Inspections Clinic: Youth offending services

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.

“In a number of our discussions with services, there was a real sense of hopefulness and pride, particularly around how services had adapted, how staff and children had responded, and the creativity that had enabled services to continue to deliver interventions,” says the report.

In October 2021, the inspectorate published a report on support and supervision of black and mixed heritage boys, which found significant deficits in the quality of work with this group.

Less than half of the cases examined for the report were good enough when it came to the quality of assessment and planning.

Since then, the inspectorate says it has stepped up its work around diversity and racial equality and reports services are striving to address “disproportionality”.

For example, Plymouth Youth Justice Service analysed its caseload and found violent offences made up 93 per cent of alleged crimes committed by children from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background.

“By examining the cases in detail, including talking to the children directly, the youth offending service identified racist incidents as the key factor in this disproportionate rate of violent offending,” says the report.

In response, the service worked with a local organisation that supports black, Asian and minority ethnic families to set up an on-site support service for young people, with bespoke hate crime and respect programmes.

Children sentenced to custody are some of the most vulnerable as well as presenting a risk to others.

HM Probation recently started inspecting “resettlement” work to help children and young people coming out of custody reintegrate back into society.

The report includes ratings for seven services inspected on resettlement with three rated “good” and four “requires improvement”.

Inspectors found a mixed picture when it came to the development of resettlement policy. “The best policies set out the arrangements for the provision of the key elements of a comprehensive resettlement programme such as accommodation, education, training and employment, healthcare, substance misuse, finance and debt, family support and contact,” says the report.

Some areas had mentoring schemes for children released from custody which were “a particularly welcome additional source of support to them”.

Russell said the new inspection standard had encouraged services to examine their practice in this important area.

“Many have reviewed or introduced new ways of working and there is an increased focus upon ensuring resettlement work is of high quality – this must now be put into practice,” he said.

The inspectorate carried out detailed analysis of 362 court cases and 315 cases dealt with outside the courts since its last annual report.

Many of the key issues identified in previous reports remained. The quality of work to identify factors driving young people towards crime and understand underlying social and welfare needs was strong with 78 per cent of cases meeting quality standards for “desistance” work.

However, inspectors continued to raise concerns that safety and wellbeing risks were being underestimated for some children, meaning they were missing out on much-needed support.

Meanwhile, the weakest area of performance continues to be the management of risk of harm to others by children on youth offending team caseloads.

“In services that were strong on risk management, case managers drew together evidence on both current and historical issues and behaviours, and on information from other sources such as the police, social care, health and education to come up with assessments and plans that were well-informed and strengths-based,” says the report.

“They also made sure to pay sufficient attention to the needs and wishes of victims and opportunities for restorative justice.”

Weaker services did not draw on a wide enough range of information and failed to consider children’s patterns of behaviour or practical steps to minimise risks.

“This meant risks were often under-assessed and misclassified,” says the report.

Out-of-court disposals

The overall quality of case management for children subject to out-of-court disposals was found to have improved compared with the previous year (see case study).

Good quality assessments and planning were key to effective implementation.

“Case managers focus on developing and maintaining a good relationship with children and their families and enable the child to engage with their out-of-court disposal,” says the report.

“They consider how to protect actual and potential victims and ensure that the services delivered are appropriate to minimise the child’s risk of harm to others.”

In addition to inspecting individual cases, the inspectorate introduced a new standard in July last year, which rates policy and practice on out-of-court disposals.

Of eight inspections that included the new standard, two areas were found to be “good”, five were rated “requires improvement” and one was rated “inadequate”.

Access to education, training and employment is widely accepted to be crucial in preventing children and young people reoffending.

As in previous years, inspectors found significant numbers of children had education, health and care plans but their needs were not always reflected in youth offending team assessments and casework.

Sometimes staff had not managed to get hold of a child’s plan “due to ineffective communication between the youth offending service and with education departments”.

When reviewing cases, many inspectors found exclusion from school could be linked to the onset of offending or a sharp increase in offending. Recognising this, Cheshire Youth Justice Service has worked with schools to ensure children are not automatically excluded if found in possession of a knife or weapon.

