The Reformed Youth Justice System in England and Wales

1. The Reformed Youth Justice System in England and Wales Chris Wright Head of Performance – Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

2. Content • The reform process • The role of the Youth Justice Board • Youth Offending Teams – multi-agency partnerships • Structured Assessment • Performance management • Impact Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

3. The Reforms • Misspent Youth - 1996 • Reform Crime and Disorder Act 1998 • Re-organised services • Structured pre-court interventions • Choice of sentences • Speed and engagement • Choice of intervention • Performance management Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

4. Statutory Principal Aim The principal statutory aim of the youth justice system: “The prevention of offending by children and young people” Crime and Disorder Act Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

5. Elements of the new arrangements Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

6. Organisation • Local Youth Offending Teams • Established by local authorities • 5-service partnerships • Common objectives and culture • National Youth Justice Board • Standards, drives delivery • Home Office – law and policy Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

7. Pre-court • Reprimand, Final Warning (replacing multiple cautioning) • Police –Yot interface • 50% of throughput (c.80,000 disposals per annum) • Interventions, restorative justice • Court at third offence Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

8. Courts • Youth court • Speed – the Persistent Young Offender Pledge - PYO (Tackling delay) • Engagement • Crown Court Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

9. Sentences/Interventions • Reparation and Action Plan Orders • Attendance Centres • Community sentences • Intensive Supervision and Surveillance (tagging) • 2 part custody – the Detention and Training Order; (Yot lead) • Referral Orders (Restorative Justice Panel – comprising community volunteers) Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

10. The structural arrangements for the reformed system Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

11. The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales • Established by 1998 Crime and Disorder Act • Independent non-departmental government body • Up to 12 Board members and executive • Advises Home Secretary on the operation of the YJS • Monitors the operation of the YJS Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

12. The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (cont’d) • Awards grants in the pursuance of best practice • Commission and purchase secure residential places • Commission research and disseminate effective practice • Place young people into secure accommodation Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

13. National and local accountabilities HOME OFFICE (CORRECTIONAL SERVICES) Welsh Assembly Department for Education and Skills Department of Health DEPT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS YOUTH JUSTICE BOARD (NDPB) • CUSTODIAL PROVIDERS • PRISON SERVICE • LOCAL AUTHORITY SECURE • INDEPENDENT SECTOR COURTS LOCAL AUTHORITY CHIEF EXECUTIVE YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS (YOTS) 154 – LOCAL FOCUS POLICE HEALTH SOCIAL SERVICES PROBATION EDUCATION Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

14. Local Structure Local Authority Youth Offending Teams (Yots) • Multi-agency teams: Including Police, Probation, Health, Education and Social Services • Overseen by Partnership management boards • Links to other statutory and community agencies Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

15. Local Structure (Cont’d) • Locally funded with additional national YJB grants • Responsible for the planning and provision of youth justice services Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

16. Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

17. Assessment Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

18. Structured Assessment - Asset • Comprehensiveness • Consistency • Quality • Openness • Resource allocation • Develop evidence base • Measure the impact of supervision Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

19. Key requirements for Asset • Appropriate for offenders aged 10-17 • For use at different points in YJ system • Identify key risk factors • Provide a score to predict re-offending • Measure change over time • Assess risk of serious harm • Highlight issues for further assessment Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

20. ASSET • takes into account static (unchangeable) factors and dynamic factors which help identify targets for intervention • includes criminogenic and welfare needs • identifies problems and positive factors • combines numeric element with emphasis on evidence for decisions Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

21. Stages at which Asset is used in the Youth Justice System Final Warnings Final Warning Asset (short) Court Bail/Remands Bail Asset (short) Referral Orders Core Asset Profile RO Panel Pre Sentence Reports/ SSIs APOs ACOs SOs CPOs CPROs DTOs S53/92 Mid Order (ISSPs, DTOs) ‘What do YOU think?’ End of Order (all orders) Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

22. ASSET - Purposes • An aid to professional judgement • An aid to case management • An aid to the development of knowledge • An aid to the management of resources ASSET is a tool for use - not a substitute for professional judgement or simply a paper exercise Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

