Meeting documents

Cabinet
Wednesday, 3rd May, 2006

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Bath and North East Somerset

Youth Justice Plan 2006 -2007

"Working in partnership to prevent youth offending"

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. Summary 3-5

B. Local Planning Environment 6

C. Drivers of Performance

C.1 Governance and Leadership 7-8

C.2 Performance and Quality Systems 9-12

C.3 Resources 13-14

C.4 People and Organisation 15-17

C.5 Partnership Working 18

D. Delivery Plan 20-36

E. Review and Approval 37-38

F. Appendices:-

Appendix 1: Organisational Chart 39

Appendix 2: Key Performance Measures 40-43

Appendix 3: Effective Practice Quality Assurance Improvement Cycles 44

Appendix 4: Critical Success Factors for Effective Partnership Working 45

Appendix 5: Glossary of Terms 46-49Appendix A: Organisational Chart 39

Appendix B: Performance Measures 40

1SUMMARY

Introduction:

This is the seventh annual Youth Justice Plan for Bath and North East Somerset. As in previous years, it is drawn up in accordance with the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the specifications of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. The Plan sets out how the Local Authority's responsibilities for preventing youth offending will be supported, developed and monitored in partnership with the Police, Probation and Health Services and other significant partners, including Connexions West of England. Youth justice services are a key component of services for all children and young people and parents living in this area, as set out in the local Children and Young People's Plan 2006-2009. Work with young people at risk of offending and re-offending is also a major strand of the local Community Safety and Drugs Partnership's work of further reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, described in the Community Safety and Drugs Strategy. Children, young people and parents have helped Bath and North East Somerset to establish an ambitious vision that all children and young people living here do better in life than they ever thought they could. The Youth Offending Team and its partners' work with those at risk of offending, their parents and victims of crime will support better outcomes for children and contribute to the establishment of a safer environment for everyone.

The delivery of youth justice services:

The Youth Offending Team, which works across the whole Bath and North East Somerset area, now has its main administrative base in central Bath, and a second office base with the Children's Fund in Midsomer Norton. It provides a wide range of statutory services for children and young people aged 10-17 who have admitted a criminal offence to the Police or been charged to appear in Court. The team also works closely with parents of young people who have offended, to support them in developing their style of parenting, and has recently appointed its first dedicated Parenting Worker. It also offers a range of restorative justice services to victims of youth crime. Through the Compass Project, the team provides voluntary services to children aged 8 years and over and their parents, where a high risk of offending has been identified - and during 2006-2007, this project will be extended to provide services to young people aged up to 17 years. The work of the team supports and is supported by that of its many partner agencies, who also play an important part in preventing youth offending. Further information about the Youth Offending Team, including opportunities to participate in its work, can be obtained from its website.

Performance April - December 2005:

The youth justice performance data contained within this Plan is for the nine-month period April - December 2005; data for the full twelve-month period will be available shortly after the Plan is submitted. In 2004, performance assessment was based on key performance indicator targets alone and Bath and North East Somerset's overall performance was very good, as shown in the table below. The Youth Justice Board introduced a new performance framework in 2005, which incorporates a wider range of indicators, including key performance indicator targets, National Standards compliance, re-offending rates and qualitative examination of different areas of work. Youth Offending Teams are now given `levels' for their overall performance, where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest.

Performance in 2004, based on the original performance framework, is shown in the following table:

Quarter

Position of B&NES

April - June 2004

69 (out of 155 YOTs)

82.5%

April - September 2004

109 (out of 155 YOTs)

75%

April - December 2004

59 (out of 155 YOTs)

81.7%

April `04 - March 2005

50 (out of 155 YOTs)

85%

Overall performance for the nine-month period 2005, based on the new framework, is shown below:

Quarter

Level awarded to B&NES

April - June 2005

60.1%

April - September 2005

65.1%

April - December 2005

52.1%

The April - December (nine-month) 2005 performance is at the same level as its uniquely identified comparative `family' of Youth Offending Teams. Nevertheless, the out-turn is disappointing - reported key performance indicator targets slipped from 81.7% in 2004 to 69.3% in 2005 and reported compliance with National Standards fell from a previous high score of 87.3% in 2004 to 60.3% in 2005, suggesting that performance would still have been substantially higher had the new framework been in operation in 2004. The assessment of two further areas of work under the Effective Practice Quality Assurance cycle highlighted some examples of excellent practice and resulted in a validated score of 1 for Substance Misuse and 2 for Resettlement [see Glossary for explanation of scoring]..2005 was a challenging year for the Youth Offending Team, including a complex double office-move and changes in personnel amongst long-standing key members of staff. Changes outlined in Sections C2 and C4 below will result in improvements in service delivery and more accurate recording and submission of data and there is confidence that reported performance in 2006- 7 will improve significantly.

Recidivism data shows an excellent reduction in the proportions of young people in the youth justice system who re-offended after two years, between the cohorts identified in 2002 and 2003, as reported in the Delivery Plan below. Re-offending rates are higher amongst young people receiving more serious sentences - and are 100% for the small number in the samples who received Detention and Training Order sentences. These are the young people most likely to be released into unsatisfactory accommodation and to have low levels of engagement in education, training and employment, and resettlement work in-year will focus on these areas. In all other areas, re-offending reduced, with an overall reduction of 12.5%, significantly better than the targeted reduction of 5%. This is an important result, demonstrating that this area is making an important contribution to the overall objective of preventing youth offending.

Local Priorities for 2006-2007:

The Plan focuses on improvements in sixteen key delivery themes identified by the Youth Justice Board as fundamental to the delivery of the overall aims and objectives of the youth justice system. Three of these have been highlighted as local priorities, together with recording issues, following consideration of feedback from young people living in Bath and North East Somerset and consultations with the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel, the Youth Offending Team and its Steering Group.

1. Review the local strategy and services for young people at risk of offending in the light of the Children Act 2004 and the new Prevention Fund

Feedback from young people about their main concerns, together with reported public concern about anti-social behaviour, shows that risk of youth offending remains a key issues. The new Prevention Fund will enable the appointment of an additional worker for the Compass Project, attached to the Youth Inclusion and Support Panel, to extend its work to include 14-17 year olds, and to widen the Restorative Approaches in Schools Project and link it with anti-bullying initiatives. This work will be informed by ASSET assessment data which shows that the most frequently occurring areas of need identified with young people who have offended continue to be issues related to their thinking and behaviour, lifestyle, attitudes to offending and substance misuse. At the same time, the need to address preventative work at a more strategic level is being raised as part of the planning for the new Children's Directorate.

2. Develop services to parents and carers of young people who are at risk of offending and re-offending

Between April and December 2005, 6.6% parents engaged in a parenting intervention, against a target of 10%. The Prevention Fund has enabled the appointment of the Youth Offending Team's first dedicated Parenting Worker, who will spend half of her time on preventative work and half on statutory work. The recent production in Bath and North East Somerset of a Parenting Strategy and a Parent Participation Strategy has established a framework within which the parenting work undertaken by the Youth Offending Team can be extended.

3. Work with partner agencies to improve services to Black and other ethnic minority young people at risk of offending and re-offending

A disproportionately high number of youth offences in Bath and North East Somerset are committed by young people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds [14.9% of offences, whereas the local population is 2.8%]. Notwithstanding some of the data issues in an area where overall numbers are relatively small, a better understanding is needed about the reasons for this, together with an updated audit of the availability of support services for young people at an early stage. This is also a significant issue for the Youth Offending Team's partner agencies, particularly those working with vulnerable children.

4. Improve recording and performance management

The recent upgrade of the Youth Offending Team's database, the establishment of the its first dedicated Information Manager post, and developments in staff training and performance management will address an area that has had insufficient attention to meet the demands of a more complex national performance framework. Update training for all staff will be an early priority.

B. LOCAL PLANNING ENVIRONMENT

In planning delivery of youth justice services, the Youth Offending Team takes account of the objectives and priorities of partner agencies. This is achieved primarily through meetings of the Steering Group and follow-up work that continues in between meetings. In a relatively small Authority, there are many positive opportunities for managers to meet and the quality of partnership work is high. The YOT Service Manager is a member of a number of key strategic partnerships that meet to plan or oversee children's services, including the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership and the Local Safeguarding Children Board. These enable youth justice issues to be addressed strategically; for example, the Area Child Protection Committee, forerunner of the Safeguarding Board, has examined child protection arrangements and liaison with the secure estate. She chairs the Parenting Strategy Group, enabling parenting issues in the youth justice system to be addressed more widely, and has been a member of the core group responsible for drawing up the Children's and Young People's Plan. This has led to the inclusion of youth justice developments in several priority areas and including work to establish an integrated "youth offending pathway."

