Academics warn of risk to youth justice progress
Neil Puffett
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A "constructive" approach to tackling youth offending risks being lost if the Ministry of Justice moves to restrict the role of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), academics have warned.
The YJB was handed a last-minute reprieve in November, when the government announced a U-turn on controversial proposals to axe the quango.
Writing for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS), two leading youth justice academics said the government's change of heart on the body had a positive impact on the way the YJB has operated since November.
“Despite reasons to be critical of its past behaviour and activities, the YJB has recently embarked on a different trajectory - more outward-facing, consultative, research-aware and constructive,” Stephen Case, lecturer in criminal justice at the Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology, and Kevin Haines, professor of criminology and youth justice at Swansea University, said.
“Rather than being marginalised, our work and that of others has been evaluated by the YJB and we have participated in consultations regarding the future of youth justice.
“A notable outcome has been YJB proposals for significant revisions to the assessment and intervention process based on prioritising holistic assessment and promoting children’s rights.”
But the report said the more constructive approach adopted by the YJB is under threat as the government explores the future scope of the organisation.
“We hope that these positive characteristics are not damaged or impeded by any changes resulting from Ministry of Justice restrictions following the YJB’s reprieve, but that they are fostered and flourish in the future,” Case and Haines added.
The pair’s article was one of four debating whether the decision to reprieve the YJB was a good one.
Enver Solomon, policy director at The Children’s Society, who also contributed, said that the YJB must ensure work to help troubled children is joined-up at government level.
“Now the YJB is to be retained, the challenge is to make the case for it to adopt a greater focus on child welfare and for there to be formal cross-departmental arrangements or protocols to ensure that those departments with responsibility for child health, education and welfare are fully involved in the development of policies and services in youth justice,” he wrote.
