Editorial: YJB chair must stand up to political heat
By Ravi Chandiramani
Children & Young People Now
23 January 2008
The government has at last ended its search for a permanent chair of the Youth Justice Board (see p7). Frances Done's appointment rounds off a turbulent 12 months for the YJB, for it was this very week last year that Rod Morgan resigned the post.
Morgan issued a famous parting shot at the government, portraying the increase in the criminalisation of children as "swamping" and the arresting of young offenders for minor crimes as picking off "low-hanging fruit" to meet police targets. Upon its creation in the summer, the Department for Children, Schools and Families took joint responsibility for the...