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Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in England and Wales

Report on youth offending work in:

Bexley

2012ISBN: 978-1-84099-494-0

2 Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Bexley

Foreword

This Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Bexley took place as part of the Inspection of Youth Offending programme. We have examined a representative sample of youth offending cases from the area, and have judged how often the Public Protection and the Safeguarding aspects of the work were done to a sufficiently high level of quality.

We judged that the Safeguarding aspects of the work were done well enough 64% of the time. With the Public Protection aspects, work to keep to a minimum each individual’s Risk of Harm to others was done well enough 51% of the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to reoffend was done well enough 66% of the time. A more detailed analysis of our findings is provided in the main body of this report, and summarised in a table in Appendix 1. These figures can be viewed in the context of our findings from Wales and the regions of England inspected so far – see the Table below.

Bexley was a small YOT in one of the safest boroughs in London, but nonetheless over half the cases we looked at were for offences of violence. Their location within the Directorate of Education and Social Care gave them ready access to other specialists, which supported effective multi-agency working, particularly in the area of child Safeguarding. The YOT was striving hard to support children and young people with whom they were working and to ensure that plans were in place to sustain achievements beyond the end of their court orders.

Particularly in relation to work to reduce the Risk of Harm to others, we consider this a rather disappointing set of findings. Other areas of work required less development. We were encouraged that the YOT appeared well motivated to learn from this inspection and to improve practice for the future.

Liz Calderbank HM Chief Inspector of Probation

January 2012

Scores from Wales and the English regions that have Scores for

been inspected to date Bexley Lowest Highest Average

‘Safeguarding’ work 37% 91% 68% 64%

(action to protect the young person) ‘Risk of Harm to others’ work

36% 85% 63% 51% (action to protect the public) ‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work

43% 87% 71% 66% (individual less likely to reoffend)

Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Bexley 3

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the staff from the Youth Offending Team, members of the Management Board and partner organisations for their assistance in ensuring the smooth running of this inspection.

Lead Inspector Helen Rinaldi

Practice Assessor Dave Cohen

Local Assessor Severine Aare

Support Staff Andy Doyle

Publications Team Alex Pentecost; Christopher Reeves

Assistant Chief Inspector Julie Fox


Contents

Page

Acknowledgements 4

Scoring and Summary Table 6

Recommendations for improvement 7

Next steps 7

Making a difference 8

Service users’ perspective 9

1. ASSESSMENT AND SENTENCE PLANNING 10

1.1 Risk of Harm to others (RoH) 10

1.2 Likelihood of Reoffending (LoR) 11

1.3 Safeguarding 13

2. DELIVERY AND REVIEW OF INTERVENTIONS 15

2.1 Protecting the public by minimising Risk of Harm to others 15

2.2 Reducing the Likelihood of Reoffending 16

2.3 Safeguarding the child or young person 17

3. OUTCOMES 19

3.1 Achievement of outcomes 19

3.2 Sustaining outcomes 20

Appendix 1: Scoring summary of sections 1-3 21

Appendix 2: Contextual information 22

Appendix 3: Inspection Arrangements 23

Appendix 4: Characteristics of cases inspected 24

Appendix 5: Scoring approach 25

Appendix 6: Glossary 26

Appendix 7: Role of HMI Probation and Code of Practice 28



Scoring and Summary Table

This report provides percentage scores for each of the ‘practice criteria’ essentially indicating how often each aspect of work met the level of quality we were looking for. In these inspections we focus principally on the Public Protection and Safeguarding aspects of the work in each case sample. Accordingly, we are able to provide a score that represents how often the Public Protection and Safeguarding aspects of the cases we assessed met the level of quality we were looking for, which we summarise here1. We also provide a headline ‘Comment’ by each score, to indicate whether we consider that this aspect of work now requires either MINIMUM, MODERATE, SUBSTANTIAL or DRASTIC improvement in the immediate future.

Safeguarding score:

This score indicates the percentage of Safeguarding work that we judged to have met a sufficiently high level of quality. This score is significant in helping us to decide whether an early further inspection is needed.

Score:

64%

Comment:

MODERATE improvement required

Public Protection – Risk of Harm score:

This score indicates the percentage of Risk of Harm work that we judged to have met a sufficiently high level of quality. This score is significant in helping us to decide whether an early further inspection is needed.

