Youth justice roundup

The lives of 14,000 families have been turned around under the Troubled Families initiative, the government has claimed. Latest statistics issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government, show that councils have now identified 80,000 of the hardest to help families who will be targeted for intervention by the programme. A total of 50,000 families are already being worked with - up from 35,000 in March.

A now closed young offender institution for young women has been praised for building good relationships and low levels of self-harm and violence. Inspectors also said young women held at the Rivendell Unit of New Hall Prison in West Yorkshire made adequate progress in education classes, and teaching staff had successfully adapted the curriculum to meet the needs of most. The unit was closed subsequent to the inspection taking place, with all young women sentenced to custody now held in secure training centres or secure children’s homes.

Authorities are failing to identify or support Asian girls who are being sexually exploited research by Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) has found. The report, based on 35 case studies, found that Asian girls are most vulnerable to offenders from their own communities who manipulate cultural norms to prevent them from reporting their abuse. It was found that they are overlooked by front line agencies and “little, if anything” is being done to identify them so they can be helped.

Youth unemployment rose 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, latest data shows. There were 668,000 unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds between May and July, up 9,000 from February to April according to the Office of National Statistics. This put the youth unemployment rate at 19.4 per cent.