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Inspections Clinic: Youth offending services

Latest probation inspectorate annual report highlights services striving to tackle disproportionality but management of young offender risk in the community remains a problem, reports Jo Stephenson.
Mentoring schemes for children released from custody were a welcome source of support. Picture: Photographee.eu/Adobe Stock
Mentoring schemes for children released from custody were a welcome source of support. Picture: Photographee.eu/Adobe Stock

The latest annual report on youth offending services in England shows some encouraging improvements alongside areas that need more work. HM Inspectorate of Probation’s report for 2021 details the findings from inspections of 33 youth offending services.

Of those, 70 per cent were rated “good” or “outstanding” and 30 per cent “requires improvement” with none rated “inadequate”.

Chief inspector of probation Justin Russell praised the resilience and commitment of staff amid challenges including the pandemic and an increase in complex cases and violent offending.

The report found a varied response to ongoing challenges posed by Covid-19 but conversations with youth offending service managers revealed a determination to maintain and improve services. Many services had quickly adapted their provision with more of a focus on taking support “out to the child” rather than relying on being in an office.

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