23. Living Arrange- ments Motivation Family & personal Attitudes to offending Offending behaviour Education Employ- ment Thinking Behaviour Neigh- bourhood Perception self / others Lifestyle Emotional /Mental Health Substance Use Physical health Components of ASSET Core Profile Offending Career Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

24. Positive Factors • Strong/stable relationships with adults • Education/work enhances confidence • Friends not involved in offending • Positive and constructive use of spare time • Self efficacy • Having goals and ambitions and life aims • Opportunity for “turning points” • Resilience • Available help and support Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

25. Indicators of Vulnerability and Self-harm • Could the young person be vulnerable as a result of the behaviour of others? • Could the young person be vulnerable as a result of other events or circumstances? • Could the young person be vulnerable as a result of his/her own behaviour? • Could the young person be at risk of self-harm or suicide? • What are the protective factors that might reduce his/her vulnerability and the risk of self-harm Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

26. Indicators of Serious Harm to Others • Evidence of previous serious harmful behaviour • Indicators of intentions to harm • Potentially significant other behaviour (e.g. cruelty to animals) Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

27. Consider the following: • Were these factors linked to past offending - are they more or less relevant now? • Direct or indirect link • Always relevant to offending or only on certain occasions • Is the effect on offending behaviour immediate or over a longer period • Will it lead to offending by itself or only in association?

28. 0 1 2 3 4 Not associated at all 0 Slight, occasional, limited, indirect 1 Moderate but definite 2 Quite a strongly associated, normally a direct link, relevant to most types / occasions of offending 3 Very strongly associated. Clear direct link, dominant factor 4

29. Interventions Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

30. Effective Practice -interventions • Evidence base • Thematic approach • Key Elements of effective practice (15) • Quality Assurance process (Yot self-assessment and YJB validation) • Measure compliance – practitioners, managers and strategic partners • Improvement plans • Revise evidence base Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

31. Identify interventions that are effective in addressing risk factors through research and monitoring Promote the application of effective interventions through grants, practice guidance, and learning programmes Deliver support and resources to address gaps in performance Monitor the performance of the youth justice system to identify gaps in effective practice and emerging best practice Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

32. Performance Management An approach towards continuous improvement Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

33. Yot performance framework • The different components of the Youth Justice Board’s performance framework are intended to ensure that the Board’s corporate aims and objectives for the youth justice system are delivered Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

34. Yots are also influenced by other performance frameworks Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

35. Yot Assessment Framework – using a basket of measures Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

36. Underlying drivers of Yot performance • Composition and operation of steering group • Position within local authority • Links with other strategic bodies • Leadership Governance and Leadership Performance and Quality Systems • Effectiveness of performance management – 13 indicators/EPQA • Accuracy and value of data • Ownership of targets by staff • Internal administration • Partnership Working • Financial and operational support for Yot performance Performance Performance • Local context • Volume and risk of offenders • Deprivation • Infrastructure of services (rural) • [Local context influences performance but is unlikely to change in the short-term] • People and Organisation • Recruitment and retention • Performance management • Training and skills • Yot organisational structure • Resources • Staff recruitment and retention • Adequacy of resourcing for workload • Range and quality of programmes Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

37. High Capacity and Capability Low Performance High KPI data Need an in-depth understanding of performance to target improvement effort Star? Strong performance and foundations Improver? Progress on underlying drivers now needs to feed through into improved performance Concerns? Performance improvement is unstable or weaknesses emerging that may hit performance? Struggler? Is there a credible improvement strategy in place with senior buy-in? Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

38. Outcomes Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

39. The Earlier You Intervene the Better…. No. Recidivism • Pre Court 74,000 35% • First Tier 48,000 58% • Second Tier 28,000 74% • Custody 8,000 73% Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

40. Main Findings from Yot recidivism cohorts • Consistency in overall results over time. Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

41. A success story? Still much progress to be made but: • 156 Yots established • A model for public sector service delivery (Audit Commission 2004) • By 2002 the re-offending rate for young offenders had dropped by 7.4% compared with 1997 • Progressing towards achieving 80% of youth justice workforce having benefited from National Qualification Framework Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

42. But! • Very high use of custody (currently c. 3,000) • Re-offending levels slipping back towards 1997 figures • Constantly changing service delivery environment • Need to maintain focus on youth crime prevention and reduction Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

43. Thank You www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk Youth Justice Board for England and Wales