The YOT Service Manager has also been involved in the emerging management group meetings for the new children's services arrangements, and the identification of early priorities for future service delivery, including work to progress the establishment of four Local Area Partnerships. This is in anticipation of the likely future positioning of the Youth Offending Team. Whilst governance rests with the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership, the team is currently managed within the Children and Families Services. There is a current proposal that the Youth Offending Team transfers into the management arrangements of the new children's directorate and falls under the remit of the Lead Member for children's services. This is being consulted with key partners at the time that the Youth Justice Plan is being written and indications are that it will be supported.

There is also commitment to ensure that the Youth Offending Team continues to contribute fully to the Community Safety agenda. The most challenging area is to link the preventative work within the Children and Young People's Plan to the responsibilities of the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership regarding the Prevent and Deter Strategy. The YOT Service Manager has joined the recently established local Criminal Justice Steering Group that oversees this work. There are also proposals to set up a Prevention Board to oversee the planning and delivery of all services for children and young people at risk of offending. Links will be strengthened now that there is a young people's lead officer on the Community Safety and Drugs Team, who has also joined the YOT Steering Group, and a renewed commitment to the Youth Offending Team being represented at the Responsible Authorities Group - the YOT Service Manager and the Chair of the YOT Steering Group have been co-opted as members.

The five YOT Managers in Avon and Somerset are all actively involved in the work of the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice Board, with the work of many of the task-groups now being linked into the agenda of the Youth Issues task-group. The teams are also represented on the Board itself. The local YOT Service Manager represents the five areas at the Multi Agency Public Protection Board, ensuring that arrangements made take account of the particular needs of young people aged under 18 who represent a high risk to the public. There are also regular meetings with the Probation Service to plan the interface of work with victims, as well as young people who have offended and are approaching their eighteenth birthday, when the Probation Service will generally take responsibility for their supervision.

DRIVERS OF PERFORMANCE

B.1 GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP

Governance of the Youth Offending Team currently remains with the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership and the Lead Member represents Community Safety and Housing issues. This may change in 2006-7, if the proposal to include the Youth Offending Team within the new Children's Directorate is adopted and the Lead Member for Children's Services extends his portfolio to include Youth Offending.

The Responsible Authorities Group that oversees youth justice work as part of its wider remit, is made up of chief officers of key statutory and other partners. It meets approximately eight times each year and is chaired on an annually rotating basis, with Police taking on this role in 2006. The YOT Steering Group now meets four times each year to monitor delivery of the Youth Justice Plan, performance, and the YOT budget. In order to strengthen links, the young people's lead officer within the Community Safety and Drugs Team has joined the YOT Steering Group and arrangements have been made for the YOT Service Manager and Chair of the YOT Steering Group to take an active officer role in the Responsible Authorities Group meetings.

Table A.1: Core Membership of the Responsible Authorities Group

Name	Agency representing	Post in agency	Ethnicity	Gender
Chair: Olivia Pinkney	Avon and Somerset Constabulary	District Commander, Bath and North East Somerset	White	Female
Jane Ashman	Bath and North East Somerset Council	Director of Housing and Social Services	White	Female
John Wiseman	National Probation Service, Avon and Somerset Area	Assistant Chief	White	Male
Kieran Morgan	Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust	Director of Public Health	White	Male
Louise Swain	Somer Housing Trust	Divisional Director - Housing Services	White	Female
Geoff Cater	Avon Fire and Rescue	Divisional Officer	White	Male

Table A.2 Youth Offending Team Steering Group

Name	Agency representing	Post in agency	Ethnicity	Gender
Chair: Maurice Lindsay	Bath and North East Somerset Council	Head of Children and Families Service (Social and Housing Services)	White	Male
Gail Quinton	Bath and North East Somerset Council	Interim Director of Education	White	Female
Gareth Jones	Bath and North East Somerset Council	Principal Youth and Community Officer	White	Male
Sue Hull	National Probation Service, Avon and Somerset Area	Area Manager	White	Female
Mike Bowden	Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust	Assistant Director	White	Male
Kevin Adams	Avon and Somerset Constabulary	Inspector, Bath and North East Somerset District	White	Female
Chris Hounsell	Connexions West of England	Development Manager for Bath and North East Somerset	White	Female
Eamann Devlin	Bath and North East Somerset Council	Service Development Officer (Community Safety and Drugs Team)	White Irish	Male

B.2 PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY SYSTEMS

Accountability for the delivery of national and local targets rests ultimately with the Council Chief Executive, and a system is in place to ensure that performance is monitored carefully at every level. Within the Youth Offending Team, overall performance will be reviewed monthly and any emerging patterns passed to a weekly operational management meeting, to ensure that issues are quickly addressed. The Service Manager prepares a quarterly performance report for the YOT Steering Group and each agenda additionally carries items of particular interest or concern. For example, custodial rates have been a standing item in 2005, and this level of attention has contributed to a marked reduction in the level of custodial sentencing between April and December 2005. The chair of the YOT Steering Group presents a six-monthly report to the Responsible Authorities Group, where the Council is represented by the Director of Social and Housing Services. Governance of the Youth Offending Team remains with the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership which receives an annual performance presentation by the Service Manager. At a political level, the Housing and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Panel reviews performance every six months.

This level of review needs to be supported by high quality management information and a number of recent changes have been made, to enhance this. The team's database, the Young Offender Information System (YOIS) has now been upgraded and all staff have received training in its use. An administrative post has been re-graded to provide the team with its first dedicated Information Manager. This is to enable a focus on improved use of YOIS for internal accountability and planning and to provide better quality information for the regular data returns required by the Youth Justice Board and others and reports to various multi-agency groups. The Information Manager also has capacity for undertaking regular data cleansing and keeping abreast of changes in reporting and recording requirements. For the first time, there will also be a significant electronic recording training programme within the team, from induction onwards, supported by regular review of use of the system within individual staff supervision, to review accuracy and address emerging training needs.

The meetings structure within the Youth Offending Team has been revised to ensure a focus on quality of service delivery and the meeting of targets. Some of these changes have already been implemented and from July onwards, when it is anticipated that two key vacant posts will be filled, the Service Manager, the two Team Managers and the Information Manager will meet monthly. They will review and address performance in all the areas now included in the new Youth Justice Board performance management framework. This includes not only key performance indicators and targets, but also National Standards compliance, Effective Practice Quality Assurance improvement action plans, recidivism data and any locally arising performance issues. The team's policies on Induction, Supervision and Appraisal, Training and Quality Assurance have all been recently reviewed to ensure a focus on supporting staff use of the electronic and other recording systems.

Five areas of youth justice performance now contribute to the Council's Annual Performance Assessment and the Youth Offending Team also provides data to the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice Board and a number of partner agencies, including Social and Housing Services and Connexions West of England.

B.3 RESOURCES

Financial resources

The Youth Offending Team delivered the services set out in the Youth Justice Plan 2005-6 within budget, and is making arrangements to do the same in 2006-2007, despite increasing budgetary pressures. These arise from rising staffing costs, as none of the funding sources allow for incremental and pension increases within the staffing budgets for approximately half the work force, who are employed directly via the Youth Offending Team. There are also additional costs for the team in its new office base in central Bath, including car parking and support service costs and an expectation that the team makes a modest efficiency saving as part of the wider Council efficiency savings. The team has seen an increase in the number of young people admitting an offence or being charged to Court for the first time and is therefore anticipating an increase in its workload in the year ahead.

The budget for 2006-2007 has increased overall, due to a new national funding stream, the Youth Justice Board Prevention Fund. There are additional expectations in terms of service delivery and performance management associated with this grant, but it has supported a more efficient use of available resources. The ring-fenced grant available from the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership to support preventative work in line with the Prevent and Deter Strategy is continued at a significantly reduced level, which has necessitated a number of changes in the team's management structure. The Children's Fund grant and other partner agency contributions continue unchanged and, with the exception of the Police contribution, will include an inflationary amount. For the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme, Bath and North East Somerset receives funding as part of a wider scheme with two neighbouring Youth Offending Teams. The level of work it takes on under the auspices of this ring-fenced grant is disproportionate to it's allocation of the available grant and it is requesting a review of this.

