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

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales2 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 Wales3 The Reforms  Misspent Youth  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 Wales4 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 Wales5 Elements of the new arrangements

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales6 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 Wales7 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 Wales8 Courts  Youth court  Speed – the Persistent Young Offender Pledge - PYO (Tackling delay)  Engagement  Crown Court

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales9 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 Wales10 The structural arrangements for the reformed system

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales11 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 Wales12 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 Wales13 Department for Education and Skills DEPT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS Department of Health YOUTH JUSTICE BOARD (NDPB) COURTS LOCAL AUTHORITY CHIEF EXECUTIVE YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS (YOTS) 154 – LOCAL FOCUS SOCIAL SERVICES POLICE PROBATIONEDUCATION HEALTH CUSTODIAL PROVIDERS PRISON SERVICE LOCAL AUTHORITY SECURE INDEPENDENT SECTOR National and local accountabilities HOME OFFICE (CORRECTIONAL SERVICES) Welsh Assembly

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales14 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 Wales15 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 Wales16

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales17 Assessment

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales18 Structured Assessment - Asset  Comprehensiveness  Consistency  Quality  Openness  Resource allocation  Develop evidence base  Measure the impact of supervision

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales19 Key requirements for Asset Appropriate for offenders aged 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 Wales20 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 Wales21 Stages at which Asset is used in the Youth Justice System Final Warnings Court Bail/Remands Referral Orders Pre Sentence Reports/ SSIs Mid Order (ISSPs, DTOs) End of Order (all orders) Final Warning Asset (short) Bail Asset (short) Core Asset Profile RO Panel APOs ACOs SOs CPOs CPROs DTOs S53/92 ‘What do YOU think?’

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales22 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 Wales23 Components of ASSET Core Profile Offending Career Living Arrange- ments Neigh- bourhood Family & personal Education Employ- ment Motivation Attitudes to offending Thinking Behaviour Perception self / others Emotional /Mental Health Physical health Lifestyle Substance Use Offending behaviour

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales24 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 Wales25 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 Wales26 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)

 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? Consider the following:

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

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales29 Interventions

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales30 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 Wales31 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 Monitor the performance of the youth justice system to identify gaps in effective practice and emerging best practice Deliver support and resources to address gaps in performance

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales32 Performance Management An approach towards continuous improvement

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales33 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 Wales34 Yots are also influenced by other performance frameworks

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales35 Yot Assessment Framework – using a basket of measures

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales36 Underlying drivers of Yot performance Performance Resources Staff recruitment and retention Adequacy of resourcing for workload Range and quality of programmes 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] Partnership Working Financial and operational support for Yot performance Governance and Leadership Performance and Quality Systems Performance People and Organisation Recruitment and retention Performance management Training and skills Yot organisational structure Effectiveness of performance management – 13 indicators/EPQA Accuracy and value of data Ownership of targets by staff Internal administration Composition and operation of steering group Position within local authority Links with other strategic bodies Leadership

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales37 Improver? Progress on underlying drivers now needs to feed through into improved performance Struggler? Is there a credible improvement strategy in place with senior buy- in? Star? Strong performance and foundations Concerns? Performance improvement is unstable or weaknesses emerging that may hit performance? Need an in-depth understanding of performance to target improvement effort High LowPerformance Capacity and Capability KPI data

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales38 Outcomes

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales39 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 Wales40 Main Findings from Yot recidivism cohorts  Consistency in overall results over time. Re-offending After 24 Months Pre-Court34.3%34.0%35.4% First – Tier56.6%57.1%57.7% Comm-Pens70.0%69.4%73.8% Custody69.9%71.5%72.7% Total47.8%48.2%50.0% N =

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales41 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 Wales42 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 Wales43 Thank You