Score:

51%

Comment:

SUBSTANTIAL improvement required

Public Protection - Likelihood of Reoffending score:

This score indicates the percentage of Likelihood of Reoffending work that we judged to have met a sufficiently high level of quality.

Score:

66%

Comment:


We advise readers of reports not to attempt close comparisons of scores between individual areas. Such comparisons are not necessarily valid as the sizes of samples vary slightly, as does the profile of cases included in each area’s sample. We believe the scoring is best seen as a headline summary of what we have found in an individual area, and providing a focus for future improvement work within that area. Overall our inspection findings provide the ‘best available’ means of measuring, for example, how often each individual’s Risk of Harm to others is being kept to a minimum. It is never possible to eliminate completely Risk of Harm to the public, and a catastrophic event can happen anywhere at any time – nevertheless a ‘high’ RoH score in one inspected location indicates that it is less likely to happen there than in a location where there has been a ‘low’ RoH inspection score. In particular, a high RoH score indicates that usually practitioners are ‘doing all they reasonably can’ to minimise such risks to the public, in our judgement, even though there can never be a guarantee of success in every single case.

1 An explanation of how the scores are calculated can be found in Appendix 5


Recommendations for improvement (primary responsibility is indicated in brackets)

Changes are necessary to ensure that, in a higher proportion of cases:

(1) a timely and good quality assessment and plan, using Asset, is completed when the case starts (YOT Manager)

(2) specifically, a timely and good quality assessment of the individual’s vulnerability and Risk of Harm to others is completed at the start, as appropriate to the specific case (YOT Manager)

(3) as a consequence of the assessment, the record of the intervention plan is specific about what will now be done in order to safeguard the child or young person from harm, to make them less likely to reoffend, and to minimise any identified Risk of Harm to others (YOT Manager)

(4) the plan of work with the case is regularly reviewed and correctly recorded in Asset with a frequency consistent with national standards for youth offending services (YOT Manager)

(5) there is regular and effective oversight by management, especially of screening decisions and plans to manage Risk of Harm to others and vulnerability, that is clearly recorded within the case record, as appropriate to the specific case (YOT Manager).

Next steps

An improvement plan addressing the recommendations should be submitted to HM Inspectorate of Probation four weeks after the publication of this inspection report. Once finalised, the plan will be forwarded to the Youth Justice Board to monitor its implementation.

We are considering a range of options to help achieve improvements given our particular concerns about the Risk of Harm to others work.


Making a difference

Here are some examples of Bexley YOT work that impressed us.

Assessment and Sentence Planning

Brenda had a history of non-compliance and had disengaged from education for some time. The case manager referred her to the YOT education worker at the start of her 12 month YRO and between them they worked hard to try to engage her. When it was realised that she was unlikely to cope with formal education, a weekly session with a mentor was arranged to help her work towards readiness. This intervention enabled Brenda to take a small but very positive step in the right direction of reintegration back into education.

General Criterion: 1.2

Delivery and Review of Interventions

Joshua, aged 14, had been the victim of a gang-related stabbing earlier in the year and was stabbed again the day after commencing his YRO, suffering substantial injuries. Further attacks were considered likely. A pre-discharge meeting was held whilst he was in hospital, involving the YOT, police, community safety, health and children’s social care services. This meeting enabled all the agencies to contribute to the management of his vulnerability and multi-agency work continued after his discharge from hospital. Several weeks later Joshua’s mother left the city and the YOT promptly reported him as missing, resulting in him being arrested in another area. As a result of the concerns expressed by all the agencies involved, Joshua was placed in a secure unit under an interim care order so as to reduce both his vulnerability and the Risk of Harm he posed to others.


Outcomes As Richard was serving a short referral order, his case manager recognised from the outset that she needed to concentrate on exit planning, focusing on the relationship between Richard and his mother. She organised a range of counselling services for him, which included a college counsellor (for coping with daily life in college), GP counselling (for dealing with the trauma of having witnessed domestic abuse) and support from the YOT health worker (who focused on healthy relationships). She endeavoured to ensure these services complemented one another and positive outcomes were achieved, with Richard successfully finishing his college course and joining the Territorial Army.


All names have been altered.


Service users’ perspective

Children and young people

Fourteen children and young people completed a questionnaire for the inspection.

◈ All respondents knew why they had to come to the YOT and what would happen to them there.

