More than 70 measures are set out in the Inclusive Britain plan, many of which include improving outcomes for children and young people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.
The plan includes a government commitment to stop using “aggregated and unhelpful terms such as BAME, to better focus on understanding disparities and outcomes for specific ethnic groups”.
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Tackling Youth Violence: Special Report
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Case study: Matching in foster care and how we can improve it
It was created in response to the Black Lives Matter protests across Britain in 2020 with some new measures set to start next month.
Existing programmes targeting young people at risk of violence and exploitation are also noted in the plan.
Measures included in the report focused on children and young people include:
Early years
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A new maternity disparities taskforce will be set up to improve maternal health outcomes for ethnic minority women.
Education
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The Department for Education will carry out an analysis in early 2022 to understand pupil attainment and investigate whether there are any specific findings and implications for different ethnic groups to tackle disparities.
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The DfE will take action to improve the quality of education outside mainstream schools including in alternative provision in a bid to improve outcomes for children at risk of being excluded from school. These proposals are part of the forthcoming schools white paper and the SEND (special educational needs and disability) review set to be announced in the coming weeks, the report notes.
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Measures to improve educational outcomes for minoritised groups include the launch of a £30m, three-year programme to set up new SAFE (Support, Attend, Fulfil and Exceed) taskforces led by mainstream schools to deliver evidence-based interventions for those most at risk of becoming involved in serious violent crime.
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A £15m investment in a two-year programme to pilot the impact of placing full-time specialists in alternative provision in the top 22 serious violence hotspots has also been pledged.
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The DfE plans to “phase in” an extended school day, prioritising disadvantaged areas to provide pupils with the opportunity to engage in physical and cultural activities.
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The government has committed to ensuring all schools are teaching an inclusive curriculum.
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The DfE will, in collaboration with the Equality Hub, work with leading schools to help them create a resource on pupil hairstyles and uniform policy.
Health
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A new office will be established to target health disparities in the UK, focusing on research, communications and expertise to reduce health inequalities across all groups, including children and young people.
Social care
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The children’s commissioner for England will undertake a review to investigate and take action to address the underlying issues facing families from minoritised backgrounds beginning in April 2022.
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The DfE will launch a campaign to boost adoption numbers among children from ethnic minorities.
Youth justice
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The plan commits to diverting young people away from the criminal justice system by tackling the disproportionate criminalisation of young adults, “who are often from ethnic minority or deprived backgrounds”. Measures suggested to meet this aim include improved access to existing drug and violence diversion schemes.
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The plan also says that the government will ensure that young people from ethnic minorities receive the legal advice they need when in police custody.
Youth unemployment
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Plans are in place to create a targeted apprenticeships campaign to inform young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, facing discrimination or disadvantage, of the full range of career pathways open to them and encourage them to take up apprenticeships in growth sectors.
The report comes as research from a raft of social care organisations finds that one in 10 social workers has considered leaving their role due to racism while a serious case review by Hackney Council found that racism was a factor in the strip-search of a 15-year-old girl at a school in east London by two police officers.
