Kirklees Youth Justice Service urged to improve by inspectors
Friday, October 22, 2021
Kirklees Youth Justice Service (YJS) has been rated “requires improvement to be good” by inspectors.
The West Yorkshire service “has been through a period of instability and significant challenge, including a restructuring and the Covid-19 pandemic, and this is reflected in our ratings,” said chief inspector of probation Justin Russell.
During an inspection carried out in June and July this year, inspectors found that improvements are particularly required in work with children who have received out-of-court disposals, where less than half the cases looked at were deemed to be satisfactory.
Inspectors also highlighted the “inconsistent involvement” the YJS has in joint-working panels – where decisions are made as to what type of out-of-court disposal a child receives – and have advised the service to share information and their recommendations to these panels more effectively.
The inspection report notes that the reason for some of Kirklees’ shortcomings were exacerbated by low staffing levels, which has had an impact on the quality of service the YJS is able to deliver, although inspectors noted that recruitment had recently improved.
Russell added: “Training for staff at Kirklees YJS is comprehensive but learning and development must be more consistent and address the needs of all staff. However, this has not impacted staff in terms of their ability to develop supportive and meaningful relationships with children under their supervision. There is a motivational attitude which I see as being key to the service’s continued improvement.”
Inspectors have made a series of recommendations for improvement at Kirklees YJS which include ensuring that management oversight and quality assurance of practice is more rigorous and effective, implementing plans and actions to reduce the over-representation of black and mixed heritage children engaged with the service, and improve the quality of assessment, planning and review for out-of-court and court disposals, specifically focusing on keeping the child safe and managing the risk of harm to others.
