Expert guide on youth justice
This article contains must-have information about youth justice and the youth justice system, the way youth crime has become a hot topic in the last decade, facts about the Youth Justice Board and the government’s attitude towards youth crime and antisocial behaviour amongst young people and what lobby groups and campaigners think about this political hot potato.
News articles about youth justice
News articles about the Youth Justice Board
Jobs in youth justice
Care providers in youth justice from our online Purchasing Care Directory
History
During the 1990s there was a huge increase in the number of children caught up in the youth justice system. In its 1997 manifesto pledge the Labour Party promised to reform the youth justice system.
Prime minister Tony Blair said: “Youth crime and disorder have risen sharply, but very few young offenders end up in court, and when they do half are let off with another warning.
“Young offenders account for seven million crimes a year.
“New parental responsibility orders will make parents face up to their responsibility for their children's misbehaviour.”
After Labour came to power in 1997, it introduced the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Youth Justice Board was set up to drive the reforms forwards.
Youth Justice Board
The Youth Justice Board is an executive non-departmental public body, within the Home Office. Its 12 board members are appointed by the home secretary.
The aim of the Youth Justice Board is to prevent offending among under-18s and it delivers this by setting standards and monitoring performance, promoting good practice and making grants available to local authorities and other bodies.
The Youth Justice Board chair:-
* advises the home secretary on the operation of the youth justice system
* sets standards and monitoring performance
* purchases places for children and young people remanded or sentenced to custody
* identifies and promoting good practice
* makes grants to local authorities or other bodies
* commissions research and publishes information.
The YJB also tries to divert young people away from crime through early identification and prevention programmes
The Youth Justice Board has set up a number of diversionary schemes to engage with young people, increase their knowledge and deter them from offending.
Some of the Youth Justice Board’s schemes include:-
Youth Inclusion Programmes (Yips) Young people who are engaged in crime of at risk of offending are identified and taught new skills, introduced to activities and given education and careers guidance.
Each YIP receives an annual grant from the Youth Justice Board.
Youth Inclusion and Support Panels
Youth Inclusion and Support Panels aim to prevent antisocial behaviour and offending by 8 to 13-year-olds at risk of offending. The main emphasis of a panel's work is to ensure that children and their families can access mainstream public services.
Splash Cymru
Splash Cymru is a programme of diversionary activities for 13 to 17-year-olds that runs in the school holidays in Wales.
Funded and managed by the Youth Justice Board, the programme consists of locally run schemes based in areas with high levels of crime and deprivation.
Positive Activities for Young People
Positive Activities for Young People provides a broad range of constructive activities for 8 to 19-year-olds at risk of social exclusion. It builds on the success of previous programmes such as Splash.
Positive FuturesPositive Futures is a national sports-based social inclusion programme aimed at marginalised 10 to 19-year-olds in the most deprived areas. It encourages adults and children to build relationships built on trust and respect.
Safer Schools
Safer School Partnerships provide a focused approach to address the high level of crime and antisocial behaviour committed in and around schools in some areas – crime committed by and against children and young people.
All schools involved in the Safer School Partnerships initiative have a police officer based in their school.
Mentoring
Mentoring pairs a volunteer adult with a young person at risk of offending. The adult's role is to motivate and support the young person on the scheme through a sustained relationship over an extended period of time.
Parenting programmes
Parenting programmes provide parents with an opportunity to improve their skills in dealing with the behaviour that puts their child at risk of offending. They provide parents/carers with one-to-one advice as well as practical support in handling the behaviour of their child.
Youth Offending Teams (Yots)
Youth Offending Teams work with young offenders and young people at risk of offending. These are multi-agency teams made up of representatives from social services, police, health, housing, police, probation, education and dug and alcohol workers and there is a Yot in every local authority area.
Yots work with young offenders and those at risk of offending by identifying their needs and planning a programme to address their needs in a bid to prevent offending.
Sentences
If a young person is convicted of an offence, there are a number of community and custodial sentences.
Here is a list of community sentences:-
• Community Rehabilitation and Punishment Order
• Supervision Order
• Action Plan Order
• Attendance Sentence Order
• Referral Order
• Reparation Order
• Fine
• Conditional Discharge
• Absolute Discharge
ISSP
Young people can also be given an Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme as part of an order. It aims to reduce the frequency and seriousness of offending in the target groups, tackle the underlying needs of offenders with a particular emphasis on education and training and provide reassurance to communities through close surveillance (using electronic tagging).