◈ All felt that the YOT workers were either completely or mostly interested in helping them and had listened to what they had to say.

◈ YOT workers had made it either very or quite easy to understand how they could help the children and young people. One said their YOT worker “explained everything in detail and made sure that I understood before he moved on to another subject”.

◈ Twelve of the respondents were on a referral order; all knew what a referral order contract was and had discussed it with their YOT worker. All but one had been given a copy of the contract to keep.

◈ Only one of the two other respondents, who were both on a YRO, knew what a sentence plan was. This child or young person had discussed theirs with their YOT worker but did not recall whether they had been given a copy of it.

◈ Nine of the respondents recalled completing a What do YOU think? self-assessment form. Four could not recall completing one and one said they had not done so.

◈ Ten children and young people said that life had improved for them as a result of the work done with the YOT. One commented “I have stopped bunking school”. Another said “my family are happy all the time now because I’ve stopped my naughty behaviour”.

Victims

Although questionnaires were sent by the YOT to victims of offending by children and young people, unfortunately none were returned.


1. ASSESSMENT AND SENTENCE PLANNING

OVERALL SCORE: 58%

1.1 Risk of Harm to others (RoH):

General Criterion:

The assessment of RoH is comprehensive, accurate and timely, takes victims’ issues into account and uses Asset and other relevant assessment tools. Plans are in place to manage RoH.

Score:

57%

Comment:


Strengths:

(1) RoSH screenings were completed in all but one case examined and on time in over three-quarters of cases.

(2) The RoSH classification was judged to be accurate in the majority of cases (82%).

(3) Where required, RoSH analyses were completed in all but one case and over three-quarters were on time.

Areas for improvement:

(1) Only half of all RoSH screenings were considered to be accurate.

(2) Similarly, only one-quarter of RoSH analyses were of sufficient quality. Too often, previous behaviours by the child or young person and risks to victims and potential victims had not been fully considered. For example, aggression at school or in the home did not always feature within RoSH analyses where no formal charges had been laid.

(3) The RoH assessment drew adequately on all appropriate information in a little over half of the cases, which was something of a missed opportunity given how well integrated the YOT was with other key agencies such as children’s social care services and the police.

(4) RMPs were completed in only half of the 14 cases where required. These were timely in only three cases and only two were judged to be of sufficient quality. There was a range of reasons for the inadequacy of RMPs, including lack of clarity over roles, responsibilities and the planned response.


(5) Management oversight of RMPs was considered to be effective in only two relevant cases. We saw many examples of inadequate RMPs passing the local quality assurance test.

(6) Where there was no requirement for an RMP, or where one had not been produced, the need for planning to manage RoH issues had been recognised and acted upon in just under half of relevant cases.

(7) Details of the RoH assessment and management were appropriately communicated to staff and other agencies in half of all relevant cases. Again, this was somewhat surprising, given the YOT’s aptitude for multi-agency working.

(8) Overall, we judged the management oversight of RoH assessments to be effective in only one-quarter of relevant cases.

1.2 Likelihood of Reoffending:

General Criterion:

The assessment of the LoR is comprehensive, accurate and timely and uses Asset and other relevant assessment tools. Plans are in place to reduce LoR.

Score:

58%

Comment:


Strengths:

(1) Initial assessments of LoR were carried out in all the inspected cases and were on time in over three-quarters of these.

(2) Efforts were made to actively engage the child or young person in the assessment in just over three-quarters of cases.

(3) Custodial sentence plans were in place and regularly reviewed in all but one case and these generally included positive factors and addressed those issues most likely to impact on reoffending.

(4) Similarly, all but one community case included a sentence plan or referral order contract; nearly three-quarters were completed on time and addressed the most pertinent issues related to reoffending.


(1) The quality of initial assessments of LoR was considered sufficient in only half of the cases examined. In many assessments, the underpinning evidence was either unclear or inadequate, or key issues were missed, such as diversity factors or offending-related vulnerability.


(2) Greater effort could have been made to actively engage parents/carers in the initial assessments; they were involved in only two-thirds of relevant cases.

(3) The preferred learning style of the child or young person was assessed in only 30% of cases and, whilst the YOT encouraged the use of the What do YOU think? questionnaire, this informed the initial assessment in only three cases. It tended to be completed later as a means of engaging the child or young person once their order was under way.

