A North Yorkshire organisation provides good support to children who have offended or who are at risk of offending, according to inspectors.

HM Inspectorate of Probation conducted a routine inspection of North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service (YJS). The Inspectorate looked at 12 aspects of the service’s work and awarded an overall rating of ‘Good’.

The YJS works with 10 to 17-year-olds who are serving court sentences, or who have received cautions or community resolutions. Many children have complex needs – 13 per cent are in the care of the local authority, nearly half (46 per cent) have mental health issues and more than half (55 per cent) misuse substances.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “There is much to commend North Yorkshire YJS – this is a well-led and well-managed service.

“Staff are committed to the children that they work with and have high aspirations for them. We found staff have the skills, knowledge and experience to develop supportive relationships with children and their families.”

A Management Board oversees the work of the service. Board members are drawn from the local authority, police, probation service, education and health services.

Mr Russell added: “The Management Board sets a clear vision and strategy for the service. Board members have sufficient seniority to make decisions and commit resources from their own agencies to support children.

“Positive steps had been taken to include education representatives at Board level. As a result, the YJS has effectively used specialist education workers, which has resulted in improvements in YJS children accessing statutory education provision.”

The Inspectorate awarded North Yorkshire YJS an ‘Outstanding’ rating for the quality of its partnerships and services for children.

Mr Russell said: “We were particularly impressed with the way the YJS uses performance data to understand children’s needs and to commission a strong mix of targeted, specialist and mainstream services.”

One of the YJS’s projects has received national recognition. Staff created a pop-up shed that can be driven across the county to deliver restorative justice projects. Staff set up the shed in spaces such as gardens or church halls and supervise children to create woodwork projects for local charities or communities. Children develop new skills and, at the same time, give something back to society.

The YJS has also partnered with a social enterprise to run a project for children with high offending-related and social care needs. Children spend four days per week on construction and horticulture projects, and one day a week developing their English, Maths and ICT skills or studying for a vocational qualification.

Inspectors have identified some areas for improvement, particularly with some children who had received a court sentence. The Inspectorate recommends the YJS take a more consistent approach to ensure any risks to others are identified, analysed and managed more robustly.

The Inspectorate has made three recommendations to help North Yorkshire YJS to improve from its already strong base.

ENDS

 

Notes to editor

1. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 17 September 2020 00.01.
2. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
3. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’. The Inspectorate rates specific aspects of each service and also gives an overall rating.
4. Inspectors usually visit the inspected service to conduct fieldwork, but our plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 lockdown. We worked with North Yorkshire YJS to conduct fieldwork remotely, for example speaking to staff by phone or video conference.
5. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications Catherine Chan on 07889 405930 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)