News

Youth offending teams have made a good start in addressing offending by young people, but a lack of joint working with social services is leaving vulnerable children at risk, inspections have found, writes Paul Stephenson.

The first annual report of the Yot inspection programme, led by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, found that many of the children and young people seen by Yot staff were in need of protection and safeguarding. However, even in the cases of looked after children, liaison with social services only occurred in 61 per cent of cases.

The report, based on the first 11 inspections of Yots, says the inspectors heard “anecdotal evidence from YOT staff that only children and young people at the highest and most immediate risk were accepted as referrals”. It says this did not allow for intervention where there was significant need.

Overall, the inspectors found Yots were fulfilling their role in preventing offending, helped by effective partnership working. Only 26 per cent of cases examined by inspectors had re-offended during the course of their contact with the Yot, and 61 per cent said they had “definitely” stopped offending.

The Yots were praised for the “creatively designed intervention programmes” which provided opportunities to challenge offending behaviour. In one Yot, children and young people met the victims of road traffic accidents as part of a project focusing on vehicle crime.

John Coughlan, Telford and Wrekin social services director and Association of Directors of Social Services lead on youth crime, said the concerns about lack of referrals were worrying, but probably reflected the pressures on children’s services.

He said: “The pressure on mainstream children’s services is intense at the moment. It may reflect prioritising around younger children or older children with needs.”

Annual report from:- /www.homeoffice.gov.uk/justice/probation/inspprob/yot.html