Table A: Services planned for the financial year 2006 - 2007

Core activity	Budget expenditure (£)
Preventative services	147,200
PACE Services	8,100
Pre-Court services	80,100
Court-based services	72,200
Remand services	48,100
Community-based services	337,000
Through care/after care	128,300
Other Orders	24,100
Total:	845,900

Table B: Youth Offending Team Budget Financial Year 2006 - 2007 - Sources

Agency	Staffing costs (£)	Payments in kind - revenue (£)	Other delegated funds (£)	Total (£)
Police	£78,316	Police attachment to support ISSP Police car (£6,000) and laptop computer	24,600	102,916
Probation*	28,586	Staff travel expenses and subsistence (to a maximum of £600 Delivery of Community Punishment	8,374	36, 960
Social Services	215,238	Service Level Agreement costs - 6 computers Staff travel expenses and parking permits Financial, Personnel and Legal services	8,596	223,584
Education (72% Youth & Community and 28% Education Welfare Service)	22,007	Service Level Agreement costs - 1 computer Staff travel expenses and 1 parking permit 0.3 fte Education Psychologist time (£14,118)	8,130	30,137
Health (one source)	28,292	Service Level Agreement costs - 1 computer Staff travel expenses Clinical supervision	14,028	42,320
Connexions	6,107	Management and support services	1,712	7,819
Additional Funding (see Table below)	350,494		50,463	400,957
Total	729,040		115,903	844,693

* Avon and Somerset Probation Area have yet to confirm their contribution

Table C: Additional sources of income

Additional source	Amount (£)
Children's Fund	65,750
Community Safety Partnership	25,000
Youth Justice Board (General grant and ISSP grant)	297,551
Other (Young People's Substance Misuse Partnership Grant)	12,656
Total (for inclusion in Table A2)	375,982

Table D: Health Service contributions to the Youth Offending Team

Health contribution: Funding source	Amount (£)
Single Source	42,320
Total	42,320

C3a PROGRAMME RESOURCES

A variety of specialist programme resources are available to support the youth justice work undertaken locally. Use of these resources is encouraged to ensure that young people's assessed needs are best met and, in some instances, to introduce them to services they can continue to benefit from after their involvement with the Youth Offending Team has ceased. The following are examples of what is available:

Prevention - Mentoring Plus is a well established local mentoring service for young people aged 12-17 who are considered to be at high risk of offending. The main programme is supplemented by the Key Project which provides activities in the school holiday period.

Substance misuse - Project 28 is a drugs and alcohol project for young people up to the age of 19. The project delivers a key component of the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme.

Mental health - the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service works with young people with acute needs

Family support - 117 Family Service - established to work with young people at risk of family breakdown

Parenting - Southside, Barnardos, the Education Welfare Service, Health Visitors and the 117 Family Service are amongst those who provide services to support the development of parenting style and skills

Community projects - Bath City Farms - a community farm project that provides short placements

Education - Bristol City College provides local 93pre e2e94 training and opportunities for young people in need of basic skills development. A New Start programme is offered by Bath College The Youth Service provides a local Youth Inclusion Project for excluded pupils.

Training and employment - PEOPLE, a local education and employment project for ex-offenders, has regular input into the ISSP. A 0.2 fte Connexions Worker is seconded into the YOT and refers on to other provision.

Sex offending - the Keepsafe Project works with young people who have admitted or been convicted of sexual offending or who are otherwise involved in sexually inappropriate behaviour

Specialist interventions - Avon Fire and Rescue Service offer a range of individual and group programmes for young people involved in fire-setting and other risky behaviours

Court Orders - the Probation Service provides Community Punishment Order placements. There is also an Attendance Centre in Bristol

Information and advice - Off the Record provides free information and advice to young people about a very wide range of issues and interests and also provides specialist counselling

Princes Trust - has recently opened an office in Bath

C3a INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

In the last year the Youth Offending Team has upgraded its software to meet the changing needs of the service and national reporting requirements via Themis, the Youth Justice Board reporting tool. Every full-time equivalent post has access to a computer and Police additionally have a dedicated laptop, and electronic records are now used more routinely within staff Supervision to support accuracy of recording and identification of training needs. The establishment of an Information Manager post within the team will enable proper training to be available for all staff and regular monitoring of electronic systems. There are also a number of external developments that will impact on the team's use of information and communication technology within the criminal justice setting and within children's services. These provide both opportunities and challenges in the year ahead.

Secure Email - the team has been actively involved in preparations for the introduction of a secure email system between local criminal justice agencies. This will enable Youth Offending Teams to exchange case management records quickly when young people move across Authority boundaries, and to pass risk management and vulnerability assessments to the Youth Justice Board Placements Team and colleagues within the secure estate. Training is being provided in April 2006, in order that the system will be in use from April and fully used from May onwards. The team already has a facility to exchange information securely with Bristol Crown Court via Exhibit Portal.

Case management systems - most case recording is now undertaken electronically on YOIS records. These are now used within staff Supervision to evidence and develop work undertaken with individual young people. The Information Manager will be trained to derive local information from these records to assist in the development of new intervention programmes, according to levels of need.

Use of information technology to support the engagement of young people - the team has a non-networked computer for use by young people and is applying for funding to enable internet access in the future. It is also working with the library service to promote access to and use of IT equipment.

Use of other ICT enablers - relatively little use is currently made of hand-held systems, but this will be considered as part of the development of planning and communication systems within the team.

Barriers to the use of IT and plans to overcome these - the main barrier to effective use of IT is currently staff confidence and skills. In the past, the team has had limited resources for training and staff have learned in a rather piecemeal way. The Information Manager post carries a requirement to induct, train and refresh training of all staff, and to act in a consultative capacity, and it is anticipated that this will make a substantial difference within a year.

B.4

PEOPLE AND ORGANISATION

Further review of the team structure has been possible as a result of the promotion out of the Authority of several key post-holders, and the new Prevention Fund. At the same time, the reduced level of Community Safety and Drugs Partnership funding now available for prevention services has resulted in some shifts in priorities and the transfer of some direct areas of work previously undertaken by the Youth Offending Team to the Partnership itself. These changes will result in fewer supervisors in the Youth Offending Team (the number of whom had grown disproportionately to the size of the team as a result of incremental funding for new initiatives over a number of years) and an increase in practitioner staff. This re-structuring addresses two of the staffing shortfalls identified in the last Youth Justice Plan, by creating dedicated Parenting Worker and Information Manager posts. By July 2006, when all new appointments are in post, the Youth Offending Team will include 1 service manager, 2 team managers, 2 senior practitioners, 1 information manager, 2.8 fte administrative staff and 13.9 fte practitioners, making a total of 26 core staff (22.7 fte posts), as shown in the chart below. There is also an organisational chart in the appendices. In addition, there are an ever-changing number of sessional staff, X volunteer Appropriate Adults and Y volunteer Community Panel Members. The resulting core `family tree', included in the appendices, is more streamlined and focused on priorities for service delivery, broadly into pre- and post-Court provision, and has been welcomed by the Youth Offending Team. A new meetings schedule, with a reduced number of meetings overall, will be introduced in 2006-2007 to support more focused planning and communication across the whole team.

Following recent staff turn-over, there are now only 5 male members of staff (19.2%) and only 1 ethnic minority member of staff (3.8%) - although the balance is redressed to some extent in both areas by sessional and student members of staff. Nevertheless, a priority is to encourage applications from male and ethnic minority candidates to achieve a better representation; 85% of the young people worked with are male and 14.9% of offences dealt with are committed by ethnic minority young people. Similarly, most volunteers are white women and so the next recruitment rounds for Appropriate Adults and Community Panel Members will seek to attract a more representative group.

Turn-over of staff presents difficulties in continuity of service provision in a relatively small team. Of the 7 members of core staff who left in 2005-2006, 4 were promoted and 3 took opportunities for personal development in different areas; their average stay in the team was just over 3 years. Recruitment of good candidates is not a difficulty in this area, and sessional staff have been available to take on short-term contracts, but young people have spoken of a lack of worker continuity that the team is keen to address.

