Extension of supervision schemes for young offenders

Persistent
young offenders in the ten police force areas worst affected by street crime
are to be targeted by the extension of supervision schemes, writes Clare
Jerrom.

Intensive
Supervision and Surveillance Programmes are to be rolled out over the next five
months following a £6.5 million cash injection from the home office to the
Youth Justice Board. The number of places on existing schemes will also be
increased.

ISSP
currently operate in 41 areas covering 84 of the 154 Youth Offending Teams in
England and Wales. But £4.5 million will extend ISSP to a further 33 YOTs,
including all outer London boroughs. The extension of the scheme will also 600
places provided for sentenced and remanded young offenders.

The
other £2 million will allow the number of young people on bail to be doubled in
selected ISSP schemes, bringing the total number of ISSP places available each
year up to 3,500.

Chairperson
of the Youth Justice Board Lord Warner said robust community remand options
such as ISSP must be provided if courts and the public were to be persuaded
that custody should be used as a last resort.

“By
expanding the use of ISSP in appropriate cases we will release resources to
invest in vitally important prevention work with young people, whilst ensuring
that places are available in custody for those who pose a real threat to public
safety,” he said.

Warner
reiterated the cost implications: a six month ISSP place costs around £6,000
compared to an average cost of £21,650 for a place in a young offenders’
institution for the same period.

ISSP,
which went live last summer, target the worst young offenders and those on
bail. There have already been 876 persistent young offenders in England and
Wales under ISSP and early anecdotal evidence suggests it is having a positive
effect on re-offending rates.

The
supervision part of the scheme involves at least 25 hours contact time for the
first three months of the programme, which then continues at a reduced
intensity. This includes packages of education, offending behaviour programmes,
reparation to victims, inter-personal skills, and family support. Offenders are
under surveillance through tracking, electronic tagging, voice verification or
intelligence-led policing.

As
well as the outer London boroughs, ISSP has been extended to Dudley, Sandwell,
Walsall, Wolverhampton, Nottinghamshire, Avon and Somerset, and Thames Valley.