Caring for criminals

I recently did an ‘early late sleep’ shift at a home where I’ve worked quite a bit, and was disturbed to find that there were three young adults there with a vulnerable young girl, who were basically criminals awaiting their trials.  One had a tag and was probably going down for all sorts of crime, including drug dealing and car theft, one was regularly assaulting staff, and another (almost eighteen) was at the scene of a murder which had been reported on TV a couple of weeks before and was facing a prison sentence for possession of a fire arm.  I found myself having to constantly face down confrontational young men, and had to drive one of them to Birmingham for an interview with a criminal solicitor.  All of a sudden this relatively settled care home was more akin to a remand centre and the staff there were bravely maintaining some kind of order in the face of some pretty intimidating behaviour.  It was clear also that the young girl there was under pressure from them too; there was definitely some bullying going on and some inappropriate behaviour too.  The manager and the staff there are a fantastic team, but they should not be expected to baby sit career criminals.  I have worked in the education department at Brinsford Young Offenders Prison and feel that pastoral work within that environment is important, but people like these should not be placed in children’s homes; especially among vulnerable kids, and I question the authority that allowed this to happen.