Table A3: Staff in the Youth Offending Team as of 31 March 2006 (by headcount)

	Managers Strategic	Managers Operational	Senior practitioners (FT)	Senior practitioners (PT)	Practitioners (FT)	Practitioners (PT)	Administrative	Sessional	Students/ trainees	Volunteer	Total
Permanent	1	1			4		2
Fixed Term					6	2	3
Secondee Social Services
Secondee Probation					1
Secondee Police					1	2
Secondee Health			1
Secondee Education
Secondee Connexions						1
Secondee Other
Outsourced
Temporary								5	2	27
Vacant		1	1
TOTAL	1	2	2	0	12	5	5	5	2	27	0
Gender/Ethnicity
White Male		1			2	1				11
Black Male
Asian Male						1
Mixed Race Male								3
Chinese/Other Male
White Female	1		1		10	3	5	2	1	15
Black Female									1
Asian Female
Mixed Race Female
Chinese/Other Female										1
TOTALS	1	2	2	0	12	5	5	5	2	27	0

C4a Workforce development

The Youth Offending Team management group is committed to equipping staff fully to fulfil their role within the team. Policies on staff recruitment, induction, supervision, appraisal and training have been revised and now fully address the particular needs of volunteer and sessional staff. All staff induction now addresses generic and Job Description specific briefing and training needs and ensures a greater clarity about role in a complex team. There is also a need to support staff progression within the organisation and there are a number of examples of sessional, volunteer and administrative staff taking on temporary practitioner contracts and others taking on new roles within the organisation, including internal promotion. Management staff are supported, where funding is available, to study locally for a management qualification. Whilst the team has benefited from the new ideas and approaches learned whilst staff are training, the qualifications have equipped those staff to successfully apply for promotions elsewhere, and therefore the need for training is ongoing! The team is also keen to support the career progression of staff who do not have traditional relevant vocational qualifications and is currently taking advice as to how this can be achieved without compromising the quality of service or undermining the position of vocationally qualified team members. This is an issue that ultimately needs a national response and will be raised with the Youth Justice Board regionally, as well as via workforce reform initiatives within the development of children's services.

Staff are appraised annually, in accordance with local policy, and training and development needs are identified as part of this process. These are collated by the Practice Manager, together with the outcomes of Effective Practice Quality Assurance cycles and National Standards audits, to support the establishment of priorities for training. The team's training budget is modest and is supplemented by accessing training provided at no cost to the team from partner agencies and the Youth Justice Board. In turn, the team has made good use of internal expertise and has delivered training to others, for example, on Restorative Approaches in Schools. In the year ahead, training will continue to be planned with individual staff and will include areas identified as key in previous years, including core skills in addressing offending behaviour.

Training priorities in 2006-2007 reflect the local development priorities and are as follows:

Audit and update of child protection training for all staff (via Safeguarding Board)

Risk management training for managers and practitioners (some via Youth Justice Board INSET training)

YOIS refresher and development training for all staff (to be provided by the new Information Manager post-holder)

Assessment of parenting style (to be provided by the new Parenting Worker and partner agencies)

Race awareness and anti-discriminatory practice within a youth justice setting

Supervision skills training / refreshers for all supervisors

Enforcement and breach practice training for practitioners

Team-building event

Management training for one member of staff

Professional Certificate in Effective Practice for two members of staff

B.5 PARTNERSHIP WORKING

The Youth Offending Team is itself a partnership, by composition and by its financial and strategic support, as described in Sections C1 and C4 above. In turn, it works in partnership with its parent organisations and many others to achieve its targets and work towards the overall objective of preventing youth offending. The team is involved in positive partnership working in the local area and with neighbouring Youth Offending Teams, including with services described above in Section C3a.

The Youth Justice Board has published a model for effective partnership work ("Sustaining the Success"), which includes seven key success factors. These are included in Appendix 5 and will be used to inform the development of partnership working in the following areas in 2006-2007:

Supporting People - following a recent presentation to the YOT Steering Group, the relationship between the steering arrangements is being developed, including consideration of whether Supporting People should join the YOT Steering Group. The needs of young people who have offended are being contributed into the review of commissioning. This is discussed further in the Delivery Plan below.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) - there have been some scheduling difficulties with have limited the Youth Offending Team's involvement in the CAMHS Strategy Group in recent months. A need to review the joint protocol has also been identified following a recent case.

Addressing youth anti-social behaviour - the Youth Offending Team is working with a wide range of partner agencies to ensure that reports of youth anti-social behaviour receive a fast and proportionate response, including consideration of referral to a preventative project for support for the young person and / or their parents.

Establishment of the Safeguarding Board - the Youth Offending Team played an active role in the Area Child Protection Committee and has been fully involved in the preparations for the new Board. From the outset, it is keen to ensure that the needs of young people who are at risk of offending and re-offending are incorporated into the work of the Board.

DELIVERY PLAN

1: PREVENT OFFENDING

Overview

In an area with a relatively low level of offending overall, there are some young people whose circumstances place them at high risk of offending and some geographical areas where the public have raised particular concerns about young people's anti-social behaviour. Bath and North East Somerset has not been the only area this year to see a sharp rise in the number of young people admitting an offence to the Police or being convicted of an offence in Court for the first time. Some attribute this to the contra-effect of the Police target to narrow the gap between reported and `solved' crime. By comparison with neighbouring Authorities, there have also been a relatively high number of successful applications for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. Young people themselves have raised their concerns through the consultation undertaken in preparation for the Children and Young People's Plan - 937 respondents, aged 5-24 years, identified the following as their top five priorities:

Safe places to hang out and play outside

Less bullying

More respect for children and young people

More things to do

To feel safe from crime

This accords with the public consultation undertaken by the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership concerning suggested strategic priorities - 82% of the 64 responses received identified the top priorities as anti-social behaviour, young people and volume crime. Local commitment to address these issues dates back a number of years, beginning with the well-regarded Mentoring Plus project, which, after seven years, has recently been re-commissioned by the Council to continue to work with 12-17 year olds until 2009. The Children's Fund has also supported a number of projects that make a direct contribution to addressing young people's concerns, such as the Play Rangers and Kidscape and also including the Youth Offending Team's Youth Inclusion and Support Panel Compass Project, targeted at 8-13 year olds who are at risk of offending. Since the project started in January 2004, it has accepted 79 children and young people and provided them, and sometimes their parents, with intensive support programmes. In 2005-6, 26 young people were referred and 21 were offered Intensive Support Programmes. In the same period, 34 young people completed programmes (19% young Black men, 5% young Black women, 52% young White men and 24% young White women. Referral onto the programme has slowed down in the past year, possibly because there was a backlog of concerning children with no resources at the outset. Following an initial promotion, information about the project has spread by word of mouth and there has been no significant promotion in the last year. The Youth Inclusion and Support Panel has also been focusing more carefully on high risk of offending as the criterium for access onto the programme. The intensive individual programmes, including anger management, thinking skills, building self esteem, family work, positive use of leisure and signposting and referral to other specialist and mainstream services, have in most cases led to positive changes for young people and received approval from parents and professionals. Of those asked to comment, 87% were satisfied with the programmes offered to them and existing records show 88% ONSET scores, indicating risk of offending, reduced. These areas of work contribute directly to achievement of Every Child Matters outcomes, including staying safe from crime and making a positive contribution, by engaging in law-abiding behaviour. The project was positively evaluated as part of the wider Children's Fund evaluation this year and a number of helpful recommendations are being taken forward. Compass staff have highlighted the particular needs of a minority of young people for whom an extended involvement with the programme may have led to more positive outcomes and this will be reviewed in 2006-2007. The Youth Inclusion and Support Panel has also seen changes in personnel over the year and is shortly to hold its next annual review of function and process.

There are current proposals to extend the remit of the Crime Prevention Steering Group, which oversees the commission with Mentoring Plus, to become a Prevention Board with a wider remit for strategic oversight of all targeted youth crime prevention work. This would bring together all the strands of work that presently rest with the YOT Steering Group, the Children's Fund Board and the local Criminal Justice Steering Group and support more effective planning and consistent monitoring.

This year, the Youth Justice Board Prevention Fund will provide an additional£68,000 to extend targeted preventative services in line with a nationally established `menu' of activities, based on a growing body of knowledge about what is effective in preventing offending. Agreement in principle has been given for this funding to be used to strengthen parenting services, including with parents of young people at risk of offending (see below) and extend the Compass Project to include young people aged 14-17 and incorporate restorative justice services into the work undertaken, including via the Restorative Approaches in Schools Project. The sharp rise in new entrants to the youth justice system may suggest that there are still young people who would benefit from a preventative service at an early stage - and 76% of these are in the 14-17 year age group. Discussions are taking place with Mentoring Plus to ensure that the two services are complementary, widen the choice and increase the overall number of places for young people. The Compass Project will develop and provide intensive programmes to 15 - 20 young people aged 14-17 and continue to measure effectiveness by reductions in risk of offending, engagement in education, training and employment, young people's satisfaction with the service and a review of offending rates of young people who have completed the programme. Work is planned to improve the quality of recording as part of a wider programme of work within the team.

