Guidance for looked-after children and young people published by SCIE and NICE urges social workers and social work managers to ensure access to the creative arts, to ‘support and encourage overall wellbeing and self-esteem’ (p.42 of the 2010 guidance.) These guidelines have been updated in 2021 along with a review of programmes aimed to achieve this recommendation. There are no singing programmes listed in this review, however Mindfulness and Yoga appear as studies reviewed here.

A review of youth offending services acknowledged music-making as a form of meaningful activity that can keep children occupied and much less likely to offend. It highlighted the link between poor mental and physical health and offending rates. The review called for a multi-agency response.