(4) The initial assessment was reviewed at appropriate intervals in only 58% of cases.

(5) Custodial sentence plans were timely in two-thirds of cases. These were well integrated with RMPs in only one-third of cases, and were generally unresponsive to the child or young person’s diversity needs and learning styles.

(6) Similarly, community sentence plans were not well integrated with RMPs in 60% of cases, although these were slightly more responsive to diversity and learning styles than their custodial equivalents.

(7) Sentence plans were often vague or appeared to be lists of practitioners’ intended actions, rather than being focused on achievable change and realistic goals for the child or young person.

(8) There was a need for greater prioritisation of RoH issues within sentence plans in both custodial and community cases. Both types of plan suffered from actions not being well sequenced or sensitive to diversity issues.

(9) Children and young people were actively involved in the planning process in half of all cases and their parents/carers in only one-third.

(10) The YOT were actively involved throughout the custodial planning process in two-thirds of cases.

(11) Although other agencies were actively involved, as appropriate, in a number of cases, substance misuse and mental health services could have had greater input into the planning process in 70% and 56% of relevant cases respectively.

(12) Sentence plans were reviewed at appropriate intervals in 56% of community cases.


1.3 Safeguarding:

General Criterion:

The assessment of Safeguarding needs is comprehensive, accurate and timely and uses Asset and other relevant assessment tools. Plans are in place to manage Safeguarding and reduce vulnerability.

Score:

57%

Comment:


Strengths:

(1) Asset vulnerability screening had been completed in all cases examined and on time in over three-quarters of these.

(2) The secure estate had been made aware of vulnerability issues either prior to or on sentencing in all relevant cases.

(3) In the majority of cases (86%), YOT workers had contributed to the assessments and plans of other agencies, in order to safeguard the child or young person.


(1) Only half of vulnerability screenings were of sufficient quality. We found some cases where significant notable factors, such as a history of self-harm, had been overlooked or underestimated.

(2) Seventeen cases required a VMP, but only eight of these included one. Of these, four were completed on time and only one was of sufficient quality. Often, roles and responsibilities lacked clarity (seven cases), the planned response was inadequate or unclear (six cases) or diversity issues were not sufficiently covered (three cases).

(3) VMPs rarely informed interventions (three cases) or other plans (in one of seven relevant cases).

(4) Safeguarding needs were reviewed as appropriate in 58% of cases.

(5) As with RoH assessments, management oversight of vulnerability assessments left much room for improvement; it was judged to be effective in only 14% of cases.


COMMENTARY on Assessment and Sentence Planning as a whole:

Assessment and Planning was undoubtedly the area of work which we felt needed most attention. New assessments were often copied from previous ones in order to meet deadlines for their completion and essential information regarding risk and vulnerability was sometimes missed. Plans were not ‘child- centred’, perhaps because the input from the child or young person (via completion of the What do YOU think? form) was often delayed until the order was well under way.

It was disappointing that the integration of the YOT within the Directorate of Education and Social Care did not result in more effective use being made of the information available to them from the range of agencies with whom they worked. The quality of assessments, plans and reviews was not sufficient to ensure that interventions were targeted appropriately. Management oversight was not focused and meaningful.


2. DELIVERY AND REVIEW OF INTERVENTIONS

OVERALL SCORE: 67%

2.1 Protecting the public by minimising Risk of Harm to others (RoH):

General Criterion:

All reasonable actions have been taken to protect the public by keeping to a minimum the child or young person’s RoH.

Score:

50%

Comment:


Strengths:

(1) There were a number of community cases (19) where it was appropriate for YOT workers to contribute to multi-agency meetings (other than MAPPA); in all but one of these cases, an effective contribution was made by the YOT.

(2) Purposeful home visits, in accordance with the level of RoH posed, were carried out in nearly three-quarters of cases.

(3) In all but three cases, we judged that appropriate resources had been allocated throughout the sentence according to the level of RoH.

(4) Specific interventions to manage RoH during the custodial phase were delivered as planned in all four relevant cases.


(1) RoH was reviewed in just over one-quarter of all cases (26%) and in only 13% of cases where there had been a significant change in the child or young person’s circumstances. We noted many examples of concerning behaviour by children and young people, such as their involvement with weapons or drugs, which should have prompted a thorough review of their level of RoH, but which did not.