The Restorative Approaches in Schools project has been developing within the restorative justice section of the Youth Offending Team. In the last year it was the only project in the Authority to be awarded an Excellence and Innovation grant from the Government Office for the South West. It has used this to provide training and consultation within a local secondary school and one of its feeder primary schools. Initial feedback from the children and teachers involved has been very positive and this is being followed up by monitoring of behaviour within the schools. Whilst this `whole school approach' does not generally target individual young people, it is consistent with the approach being taken by the Friends Programme, another Children's Fund initiative. There is a commitment to generic and targeted prevention services locally and the Youth Offending Team is keen to reflect this in its work where it can.

Performance:

The national target is to reduce year on year the number of young people entering the youth justice system for the first time. If first time entrants continue at an equivalent rate for the remaining three months, then this figure could rise to 19% over target.

KPI: April - December 2005 actual and annual target	230 first time entrants to the youth justice system in 9 months, against target of 258 for 12 months
KPI: 2006-7 target	2% reduction on original baseline set in March 2005, to 253
Youth Justice Board corporate target	Reduce the number of first time entrants to the youth justice system by 5% by March 2008 compared with the March 2005 baseline

2: INTERVENE EARLY

Overview:

Early intervention work is well established in this area, with a consistent group of staff undertaking the assessments and interventions with young people who have admitted an offence to the Police and received a Final Warning. Review of ASSET data shows that thinking and behaviour, lifestyle and attitudes to behaviour have been the greatest areas of concern identified with young people subject to Final Warnings and staff have developed a range of materials and approaches to working with them. This work has been strengthened by the agreement of a new Avon and Somerset-wide Final Warnings protocol between Police and Youth Offending Teams, which has introduced fortnightly Final Warning clinics at Bath Police Station. The Youth Offending Team can now undertake immediate assessments with young people and their parents, resulting in an increasing take-up of interventions, although this was not fully reflected in the National Standards audit recently undertaken. There are continuing difficulties in responding to those young people who receive Final Warnings in the Keynsham area, where notification is often delayed, reducing the likelihood of young people co-operating with this voluntary support.

Priorities for 2006-2007 include consolidating clinic arrangements, extending these across the whole Bath and North East Somerset area, and reviewing arrangements in the light of the new national target, which will enable resources to be focused on those young people who represent the greatest risk. In line with this, the training needs of staff involved will be reviewed.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2005 (% against old KPI of 80%)	71.7%	EPQA: 2003 rating	2
KPI: 06/07 target (new KPI with revised criteria)	100%	EPQA: 2005 result	2

3: PROVIDE INTENSIVE COMMUNITY SUPERVISION

Overview:

The Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme [ISSP] in this area is part of a wider, Youth Justice Board funded scheme with Somerset and North Somerset. It caters for young people whose offending is persistent and / or serious, providing Courts with a rigorous community option for young people who might otherwise receive a custodial remand or sentence. This follows an established principle for effective practice that work carried out in the community is more likely to be effective in reducing the risk of re-offending. Within an overall programme of at least 25 hours per week of approved activity in the first stage, it provides core elements of education, training and employment, offending behaviour work, restorative justice, family support and interpersonal skills, as well as restrictions on liberty and various surveillance options. Each year, the Youth Justice Board agrees how many young people should start the programme, in order for the programme to maintain its level of funding. There are scheme-wide issues about this target - although Bath and North East Somerset has already exceeded its annual target, the partner teams are not on course to achieve theirs, and this may affect programme funding in the future. The YOT Managers for the three areas will be meeting to review this position and the allocation of funding. The high number of programme starts has contributed to a significant reduction this year in the proportion of custodial sentences passed and the ISSP is now a well established sentencing option for the Courts. Each year the programme adds to the range of activities it can provide - this year this has included reviewing the suitability of the programme for young women.

The ISSP Co-ordinator who managed this programme since its inception in this area three years ago, has now been promoted out of the Authority. Within the funding available, it was not possible to continue the post on a full-time basis and therefore a number of significant developments have been introduced. The programme co-ordination time has reduced from full-time to half-time, partly in recognition that this is now an established programme, and the practitioner time has been increased to establish two full-time Workers to provide greater continuity in planning and delivery. Most of the actions in last year's Youth Justice Plan have been completed - work is outstanding on completion of some of the formal agreements with programme providers and is ongoing with the Police in developing the role of the attached constable [delayed by the post-holder's Maternity Leave].

The work programme for 2006-7 includes increasing young people's participation in planning and reviewing the programme, and increasing successful completion levels. Attention will also be paid to linking young people in to mainstream services and support networks towards the end of their time on the programme, to ensure a full compatibility with the Prevent and Deter Strategy. Towards the end of the financial year, the team is hoping to open the basement at 12 Charlotte Street to provide a more creative space for working with young people - this will enable programme activities to be further developed in the future. Young people are actively involved in planning for how this space is to be refurbished and used. The role of the YOT Steering Group in monitoring the effectiveness of this programme is also to be reviewed.

There is currently no key performance indicator or Effective Practice Quality Assurance cycle for this area of work

4: REDUCE RE-OFFENDING

The principal statutory aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending. Many young people who experience a combination of risk factors in their lives and have offended, remain at high risk of re-offending. A key strength of Youth Offending Teams is their multi-disciplinary and multi-agency membership, enabling them to provide or access a range of direct services at an earlier stage than might otherwise be the case. The specialist work undertaken within Youth Offending Teams is to encourage young people to reflect on their behaviour, consider its impact on other people including the victim[s] and their families and develop and practice skills and strategies for making changes. They are also encouraged to find ways of making some amends to their victims, where the victim is willing for this to happen. At the same time, work is undertaken to address issues that have been assessed with the young person to contribute to their risk of re-offending, for example, lack of engagement in education, training or employment, or abuse of alcohol or drugs. The team also works with parents of young people aged up to 16 years, to help them to make changes in their parenting style or link them with other parents or professionals to provide support and strategies for managing difficult times.

The Youth Justice Board has a corporate target to protect victims and communities by reducing re-offending by young people. One of the mechanisms established for measuring the effectiveness of the new youth justice system is to measure how many young people re-offend. All those who receive Police Reprimands, Final Warnings or Court convictions between October and December each year are followed up to show how many are known to have re-offended, and how serious and frequent any re-offending is. The Police Service is a key partner in provision of data for this exercise. Reconviction follow-up locally shows a significantly improved position in terms of reconviction within 2 years, between the 2002 and 2003 cohorts.

Performance:

Cohort category (see Glossary for definitions)	2002 cohort re-offending within 2 years	2003 cohort re-offending within 2 years	Change
Pre-Court	38%	27.4%	Reduction by 27.8% (10.6 percentage points)
First tier	62%	51.0%	Reduction by 19.3% (12 percentage points)
Community penalties	100%	80.0%	Reduction by 20% (20 percentage points)
Released from custodial penalties	100%	100%	No change
Total number and percentage	54 / 102 = 52.9%	51 / 110 = 46.3%	Reduction by 12.5% (6.6 percentage points)

KPI: 2005/06 actual (Oct - Dec cohort) and % against target	46.3% re-offending - a reduction of 12.5% against a target of 5%
KPI: 2006/07 target	A reduction in re-offending rates by 5% in 2006-2007 when compared with 2002-2003

5: REDUCE THE USE OF CUSTODY

Overview:

The first local priority last year was to reduce the proportion of secure remands and custodial sentencing and a lot of work has been undertaken in support of this. ISSP has been agreed as a standing item at Youth Panel meetings, and the take-up has exceeded the target number of `programme starts' agreed with the Youth Justice Board, even at a nine-month stage in the year. A Custody Panel has been established to provide a regular review and planning process for all cases where a custodial sentence has been passed or where the Court has indicated that it is likely. The YOT Steering Group has had use of custody as a standing item at its meetings and members have been encouraged to consider the part their own agency can play. Bath and North East Somerset continues to be involved in a regular liaison meeting with members of staff from HMP and YOI Ashfield and in drawing up a protocol with local Youth Offending Teams to promote information sharing and co-operative sentence and release planning, in order to reduce the risk of re-offending.

Due to the proportionately high level of custody in this area, a local reduction target was negotiated with the Youth Justice Board. In 2006-2007 at the nine-month stage, the local target has been exceeded, with a performance of 6.1% against a target of 7.4% - and against an in-year performance of 13% in 2005-2006. Indications are that the performance in the final quarter of the year is even better, suggesting that the twelve-month performance will not only exceed the locally negotiated target, but also the national target.