• Report from www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/inspections/yar-2021/
  
  

OUT-OF-COURT DISPOSAL WORK DRIVES ‘REMARKABLE’ TURNAROUND IN BLACKPOOL

In 2018, Blackpool Youth Justice Service (YJS) was rated “inadequate” overall by HM Inspectorate of Probation, which found several areas of poor practice.

Less than three years later and a joint inspection by the regulator, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Care Quality Commission found the service had made significant improvements.

Following the visit in May and June 2021, its rating jumped to “good” overall with some elements rated “outstanding”.

Inspectors found the service had been through a substantial reorganisation since their last visit and highlighted the importance of Blackpool Council’s wider Blackpool Families Rock strategy developed with local families.

Key features include a focus on building trusting and honest relationships, providing the right support, and strengths-based practice – viewing children, young people and families as resourceful and resilient in the face of difficulty

Inspectors found this approach reflected in the work of the YJS. “The model of practice was routinely reflected in practice across the partnership and supported the delivery of effective plans and intervention,” noted one inspector.

The inspectorates found a stark contrast in staff morale and confidence compared with the previous inspection. “Morale is high, staff have been given improved access to training and view their managers as making a positive contribution to the quality of work,” says the report.

Before, 42 per cent of staff rated their supervision as “poor” or “very poor” but those surveyed for the latest inspection reported supervison was “quite good” or “very good”.

Previously, only 41 per cent felt they fully had the skills and knowledge to deliver high-quality services to children whereas now all staff feel they have most of the skills and knowledge they need.

In 2018, inspectors found there was no up-to-date analysis of the needs of children subject to YJS supervision.

“There is now detailed information and this is supported by analysis with all relevant aspects of the children’s circumstance being identified and monitored,” says the report.

In particular, inspectors noted a big improvement in out-of-court disposal arrangements, previously rated “inadequate” for each of four key standards.

Case inspections “show a remarkable improvement in performance”, it added. Of the records examined, 80 per cent met all requirements for assessment, two thirds met standards for identifying risk of harm to others and all met expectations for joint working between agencies.

The inspectorates made seven recommendations for improvements including work to address the “unacceptably high” level of young people in contact with the services who were not in education, employment and training.

INSPECTIONS SHORTS

SCHOOLS
Ofsted is to get new powers to crack down on illegal schools in proposed legislation announced in the Queen’s Speech. The Schools Bill includes new powers for the regulator to gather evidence and act against schools operating illegally. It also removes loopholes that allowed some settings not to register as a school despite having children attend during most – or all – of the school week.

SOCIAL CARE
There is a “lack of collective knowledge” around the needs of children in care, according to a new study by Ofsted. The report – Why do Children go into Children’s Homes? – draws on surveys of children and children’s home staff and insights from inspectors and others. It found the needs of children were very diverse and there was usually more than one reason children were living in a home. The report calls for further research including a national audit of children’s needs.

EARLY YEARS
Ofsted has promised a stronger focus on work with the early years sector. The regulator’s strategy for 2022 to 2027 pledges to boost support for childcare settings and the early years workforce, which have been hit hard by the pandemic. This will include more training for inspectors, research to support best practice, and work with government to simplify regulation for childminders. “This strategy aims to increase our support for a workforce that is so deeply devoted to what it does,” said Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman.

SOCIAL CARE
Inspectors have highlighted a “decline in the quality” of children’s services in York since they were last inspected six years ago. Services were rated “requires improvement” in all areas following an inspection visit in March. Ofsted found significant variation in the quality of services and social work and said change had been too slow despite increased investment. However, some areas of effective practice were highlighted, including the multi-agency safeguarding hub, early help services and virtual school.

HEALTH
Services in Buckinghamshire for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) are falling short, according to inspectors. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission carried out a joint inspection in March and found “significant areas of weakness” in provision, including delays in families accessing key services such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, autism assessments and other health appointments. Local partners have been told to produce a written statement of action to show how weaknesses will be addressed.