(2) Changes in factors relating to the RoH posed by the child or young person were not anticipated where feasible in 9 out of 15 relevant cases. Such changes were identified swiftly in 5 of these 15 cases and acted upon appropriately in only four of these.

(3) Sufficient attention was given to assessing victim safety and prioritising this throughout the sentence in around half of the cases examined.


(4) Specific interventions to manage RoH in the community were delivered as planned in only 40% of relevant cases. It was rare for such interventions to be formally reviewed following a significant change, both in community and custodial cases.

(5) Effective management oversight of RoH was evident in 21% of relevant cases in the community and in only 13% in custody.

2.2 Reducing the Likelihood of Reoffending:

General Criterion:

The case manager coordinates and facilitates the structured delivery of all elements of the intervention plan.

Score:

73%

Comment:


Strengths:

(1) Based on the YOT’s assessment of LoR and RoH, we found that the initial Scaled Approach level was correct in all but one case.

(2) Similarly, we judged that appropriate resources had been allocated throughout the sentence in accordance with the assessed LoR in all but one case.

(3) All the requirements of the sentence had been implemented in the majority of cases (84%).

(4) Throughout the sentence, YOT workers actively motivated and supported the child or young person and reinforced positive behaviour in the vast majority of cases. They actively engaged parents/carers throughout the sentence in nearly all cases.


(1) The quality of interventions delivered, and the sequencing and reviewing of these, was variable. We judged interventions to have been appropriate to the learning style of the child or young person in 66% of cases and of good quality in only 63%.

(2) Interventions were not always delivered in line with the intervention plan (in 40% of cases), nor sequenced appropriately in half of the cases. Nearly two-thirds were not reviewed regularly.

(3) The YOT was appropriately involved in the formal review of interventions in custody in just over half of all relevant cases.


2.3 Safeguarding the child or young person:

General Criterion:

All reasonable actions have been taken to safeguard and reduce the vulnerability of the child or young person.

Score:

75%

Comment:

MINIMUM improvement required

Strengths:

(1) YOT workers and other relevant agencies worked effectively together to promote the Safeguarding of the child or young person in the majority of cases. Links with ETE providers, the ASB team, health and mental health services and the secure custodial estate were particularly strong in both custodial and community cases.

(2) We found many examples of effective inter-agency working with children’s social care services, including one community case where action was required, and taken promptly, to protect another affected child or young person.

(3) Referrals to other agencies to ensure the Safeguarding of children and young people were generally made as necessary in the majority of all cases.

(4) Home visits, for the purposes of Safeguarding the child or young person, were undertaken in 82% of relevant cases.

(5) The transition from custody to community was effectively managed in most cases in relation to issues of ETE and accommodation, but less so in relation to mental health and substance misuse services.

(6) The well-being of the child or young person was supported and promoted throughout the course of the sentence by all relevant staff in every custody case and in all but two cases in the community.


(1) Specific interventions to promote Safeguarding were not well integrated into VMPs; there were appropriate links between intervention plans and VMPs in only five out of eight relevant cases. Such interventions were reviewed as required in the one relevant custody case but in less than half of community cases.

(2) Effective management oversight of Safeguarding and vulnerability needs was evident in four of six pertinent custody cases, but in only 10 of 25 relevant community cases.


COMMENTARY on Delivery and Review of Interventions as a whole:

Although the delivery of interventions was a stronger area for the YOT than assessment and planning, the quality of the work achieved with children and young people was variable. The documentation of interventions delivered did not always fully reflect the actual work done. Some very effective work was being done, particularly in the area of ETE, with learning mentors being skilfully deployed and progress being carefully monitored. However, there appeared to be gaps in the delivery and review of interventions at times, such as substance misuse work being overlooked, which resulted in a failure to address some of the key issues linked to RoH, Safeguarding and reoffending. Management oversight did little to counteract this.

Despite this, there was a good deal of effective multi-agency work taking place, particularly in the area of Safeguarding, perhaps assisted by the YOT’s location within the Directorate of Education and Social Care of the borough council. This ensured that the overall well-being of children and young people was prioritised by the evidently supportive YOT workers who were striving hard to motivate children and young people.


