary) to keep them safe
- getting the basics right, e.g. effective management and supervision, professional standards and a well-resourced workforce can help to improve child and staff safety
- an organisation/system-wide commitment to a culture where violence and aggression are not tolerated is needed.