There is also significant improvement against the target for remands, linked to increased uptake in the intensive Bail Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes and continued use of Bail Support. However, there is scope for further improvement in the year ahead. Work will address suitable accommodation provision for young people vulnerable to remands in custody.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2006/7actual and % against target (remand)	41.6% against locally negotiated target of 37.8%	KPI: April - December 2006/7 actual and % against target (custody)	6.1% against locally negotiated target of 7.4%
KPI: 06/07 target	30%	KPI: 06/07 target	5%

6: ENSURE THE SWIFT ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Overview:

The government pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders has been met but inter-agency co-operation continues to ensure that it continues to be met. Youth Offending Teams contribute to this by provision of information to court and by supporting young people's attendance, through voluntary or conditional Bail Support or Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Bail Programmes. The provision of timely Pre-Sentence Reports is also an important factor. Reports are usually prepared for the local Youth Court, which sits each Thursday - occasionally, reports are prepared for Youth Courts further afield or from Bristol Crown Court. The Youth Offending Team provides a regular service to the local Youth Court and also attends the Magistrates' Court or Crown Court when decisions are to be made about young people's remand status or when they are to be sentenced. Court reports are completed and available within the National Standards timescale, even when the Court has adjourned for a longer period. Only one report was delayed by the Youth Offending Team, because of new information becoming available at the last minute - other instances of delay were due to young people not keeping appointments. A Quality Assurance system for reports has been in place for a number of years and is reviewed regularly to ensure that it addresses all key areas. Congruence between proposals and outcome is good.

The work of the Custody Panel and in-house training have highlighted the need to further improve the quality of reports with regard to language and robust plans, particularly those reports being prepared in respect of breach action. A major piece of work for completion this year is a review of the protocol between the local Court and the Youth Offending Team, to address all areas of the team's work in Court.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2006/2007 actual and % against target:	89.7%, narrowly missing the target of 90%
KPI: 06/07 target	90%

7: ENFORCEMENT AND ENABLING COMPLIANCE

Overview:

Most of the young people that the Youth Offending Team works with are subject to Court Orders, which define the parameters within which the work of addressing offending is carried out. National Standards set out a clear response to a young person' failure to keep to the terms of their Court Order, which involves a prompt return to Court for a review of the sentence following a third unauthorised absence from the programme of appointments agreed. Enforcement of Court Orders is one of the areas where Youth Offending Team practice is most vulnerable to discrimination in the way in which absence is evaluated. Therefore it has been an area of policy development this year, together with the introduction of a new Behaviour Contract for young people, to promote clarity about what is expected and the consequences if young people do not comply.

At the same time, the Youth Offending Team recognises that it is working with vulnerable young people, some of whom have been living within a certain level of chaos, particularly if they have not been engaged in a regular pattern of education, training and employment. Therefore the team has been creative in how it encourages young people to take responsibility for reporting at given times, including by working closely with parents and Social Workers to support attendance, sending letters and texts as reminders, and endeavouring to arrange appointments in convenient geographical areas or make home visits, particularly if young people live in the rural part of the Authority.

Work for the year ahead will focus on further promotion of ways to support attendance, ensuring that there is an equitable basis for doing this across the caseload. On a practical level, the team will be reviewing its understanding and operation of Breach procedures and seeking to improve the quality of forma reports.

There are currently no youth justice key performance indicators or Effective Practice Quality Assurance cycles in respect of this aspect of Youth Offending Teams' work. The National Enforcement Delivery Board has established a measure that there should be an average of 35 working days from the relevant unacceptable absence to resolution of the case: to resolve 50% of cases within 25 working days of the relevant unacceptable absence. During 2006-2007, the Youth Justice Board will be issuing guidance on arrangements for quality assessing performance against a range of key quality indicators linked to enabling compliance.

8: ENSURE EFFECTIVE AND RIGOROUS ASSESSMENT

Overview:

Another underlying principle of the Youth Offending Team's work is that all intervention must be based on clear, evidenced assessments of need - and that young people should play an active role in making this assessment and in planning the work to be undertaken to address identified concerns. This applies equally to the use of ONSET with those at risk of offending as it does to the use of ASSET with young people who have offended. The team also uses a substance misuse screening tool in every case. This principle of assessment applies to work with parents too, whether on a voluntary basis or as part of a Parenting Order. The team is confident that this principle is firmly embedded, but there continue to be recording issues; the team's database is very precise and if things are not correctly, then the team does not gain credit for it. Performance has been maintained at the excellent level achieved last year, with all required assessments being completed. This has been supported in-year by briefings about information sharing and update training. Continuing training in assessment and risk assessment is increasing the effectiveness of assessments and proposals to Court. There is a greater understanding throughout the team of the need for continuity from assessment to planning to review and of the value of involving young people in all these stages. Training has also been provided in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and the way this impacts on the sentencing framework for young people.

However, performance is not so strong in involvement of young people in making assessments and this improvement action will be carried forward into the new year and contribute to the work the team is undertaking in pursuit of the Bath and North East Somerset Charter for Children's Participation. The team will also be trained in the completion and understanding of the common Assessment Framework, as part of the introduction of new children's services arrangements in the area. The revised induction programme for new staff includes use of assessment tools, including risk assessment.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2005/6 actual and % against target (ASSET)

Start 100%

End 100%

KPI: 05/06 April - December actual and % against target (DTO)

Start 100%

Transfer 100%

End 100%

EPQA: 2003 rating

KPI: 2006/7 target

100%

KPI: 06/07 target

100%

EPQA: 2005 result

9: SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE ENGAGING IN EDUCATION TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT

Overview:

Poor engagement if education, training and employment is regarded as the single most important risk factor relating to young people's involvement in offending. The YOT Steering Group has taken a particular interest in this area of the team's work and has followed up a presentation and discussion with a piece of exploration into outcomes for a group of permanently excluded children, a number of whom were already known to the Youth Offending Team. The team has access to a range of educational disciplines, with a 0.7 fte secondment from Education, a 0.2 fte Connexions Personal Adviser and an additional 0.3 fte Educational Psychology time and 0.1fte specialist input from the Education Other Than At School Co-ordinator. It is still a challenge to ensure that these resources are co-ordinated and targeted where they are most needed and that recording of educational status is kept up-to-date. At this nine-month stage, performance is short of the target and has fallen by comparison with last year, which was 81%. During the year, attention has been paid to the range of training opportunities available and there has been welcome new provision in extra pre e2e courses for young people who require additional basic skills training before moving on to access more specialist training in their chosen area. Four young people known to the Youth Offending Team joined this programme in September and none of them have re-offended.

Priorities for the year ahead include reviewing systems for obtaining educational status information, particularly at a pre-Court stage, improving Court-stage monitoring to identify those who are not engaged in any education or training at an earlier stage, reviewing information-sharing with education staff and schools and supporting staff to keep education records up-to-date using the new database. A piece of work in partnership with the Education Psychology Department, to ensure that there is a recent educational assessment on all school age young people, is continuing.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2005/6 actual and % against target	71.8%	EPQA: 2003 rating	1
KPI: 2005/6 target	90%	EPQA: 2005 result	2

10: SUPPORT ACCESS TO APPROPRIATE ACCOMMODATION

Overview:

During the year, the team's long-standing Accommodation Worker has moved on, and therefore some of the actions in last year's Plan will be carried forward. As part of the review of team structure, the Accommodation Worker role has been combined with the Bail lead to create a full-time Accommodation and Remand Worker. Lucy Yeaman holds this post within the team and is currently completing her induction. She attends the South-West Accommodation Officers' Forum, which keeps her abreast of changing legislation and provision for young people.

There continue to be particular difficulties in finding any accommodation for young people at risk of custody or upon release from custody and performance appears to have fallen for this group, by comparison with last year. The team has re-established links with Supporting People, contributed to its positive inspection and review of commissioned services, enabling it to highlight again the limited provision for any young people, particularly those who need additional support to live independently. There are current proposals to develop some accommodation in central Bath specifically for young people who are known to the Youth Offending Team. The team has worked closely with the developing Supported Living scheme and one young person known to the Youth Offending Team has accessed accommodation in this way.

Plans for the year ahead include completion of the Accommodation Strategy identifying accommodation issues at an earlier stage, undertaking preventative work with the new Parenting Worker as well as local partner agencies, to prevent breakdown of relationships at home, strengthening this by more proactive liaison with and referrals to partner agencies and work with other agencies to support new provision, including the Green Park project.