3. OUTCOMES

OVERALL SCORE: 72%

Our inspections include findings about initial outcomes, as set out in this section. In principle, this is the key section that specifies what supervision is achieving, but in practice this is by necessity just a snapshot of what has been achieved in only the first 6-9 months of supervision, and for which the evidence is sometimes only provisional.

3.1 Achievement of outcomes:

General Criterion:

Outcomes are achieved in relation to RoH, LoR and Safeguarding.

Score:

66%

Comment:


Strengths:

(1) The YOT took a robust approach to compliance. Where children and young people had not complied with the requirements of their sentence, the YOT had taken appropriate enforcement action in 88% of cases.

(2) There had been a reduction in the frequency of offending in 61% of cases and in the seriousness of offending in 64%; this was above the average for YOTs inspected to date.

(3) In all but three cases, the reporting instructions that had been given were sufficient for the purposes of carrying out the sentence of the court.


(1) The RoH was not effectively managed in nearly half of all relevant cases (48%). This was mainly due to insufficient assessment and planning, or because an intervention aimed at managing RoH was not delivered by the YOT. Similarly, Risk of Harm to victims and identifiable potential victims were judged to have been well managed in 59% of pertinent cases.

(2) Risk factors linked to Safeguarding had reduced in 58% of cases.


3.2 Sustaining outcomes:

General Criterion:

Outcomes are sustained in relation to RoH, LoR and Safeguarding.

Score:

89%

Comment:

MINIMUM improvement required

Strengths:

(1) Full attention was given to community integration issues in 78% of custody cases and in 89% of community cases.

(2) Action had been taken or plans were in place to ensure that positive outcomes were sustainable in all but three cases.

COMMENTARY on Outcomes as a whole:

Exit planning was a real strength for the YOT. We saw many examples, such as those described in Making a Difference outlined earlier in the report, of workers being particularly alert to both the short timescale in which they would be working with the child or young person and the need to sustain progress after the end of the sentence.


Appendix 1: Scoring summary of sections 1-3

CCI Bexley General Criterion Scores

57%

58%

57%

50%

73%

75%

66%

89%

72%

67%

58%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

1.1: Risk of Harm to others – assessment and planning

1.2: Likelihood of Reoffending – assessment and planning

1.3: Safeguarding – assessment and planning

Section 1: Assessment & Planning

2.1: Protecting the Public by minimising Risk of Harm to others

2.2: Reducing the Likelihood of Reoffending

2.3: Safeguarding the child or young person

Section 2: Interventions

3.1: Achievement of outcomes

3.2: Sustaining outcomes

Section 3: Outcomes


Appendix 2: Contextual information

Area

Bexley YOT was located in London in the South East of the capital.

The borough had a population of 228,000 as measured in the ONS Mid Year Estimates 2010, 10.7% of which were aged 10 to 17 years old (Census 2001). This was slightly higher than the average for England/Wales, which was 10.4%.

The population of Bexley was predominantly white British (85%) (Resident Population Estimates by Ethnic Group 2009). The population with a black and minority ethnic heritage (15%) was above the average for England/Wales of 12%.

Reported offences for which children and young people aged 10 to 17 years old received a pre-court disposal or a court disposal in 2009/2010, at 26 per 1,000, were better than the average for England/Wales of 38.

YOT

The YOT boundaries were within those of the Metropolitan Police area. The London Probation Trust and the NHS SE London Bexley Business Unit Primary Care Trust covered the area.

The YOT was located within the Youth, Inclusion and Employment section of the London Borough of Bexley’s Directorate of Education and Social Care. It was managed by the deputy director for Youth, Inclusion and Employment, who also chaired the YOT Management Board.

The YOT Headquarters was in Erith. The operational work of the YOT was based in both Erith and Bexley Heath. ISS was provided in-house.

Youth Justice Outcome Indicators 2011/2012 onwards

The national youth justice indicators for England have been replaced by three outcome indicators. These indicators will also be used in Wales.

1. The reoffending measure is a count of the number of 10 to 17 year olds who reoffend within 12 months of their conviction.

2. The first time entrants measure counts the number of young people given their first pre-court or court disposal and thus entering the youth justice system within each year.

3. The use of custody for young people aged 10 to 17 years.

Data will be made available progressively through 2011, broken down by Local Authority area.

For further information about the YJB and the performance management of YOTs, please refer to:

http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/practitioners/Monitoringperformance/


Appendix 3: Inspection Arrangements

Fieldwork for this inspection was undertaken in October 2011 and involved the examination of 38 cases.

