Concern over teams being part of trusts

Concerns about youth offending teams’ relationship to children’s
trusts were raised at a youth offending conference in London last
week.

Charles Pollard, the acting chairperson of the Youth Justice Board,
said it would be a “disaster” for Yots to sit within children’s
trusts if that meant they became absorbed into children’s services
and lost their critical position with links to criminal justice and
children’s services.

He warned that placing Yots within children’s trusts might be a
backwards step in relation to the reforms made to the youth justice
system.

The children’s green paper, Every Child Matters, states
that children’s trusts will include key services such as children’s
social services but there would be local discretion as to whether
trusts would include other services such as Yots.