If this is true, I find it horrifying. If the most vulnerable children in society are treated as little more than criminals, it's just barbaric. Our system is hardly great - I heard some pretty heartbreaking stories at a conference on "corporate parenting" (i.e. the idea that everyone working with "looked-after children" should strive to give them exactly the same chances as they would give their own children) - but it does at least try to work from the premise that none of this is the child's fault and first and foremost they need security and stability.