Model

The Core Case Inspection (CCI) involves visits to all 158 Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales over a three year period from April 2009. Its primary purpose is to assess the quality of work with children and young people who offend, against HMI Probation’s published criteria, in relation to assessment and planning, interventions and outcomes. We look at work over the whole of the sentence, covering both community and custody elements.

Methodology

The focus of our inspection is the quality of work undertaken with children & young people who offend, whoever is delivering it. We look at a representative sample of between 38 and 99 individual cases up to 12 months old, some current others terminated. These are made up of first tier cases (referral orders, action plan and reparation orders), youth rehabilitation orders (mainly those with supervision requirements), detention and training orders and other custodial sentences. The sample seeks to reflect the make up of the whole caseload and will include a number of those who are a high Risk of Harm to others, young women and black & minority ethnic children & young people. Cases are assessed by a small team of inspection staff with Local Assessors (peer assessors from another Youth Offending Team in the region). They conduct interviews with case managers who are invited to discuss the work with that individual in depth and are asked to explain their thinking and to show where to find supporting evidence in the record. These case assessments are the primary source of evidence for the CCI.

Prior to the inspection we receive copies of relevant local documents and a brief report from the Youth Justice Board. We also gather the views of service users (children & young people and victims) by means of computer and paper questionnaires.

Publication arrangements

• Provisional findings are given to the YOT two weeks after the inspection visit takes place.

• A draft report is sent to the YOT for comment 4-6 weeks after the inspection, with publication following approximately 6 weeks later. In addition to a copy going to the relevant Minsters, other inspectorates, the MoJ Policy Group and the Youth Justice Board receive a copy. Copies are made available to the press and placed on our website.

• Reports on CCI in Wales are published in both Welsh and English.


Appendix 4: Characteristics of cases inspected

Case Sample: Age at start of Sentence

9

28

1

Under 16 years

16-17 years

18+ years

Case Sample: Gender

33

5

Male

Female

Case Sample: Ethnicity

29

8

1

White

Black & MinorityEthnic

Other Groups

Case Sample: Sentence Type

9

19

10

First Tier

CommunitySupervision

Custody

Case Sample: Risk of Harm

1

37

High/Very High ROH

Not High ROH


Appendix 5: Scoring approach

This describes the methodology for assigning scores to each of the general criteria and to the RoH, LoR and Safeguarding headline scores.

A typical case consists of elements of work that were done well enough and others where there is room for improvement. Therefore, the question "what proportion of cases were managed well enough?" does not itself provide a meaningful measure of performance and is not useful to inform improvements.

Rather HMI Probation measure the more focused question "how often was each aspect of work done well enough?" This brings together performance on related elements of practice from all inspected cases.

Each scoring question in the HMI Probation inspection tool contributes to the score for the relevant general criterion and section in the report. The performance of the YOT on that aspect of practice is described within the section of the report linked to that criterion. Key questions then also contribute to one or more of the headline inspection scores. In this way the headline scores focus on the key outcomes whereas the general criterion scores include the underlying detail.

The score for a general criterion is the proportion of questions relating to that criterion, across all of the inspected cases, where the work assessed by that question was judged sufficient (i.e. above the line). It is therefore an average for that aspect of work across the whole of the inspected sample.

For each section in the report the above calculation is repeated, to show the proportion of work related to that section that was judged ‘above the line’.

Finally, for each of the headline themes, the calculation is repeated on the key questions that inform the particular theme, to show the proportion of that aspect of work that was judged ‘above the line’; thereby presenting the performance as an average across the inspected sample.

This approach enables us to say how often each aspect of work was done well enough, and provides the inspected YOT with a clear focus for their improvement activities.


