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Three years ago Malcolm Heppolette and his wife Debbie decided to foster young offenders awaiting their cases being heard in court. One young man, 'Marcus', is staying with the family at the moment.
The Heppolettes have three daughters and Marcus. Marcus is a 15 year-old young offender awaiting trial. The idea is that he lives with them so that he needn't go into a remand centre.
The Heppolettes find that the youngsters they foster benefit by being removed from their peers. This means that they are not pressurised into further wrong-doing.
The Heppolettes' three young daughters like having Marcus around. He's a "cool big brother" and they think he's really fun.
Malcolm and Debbie are youth workers and saw a need for youth to spend time away from their families. They realised that youngsters were getting into trouble because of something that happened at home. They've even gone as far as having their house extended to accommodate teenagers like Marcus.
They have also had to make practical changes to their lives. The girls, for example, aren't allowed to stay in the house alone with any of the young offenders. Other people think the Heppolettes are mad to have three young girls and a young offender in the house. But as Debbie says, there is always going to be a problem when you have someone come into your home who you don't know. She says, "We have to manage the risk".
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