Safeguarding and behaviour management: Staff and young people, community and custody

1. Safeguarding and behaviour management: Staff and young people, community and custody Phil Sutton Head of Business Change and Benefits Realisation, YJB.

2. Wiring Up Youth Justice: What’s it all about? • Wiring Up Youth Justice (WUYJ) is an information and communications technology programme. It is being led by YJB on behalf of Youth Justice Practitioners. • The programme will improve how information is used and shared across the youth justice system (YJS). • Access to information will become quicker, more reliable and more secure. Information will be shared easily between organisations in the YJS and ultimately, with the whole criminal justice and children’s services community. • It is part of our response to the Office of Criminal Justice Reform’s challenge to improve and join up the criminal justice system by 2008. • Extensive research has been conducted to build on the strengths of current practice and plug the gaps where they exist. • Leading youth justice practitioners have been brought in to give shape to the programme and to support and direct IT expertise.

3. What are the Eye and connectivity projects? And what are the benefits? ASSET ROSH PAF PCR PSR YJB Placements Team Electronic Transfer of “Yellow Envelope” Documents (connectivity) Sentenced cases only Youth Offending Teams Secure Estate eAsset (Sentence Management System) Sent via connectivity/SeM Sent via Connectivity/SeM • Quicker transfer to Secure Estate means planning & assessment can start before Young Person arrives • More informed staff at reception give a better start for the Young Person • Asset document is auto-populated directly into eAsset which reduces keying errors • eAsset facilitates the setting of effective sentence plans that are risk led and directly linked to YOT Asset scores • Better informed in making placement decisions • Less time spent faxing • Quicker electronic transfer of information by SeM • More time to complete documentation at Court As we plan to rollout connectivity to YOTs, the Secure Establishments in the same region will be implementing the eAsset system in parallel

4. The key to success at go-live will be the quality of the core Asset document How will we support you? Current National Picture* Asset Sampling locally Build a quality picture for the region 18% of Assets arriving from YOTs into the secure estate were satisfactory and could therefore be used as a basis for sentence planning 37% of core Assets indicating risk of serious harm were accompanied by the correct additional assessment 47% of these Risk of Serious Harm assessments were satisfactory Regional Support Plan Build a plan tailored to the issue locally Asset Quality Training Training Practitioners if required Asset Sampling locally Build a quality picture for the region A quality asset transferred via SeM will ensure accurate and relevant information is transferred quickly to the secure estate for more informed sentence planning *based on a sample from 3 YOIs

5. What are the benefits? • Reducing Risk. Moving relevant and high quality information quickly and securely willcontribute to a reduction in risk to others and reduction in risk of suicide and self harm for young person going into custody • Better data, better policy. With better data, making policy advice and management decisions should be more accurate and effective. • Less paperwork, more time with young people. Sharing information electronically reduces the need for practitioners to re-input data. With less time form filling, more time can be spent with young people. • Better informed decisions, swifter and fairer justice. With all information concerning a young person easily available to practitioners, better informed and quicker decisions can be made in sentence planning and management. • Financially more efficient processes. Better processes are estimated to save the YJS over £10m per annum once the whole programme has been implemented. Wiring Up Youth Justice will enable practitioners to have accurate & relevant information; when they need it, accessible wherever they are working

6. Eye Progress across England and Wales • Eye is now live in 4 English Regions and Wales • Remaining 5 Regions will be live by March 2008 • Change process includes a focus on improving quality of assessment for custody cases • Future Challenges will be finding an appropriate time to move regions from secure email to Connectivity

7. eAsset is an electronic sentence management system for the secure estate What is eAsset? Implications for Practitioners • Simplified system – less duplication • Clarity of recording and holding information • Clarity of functions and structures of sentence planning and ability to develop risk led practice • Increased confidence in sentence planning meetings • Greater effectiveness in developing sentence plans eAsset is an electronic sentence management system that will : • Bring together all the separate sentence planning processes into one system • Hold information on young people and facilitate the setting of effective sentence plans that are risk led • Link objectives and targets to Asset scores and encourage the use of Asset to inform sentence planning • Make assessments and plans accessible • Be logical, not over complex and straightforward to use Implications for Young Person • Sentence plans and processes that make sense to them • Engages them in the sentence planning process • Is individually tailored to their needs and risks • Develops plans that include interventions both in secure and in the community • Emphasises continuation of intervention on release

8. YOI eAsset pilots & rollout eAsset was piloted at Wetherby and Lancaster Farms YOIs from Nov 2005 and is now Live at these two YOI’s plus Castington, Hindley, New Hall, Thorn Cross All 38 secure sites will be live by Spring 09 Benefits reported Better planning of interventions Better risk-led management of young person Less time spent form filling More time spent with Young person The implementation story so far for eAsset eAsset: improving end-to-end Sentence Management “eAsset has meant that for the first time all information on a young person is stored in one place, which allows caseworkers to have more holistic view of the persons time in custody. Without eAsset coordination was very difficult. If a young person was having difficulty in one area, other departments would not necessary know about it” System Administrator, Lancaster Farms YOI “As the young person comes up for release, YOT practitioners need to understand the interventions put in place in custody, and plan the young persons resettlement back into the community. With eAsset, the asset has stayed up to date and more detailed information can be sent to YOTs as they plan resettlement – the whole process is a lot more smoother ” System Administrator, Lancaster Farms YOI