Intensive fostering
The YJB funds the intensive fostering programme, an alternative to custody for children and young people whose home life is felt to have contributed significantly to their offending behaviour.
Like other community penalties, intensive fostering aims to hold a young person to account for their crimes, while ensuring they get the support they need within their community to address factors which may have contributed to their offending behaviour.
Custodial sentences
Custody will always be necessary for a small minority of children and young people who offend, because of the seriousness of their offence, the frequency of their offending or the risk that they may pose to the public. However, the Youth Justice Board wants custody to only be used as a last resort.
Children sentenced to custody can be placed in:-
• Local authority secure children’s home
• Secure Training Centre
• Young Offender Institution
Laschs
These are designed for young female offenders aged 12-16 year old and young male offenders aged 12-14-years old. Vulnerable make young offenders aged 15 and 16 should also be placed in a Lasch.
They are small with between six and 40 beds and are run by local authority social services departments. They have a high staff to young person ratio of two young people to one staff member and focus on attending to the physical, emotional and behavioural needs of the young people they accommodate.
The Youth Justice Board has 235 places available in Laschs with the opportunity to spot buy.
Secure Training Sentences
There are four of these privately-run purpose-built STCs in England.
* Oakhill in Milton Keynes
* Hassockfield in County Durham
* Rainsbrook in Rugby
* Medway in Kent
They accommodate young offenders up to the age of 17 and the regimes are constructive and education-focused. They provide tailored programmes for young offenders that give them the opportunity to develop as individuals which, in turn, will help stop them re-offending. Trainees are provided with formal education 25 hours a week, 50 weeks of the year. They also have a high staff-trainee ratio – three staff members to eight trainees.
There are 301 places in STCs.
Young offender institutions
YOIs are run by the Prison Service and for young offenders aged 15-21, although the Youth Justice Board is only responsible for accommodating under-18s. They are larger than STCs or Laschs, have a lower staff to child ratio and are less able to meet the needs of the young people held there.
The Youth Justice Board has 2,730 places for boys and 91 places for girls in YOIs.
Legislation
Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003
The Antisocial Behaviour Act was introduced by the government in a bid to protect neighbourhoods and communities. However, a lot of the measures are targeted at children and includes giving police powers to disperse groups of two or more young people on the streets if they are deemed to be acting antisocially and the extension of fixed penalty fines to young people. Children found on the streets between 9pm and 6am may also be taken home by the police. The measures have been welcomed by communities but criticised by human rights groups and children’s charities who believe the measures are too punitive towards children and could potentially breach their human rights.
Since the introduction of the antisocial behaviour legislation, there has been a huge uptake in the number of antisocial behaviour orders being given out. Rod Morgan, the former chair of the Youth Justice Board, has admitted that the rise in the young offender population in custody in 2004 was a result of breaches of antisocial behaviour orders. This means children who have acted antisocially are ended up in prison which appears to go against the message in the government’s legislation for children that ‘Every Child Matters’, early intervention is crucial and custody should be used sparingly.
Children Act 2004
The Children Act 2004 places much emphasis on joined-up working and early intervention. It aims to divert young people away from crime and ensure parents are responsible for their child’s behaviour.
Youth Justice: The Next Steps
When the government published Every Child Matters, the green paper consultation which led to the introduction of the Children Act, an accompanying document for plans for the youth justice system was published too.
Many campaigners were disappointed that the section on youth justice was published separately and thought the proposals should have been included in Every Child Matters.
The government published its response to the consultation in March 2004 and pledged to establish a new Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Order as an alternative to custody for persistent offenders while continuing to work with the YJB to improve the juvenile secure estate.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs2/stoppingyouthcrime.pdf
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs2/youthjusticenextsteps.pdf
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs3/youthjusticeresponse.html
Youth Justice Bill
Children’s campaigners expressed disappointment in November 2006 at the absence of a youth justice bill in the Queen’s Speech, despite earlier promises to tackle the issue of children in trouble with the law.
Useful links
Community Care campaigned during 2004 for improvements to the youth justice system and for a reduction in the number of children being held in prisons.
Back on Track campaign
Government bodies
Youth Justice Board
Home Office
Home Office - youth justice
Voluntary sector organisations and campaign groups
Howard League for Penal Reform