Youth offending services improve as Covid increases complexity of children’s needs

His annual report for 2021 found that two thirds of services are rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, with none handed the inspectorate’s lowest rating of ‘inadequate’.

A drop in caseloads, by more than a quarter has helped improve support.

• Analysis: Study highlights damage pandemic caused to welfare of children at risk

• Inspections Clinic: Tackling disproportionality

However, the pandemic has increased the complexity of needs among this smaller cohort of young offenders as well as the challenges faced by services in delivering support.

“Caseloads may be falling, but the needs of children in the criminal justice system certainly are not and have become more acute as a result of Covid-19,” said Russell.

The pandemic had restricted services’ ability to support the education and training needs of young offenders, due to a lack of entry level jobs and closures in sectors including hospitality, he warned.

Digital exclusion is another challenge faced, especially as more support services and job opportunities have been pivoted online amid the pandemic.

The health crisis also saw some services limit office opening hours and be more creative in how they offer support.

Russell praised services for using “a wide variety of community venues and outdoor spaces” for face-to-face contact, as well as home visits to ensure support for young offenders was maintained.

The quality of leadership, staffing and case management are also among improvements noted by Russell over the year.

Support on offer is “strong” in seven out of ten of the 362 court cases and 315 out of court cases looked at by the inspectorate during 2021.

1/3 @HMIProbation Chief Inspector commends improving youth offending services. Read @HMIProbation annual youth report 2021: https://t.co/OAfTyL7naS pic.twitter.com/rs011SPn1n

— HMI Probation (@HMIProbation) March 16, 2022

But he warns there has been “an increase in children who have committed violent offences, and in the complexity and needs of the caseloads being supervised”, which is “proving a challenge for some services”.

Violent offenders account for half of court cases and 42 per cent of out of court resolutions, such as community sentences and cautions.

Nearly eight out of ten children sentenced in court “were assessed as presenting some form of risk to others” and just under three in ten “present a high or very high risk of harm”, states Russell’s report.

Among groups of offenders with multiple challenging needs are black and mixed heritage boys with six in ten boys in this group of young offenders excluded from school, the majority permanently.

“In half of the cases inspected there was evidence that the child had experienced racial discrimination,” adds the inspectorate’s report.

Among concerns remaining around support is that “some services are not recognising specific concerns about individual children’s safety”, which means “some children are missing out on potentially beneficial support”, added Russell.