Appendix 6: Glossary

ASB/ASBO Antisocial behaviour/Antisocial Behaviour Order Asset A structured assessment tool based on research and developed

by the Youth Justice Board looking at the young person’s offence, personal circumstances, attitudes and beliefs which have contributed to their offending behaviour

CAF Common Assessment Framework: a standardised assessment of a child or young person’s needs and of how those needs can be met. It is undertaken by the lead professional in a case, with contributions from all others involved with that individual

CAMHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: part of the National Health Service, providing specialist mental health and behavioural services to children and young people up to at least 16 years of age

Careworks One of the two electronic case management systems for youth offending work currently in use in England and Wales. See also YOIS+

CRB Criminal Records Bureau DTO Detention and training order: a custodial sentence for the young Estyn HM Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales ETE Education, Training and Employment: work to improve an

individual’s learning, and to increase their employment prospects FTE Full-time equivalent HM Her Majesty’s HMIC HM Inspectorate of Constabulary HMI Prisons HM Inspectorate of Prisons HMI Probation HM Inspectorate of Probation Interventions; constructive and restrictive interventions

Work with an individual that is designed to change their offending behaviour and/or to support public protection. A constructive intervention is where the primary purpose is to reduce Likelihood of Reoffending. A restrictive intervention is where the primary purpose is to keep to a minimum the individual’s Risk of Harm to others. Example: with a sex offender, a constructive intervention might be to put them through an accredited sex offender programme; a restrictive intervention (to minimise their Risk of Harm) might be to monitor regularly and meticulously their accommodation, their employment and the places they frequent, imposing and enforcing clear restrictions as appropriate to each case. NB. Both types of intervention are important

ISS Intensive Surveillance and Supervision: this intervention is attached to the start of some orders and licences and provides initially at least 25 hours programme contact including a substantial proportion of employment, training and education

LoR Likelihood of Reoffending. See also constructive Interventions LSC Learning and Skills Council LSCB Local Safeguarding Children Board: set up in each local authority

(as a result of the Children Act 2004) to coordinate and ensure the effectiveness of the multi-agency work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in that locality


MAPPA Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements: where probation, police, prison and other agencies work together locally to manage offenders who pose a higher Risk of Harm to others

Ofsted Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills: the Inspectorate for those services in England (not Wales, for which see Estyn)

PCT Primary Care Trust PPO Prolific and other Priority Offender: designated offenders, adult

or young, who receive extra attention from the Criminal Justice System agencies

Pre-CAF This is a simple ‘Request for Service’ in those instances when a Common Assessment Framework may not be required. It can be used for requesting one or two additional services, e.g. health, social care or educational

PSR Pre-sentence report: for a court RMP Risk management plan: a plan to minimise the individual’s Risk

of Harm

RoH Risk of Harm to others. See also restrictive Interventions ‘RoH work’, or ‘Risk of Harm work’

This is the term generally used by HMI Probation to describe work to protect the public, primarily using restrictive interventions, to keep to a minimum the individual’s opportunity to behave in a way that is a Risk of Harm to others

RoSH Risk of Serious Harm: a term used in Asset. HMI Probation prefers not to use this term as it does not help to clarify the distinction between the probability of an event occurring and the impact/severity of the event. The term Risk of Serious Harm only incorporates ‘serious’ impact, whereas using ‘Risk of Harm’ enables the necessary attention to be given to those offenders for whom lower impact/severity harmful behaviour is probable

Safeguarding The ability to demonstrate that all reasonable action has been taken to keep to a minimum the risk of a child or young person coming to harm

Scaled Approach The means by which YOTs determine the frequency of contact with a child or young person, based on their RoSH and LoR

SIFA Screening Interview for Adolescents: Youth Justice Board approved mental health screening tool for specialist workers

SQIFA Screening Questionnaire Interview for Adolescents: Youth Justice Board approved mental health screening tool for YOT workers

VMP Vulnerability management plan: a plan to safeguard the well-being of the individual under supervision

YJB Youth Justice Board for England and Wales YOI Young Offenders Institution: a Prison Service institution for

young people remanded in custody or sentenced to custody YOIS+ Youth Offending Information System: one of the two electronic

case management systems for youth offending work currently in use in England and Wales. See also Careworks

YOS/YOT/YJS Youth Offending Service/ Team/ Youth Justice Service. These are common titles for the bodies commonly referred to as YOTs

YRO The youth rehabilitation order is a generic community sentence used with young people who offend


Appendix 7: Role of HMI Probation and Code of Practice

Information on the Role of HMI Probation and Code of Practice can be found on our website:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-probation/index.htm

The Inspectorate is a public body. Anyone wishing to comment on an inspection, a report or any other matter falling within its remit should write to:

HM Chief Inspector of Probation 6th Floor, Trafford House Chester Road, Stretford Manchester, M32 0RS

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