Performance:

KPI:April - December 2005/6 (named officer)	Was Maria Edwards, now Lucy Yeaman	KPI: April - December 2005/6 % against target (suitable accommodation)	92.3%
KPI: 06/07 target	Continue to have a named officer	KPI: 2006/7 target	100%

11: SUPPORT ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Overview

There are high levels of mental health issues amongst young people who offend and therefore the team works closely with its Community Psychiatric Nurse to promote good health and prevent poor health from developing. A standard screening tool is used to identify any emotional or behavioural issues or more serious or persistent mental health disorders that may be emerging. The Psychiatric Nurse is a member of the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health team [CAMHS] and receives clinical supervision of her direct work with young people. She also acts as a consultant to all staff within the Youth Offending Team and takes on direct work in more complex cases. Additionally, she now directly supervises some practitioners in all their work, not just in mental health aspects. Liaison with CAMHS continues, with the Community Psychiatric Nurse now offering training on relevant issues to the CAMHS team and supervising trainee nurses and providing observation placements. Information sharing has improved, with a greater understanding of the need to share information about vulnerable young people. Referral pathways are clearer and referrals and consultation continue to work well, with joint assessments undertaken.

A priority for development is re referral pathways for young people with specific disorders and a review of roles of all agencies when young people are held in Police custody. Youth Offending Team involvement in the CAMHS Strategy Group has been marginal this year, due to scheduling issues and proper representation will be addressed in the year ahead.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2005/6 actual and % against 100% target (Acute)	N/A - no cases	KPI: April - December 2005/6 against 100% target (non-acute)	100%
KPI: 2006/7 target	100%	KPI: 2006/7 target	100%

12: SUPPORT ACCESS TO SUBSTANCE MISUSE SERVICES

Overview:

There is a strong link between young people's substance misuse and offending. In this area, concern is greatest about misuse of alcohol and its links with violent offending and anti-social behaviour. A protocol has been completed with Project 28, the local specialist provider of drugs and alcohol services for young people. Information sharing with this project continues to improve, leading also to an improving recording of referrals and work undertaken. Young people referred to Project 28 are seen promptly, and the team is currently working with Project 28 to develop referral criteria to enable appropriate and prioritised referrals.

The Effective Practice Quality Assurance assessment highlighted the need to improve links and treatment pathways between the community and the secure estate and to continue to ensure that all [new] staff are trained to carry out screening assessments and provide basic information and advice to all young people about substance misuse issues. Recording of these assessments and of referrals and outcomes has been an issue, but is improving and will feature in the refresher training for all staff in the use of the new database. Actions in the year ahead will also include working to improve links with custodial institutions regarding substance misuse treatment and information sharing.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2005/6 % against 100% target (Assessment)	91.6%	KPI: April - December 2005/6 % against 100% target (specialist assessment)	100%	KPI: April - December 2006/7 actual and % against target (early access to intervention)	100%	EPQA: 2005	1
KPI: 06/07 target	100%	KPI: 06/07 target	100%	KPI: 2006/7 target	100%	EPQA: 2007 target	2

13: SUPPORT RESETTLEMENT INTO THE COMMUNITY

Overview

The recidivism studies in this area have reported that all young people sentenced to custody in this area re-offend within two years - the reality is that many of them are charged with new offences very soon after their release from custody. This suggests that, despite improved initial training plan arrangements, there are still improvements to be made in the quality of release plans, including the involvement of partner agencies in some aspects of provision. We continue to attend all initial training plan meetings for young people from this area who are sentenced to custody. This enables the plans to be informed by rigorous assessments. The Probation Officer in the Youth Offending Team leads on resettlement and is working to establish stronger links between custodial facilities and providers in the community. The initial Effective Practice Quality Assurance scoring was positive, finding effective practice in a majority of cases, but clearly identifying areas for improvement in order to achieve the target score of 3.

In the year ahead, the team will be working to include parents in the resettlement process, achieve sustainable sentence planning with young people, post-sentence involvement of victims on custody cases, increased involvement of partner agencies, particularly education and training agencies in resettlement work and staff training.

For areas that have a RAP scheme in place, there are new performance requirements - these do not yet apply in this area.

Performance:

EPQA: 2005 rating

EPQA: 2007 target

14: PROVIDE EFFECTIVE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE SERVICES

Overview

Restorative justice principles are now firmly embedded in every area of the Youth Offending Team's work and there is a clear commitment to direct reparation as the most just and effective way of addressing the hurt and damage caused by young people's offending. The restorative process encourages young people to take responsibility for their behaviour, make amends wherever possible, and be supported to use their new insights into the affect of their behaviour on others to inform their plans for the future. All the actions contained in last year's Youth Justice Plan have been taken forward, supplemented by the production of Victim Contact guidelines, new leaflets and a multi-agency protocol in respect of the Victims' Code of Practice, which became law on 1 April 2006. The national targets in respect of contact and victim satisfaction with services provided have been exceeded again.

There has been a clear policy here to promote direct involvement of victims in reparation wherever possible. Whilst there are positive examples of this happening in the last year, it has not always been possible or appropriate. This means that many young people have made their reparation through preparation of letters of explanation or apology to their victims, which are then sent to their victims if they have given consent. Whilst victims have given positive feedback about the services they have received, the local Referral Order Panel Members believe that there should be more opportunities available for young people to make indirect reparation as well. Therefore, plans for the year ahead include reviewing the indirect reparation projects available and working with partner agencies to extend these. The team will also be recruiting more Referral Order Panel Members, advertising in places likely to encourage applications from young men, people living in rural areas and people from ethnic minorities, as these are the groups currently under-represented in the Panel. The Restorative Approaches in Schools work will continue under the auspices of the team's preventative work. All victims are to be provided with better written information about the services available to them and the recording of all information about contact with victims is to be reviewed in the light of the new Victims Code of Practice. More accurate recording of reasons for pursuing direct or indirect reparation is also to be encouraged, to enable the team to audit its practice in this respect, in furtherance of its clearly established principle to prioritise direct reparation wherever possible.

Performance:

KPI: April - December 2005/6 actual and % against 75% target (intervention)	84%	KPI: April - December 2005/6 actual and % against 75% target (satisfaction)	96%
KPI: 2006/7 target	75%	KPI: 2006/7 target	75%

15: SUPPORT PARENTING INTERVENTIONS

Overview

One of the Youth Offending Team's core principles is to work in partnership with the parents of young people who are at risk of offending or who have offended and there have been many positive examples in the last year of providing information, advice and reassurance. The target to involve 10% of parents in parenting programmes has been a challenge that has not been fully met because, for a variety of reasons, parents have not always wanted to access groups in the community, and the Youth Offending Team has had limited capacity for undertaking planned work itself. Feedback from parents on the work that has been undertaken has been extremely positive. The end of year Effective Practice Quality Assurance review demonstrated improvements in the quality of work undertaken and the targeted new assessment rating was achieved. As part of this, the assessment tool used has been revised into a screening and fuller assessment process. The team has joined a wider network of agencies working with parents and has played a lead role in the development of a Parenting Strategy for the Authority and been actively involved in planning a parental participation strategy as well. These strategies provide a framework within which services are being planned to meet a wide variety of needs, including for those subject to Court-ordered parenting programmes.

The Prevention Fund has enabled the Youth Offending Team to review its staffing structure and establish a Parenting Worker post for the first time. Parents accessing services elsewhere in the Authority were invited to comment on the Job Description and a parent played a full role on the selection panel for this post. The new, full-time, Worker will take up her post in April 2006 and will split her time evenly between parents of young people at risk of offending and at risk of re-offending. Individual and group programmes will be delivered in-house, although parents will still be encouraged to access courses and longer-term support groups outside the Youth Offending Team.

In anticipation of this new resource, the team has identified work it needs to do to improve parenting assessments, including reviewing the `threshold' for Parenting Orders, communicating developments with the local Court, improving liaison with other providers, involving parents in resettlement work and ensuring that all parents have access to up-to-date information. As in other areas of performance, attention will be given to the accurate recording of parenting work.

Performance:

KPI: 05/06 April - December actual and % against target (Interventions)	6.6%	KPI: 05/06 April - December actual and % against target (Satisfaction)	90%	EPQA: 04 rating	1
KPI: 06/07 target	10%	KPI: 06/07 target	100%	EPQA: 05 result	2

16: ENSURE EQUAL TREATMENT REGARDLESS OF RACE

Overview:

Whilst the proportion of Black and minority ethnic people in the local population is relatively low, the south west area is becoming more diverse and issues identified may become greater over time. As with all statistical data produced in an area where the overall number of young people offending is also low, the figures need to be treated with some caution. Nevertheless, the proportion of Black and ethnic minority young people entering the youth justice system is significantly greater than those in the population. Recording of ethnicity in this area is reasonably good, with only 2.2% of data missing. The YOT Steering Group has given support to making work to divert young people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds from entering the youth justice system one of the four local priorities this year. This will involve all agencies and will need the support of the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership and incorporation into plans for the future delivery of children's services.

