Councils must fund YOI social workers
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Local authorities have been told they must stump up the cash to pay for social workers in young offender institutions (YOI) if provision is to continue.
Funding arrangements for the positions, introduced in 2005, have been up in the air for the past two months after attempts to fund them collectively through local authorities floundered.
The 25 posts were originally funded by the government and the Youth Justice Board. But the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) announced last January that responsibility would be shifted to local authorities from April 2009.
The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) attempted to set up a "collective funding agreement" whereby local authorities would split the cost between them.
However, this failed because many councils were unable to make the financial commitment.
CYP Now has learned that ongoing discussions between the DCSF and local authorities have yet to reach a solution.
A DCSF spokeswoman said: "We will continue to work with young offender institutions and individual local authorities on the best solutions in each case but ultimately the responsibility for effective provision in the local area lies with the local authority."
Penelope Gibbs, director of the Prison Reform Trust's programme to reduce child and youth imprisonment, said the posts are critical.
"The squabbling has got to stop because this is about children's welfare.
"It must be possible to find the money - it is a small proportion of the overall cost of the secure estate."
The ADCS was unavailable for comment as CYP Now went to press.