The new Race Action Plan has supported more discussion about diversity issues within the Youth Offending Team. This has focused on suitability of provision for young women on the intensive programme and the introduction of an approach to addressing identity issues with all young people. Impact assessments are now being routinely undertaken on all YOT policies and race issues are being addressed in all new policies.

Plans for the year ahead include repeating the audit of race training undertaken by staff and ensuring update or specialist training as required, and working with Police and the Youth Offending Team to ensure that ethnicity is correctly recorded, according to the young person's self definition in every case.

It will be important to improve engagement with local Black and ethnic minority groups, including the Bath Race Equality Council, and to allow this to inform developments. Perhaps the most important development will be to promote access onto the Compass project by Black and ethnic minority young people and to ensure that the services available meet the needs of young people and their families.

The Youth Justice Board will shortly be providing guidance on developing this area of Youth Offending Team's work. The national target is to deliver activity that substantially reduces local differences by ethnicity in recorded conviction rates, by March 2008

REVIEW AND APPROVAL

Table B: Schedule for review of Plan:

Review date	Reviewer
19.09.06	YOT Steering Group
14.11.06	YOT Steering Group
Date to be confirmed	Overview and Scrutiny Panel
Date to be confirmed	YOT Steering Group
Date to be confirmed	YOT Steering Group

Table C: Signature of approval

Partner Organisation	Name Of Chief Officer	Signature	Date
Chief Executive Of The Local Authority	John Everitt
Health Service	Rhona Macdonald
Police Service	Olivia Pinkney
Probation Service	Sue Hull (On behalf of Jeannette Whitford)
Social and Housing Services	Jane Ashman

APPENDIX A: 1ORGANISATIONAL CHART

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APPENDIX B: KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Theme and measure	2004/05 outturn	2005/06 Apr-Dec Outturn	2006/07 Target
Prevent offending (target since 05/06): Reduce year on year the number of first time entrants to the youth justice system by identifying children and young people at risk of offending or involvement in anti-social behaviour through a YISP or other evidence-based targeted means of intervention designed to reduce those risks and strengthen protective factors as demonstrated by using ONSET or other effective means of assessment and monitoring		243
Prevent Offending (old target): At least 200 young people are identified and targeted for support each year	184	NEW TARGET
Intervene early (new target): Ensure that 100% of young people on a final warning are supported by an intervention if: - their Asset score is greater or equal to 12, or - there are any concerns of risk of serious harm to others, or - their score is less than 12 but any sections score 4			100%
Intervene early (old target): Ensure that 80% of all final warnings are supported by an intervention programme	71.7% (59/83)	70% (56/80)
Reduce re-offending: Achieve a reduction in re-offending rates by 5% in 2006-2007, when compared with the 2002/2003 re-offending cohort, with respect to each of the following four populations:	2002 cohort % re-offending after 24 months:	2003 cohort % re-offending after 24 months (if available):	2004/5 cohort % re-offending after 24 months:
Pre-court	38%	27.4%	Reduction of 5%
First tier penalties	62%	51%	Reduction of 5%
Community penalties	100%	80%	Reduction of 5%
Custody	100%	100%	Reduction of 5%
Reduce the use of custody (secure remands): Reduce the number of remands to the secure estate (as a proportion of all remand episodes excluding conditional / unconditional bail) to 30%	51.6% (16/31)	41.6% (5/12)	Reduction to 30%
Reduce the use of custody (custodial sentences): Reduce the number of custodial sentences as proportion of all court disposals to 5%	13% (29/220)	6.13% (10/162) Exceeding local target to reduce to 7.4%	Reduction to new target of 5%
Ensure the swift administration of justice: Ensure that 90% of pre-sentence reports are submitted within 10 days for PYOs	77%	77% (7/9)	90%
Ensure that 90% of pre-sentence reports are submitted within 15 days for general offenders	95%	95% (19/20)	90%
Ensure effective and rigorous assessment, planning and supervision Ensure that 100% of assessments for community disposals are completed at assessment stage	100%	100% (145/145)	100%
Ensure that 100% of assessments for community disposals are completed at closure stage	100%	100% (119/119)	100%
Ensure that 100% of assessments for custodial sentences are completed at assessment stage	100%	100% (9/9)	100%
Ensure that 100% of assessments for custodial sentences are completed at transfer stage	100%	100% (10/10)	100%
Ensure that 100% of assessments for custodial sentences are completed at closure stage	100%	100% (14/14)	100%
Ensure that all initial training plans for DTOs are drawn up within 10 working days of sentences being passed	84.6% (22/26)	100% (8/8)	100%
Support young people engaging in education, training and employment: Ensure that 90% of young offenders who are supervised by the Yot are either in full-time education, training or employment	81% (235/267)	71.8% (97/135)	90%
Support access to appropriate accommodation: Ensure that all Yots have a named accommodation officer and that 100% of young people subject to final warnings with intervention, relevant community based penalties or on release from the secure estate have suitable accommodation to go to	93.5% (224/236)	92.3% (97/135)	100%
Support access to mental health services: Ensure that all young people who are assessed by ASSET as manifesting acute mental health difficulties are referred by YOTs to the CAMHS for a formal assessment commencing within five working days of the receipt of the referral with a view to their accessing a tier 3 service based on this assessment	N/A	N/A	100%
Ensure that all young people who are assessed by ASSET as manifesting non-acute mental health concerns are referred by the YOT for an assessment and engagement by the appropriate CAMHS tier (1-3) commenced within 15 working days	95% (19/20)	100% (4/4)	100%
Support access to substance misuse services: Ensure that all young people are screened for substance misuse	84.2% (54/183)	91.6% (120/131)	100%
Ensure that all young people with identified needs receive appropriate specialist assessment within 5 working days of assessment	61.1% (11/18)	100% (12/12)	100%
Ensure that all young people access the early intervention and treatment services they require within 10 working days of assessment	100% (11/11)	100% (11/11)	100%
Provide effective restorative justice services: Ensure that 75% of victims of youth crime referred to Yots are offered the opportunity to participate in a restorative process	100% (93/93)	84% (58/69)	75%
Ensure that 75% of victims are satisfied	100% (84/84)	96% (27/28)	75%
Support parenting interventions: Ensure that 10% of young people with a final warning supported by intervention or a community disposal receive a parenting intervention	9.1% (13/161)	6.6% (10/150)	10%
Ensure that 75 % of parents participating in a parenting intervention are satisfied	100%	90% (9/10)	75%
Ensure equal treatment regardless of race (new target): Yots must deliver targeted activity that substantially reduces local differences by ethnicity in recorded conviction rates, by March 2008
Ensure equal treatment regardless of race (old target): All YOTs to have an action plan in place to ensure that any difference between the ethnic composition of offenders on all pre-court and post-court disposals and the ethnic composition of the local community is reduced year-on-year	-	336	NEW TARGET

APPENDIX C: EFFECTIVE PRACTICE QUALITY ASSURANCE IMPROVEMENT CYCLES

Theme and measure	Initial score	Predicted score	Actual score
Prevention (due post 2007)
Early intervention	2	3	2
Intensive supervision (due post 2007)
Managing demand for custody: Remand management (due 2006-8)
Swift administration of justice (due post 2007)
Restorative justice and victims (due post 2007)
Race (n/a)
Recidivism (n/a)
Assessment, planning interventions and supervision	1	2	2
Education, training and employment	1	2	2
Substance misuse	1	2	Due 2007
Mental health (due 2006 -8)
Accommodation (n/a)
Resettlement	2	3	Due 2007
Parenting	1	2	2

APPENDIX D Critical Success Factors for Effective Partnership Working

1.	Clarify aims, objectives and anticipated benefits of partnership working.
2.	Understand partner agencies' priorities and pressure.
3.	Establish appropriate governance arrangements e.g. Steering Group reporting procedures.
4.	Document the ground rules for the partnership.
5.	Set up information flows - formats/procedures/basis
6.	Overcome cultural differences - terminology/style - joint training?
7.	Monitor and review the performance of the partnership.

From Sustaining the Success

Youth Justice Board, 2004

APPENDIX E: GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ABC	Acceptable Behaviour Contracts are voluntary, written agreements between an individual and the Police or Registered Social Landlord, setting out specific expectations for behaviour.
ACPC	The Area Child Protection Committee is a wide, multi-agency partnership that meets quarterly to address strategic and operational actions to promote safety of all children and young people in Bath and North East Somerset.
Anti-Social Behaviour	The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 defines this as a pattern of behaviour that "caused, or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household."
ASBO	Anti-Social Behaviour Orders are civil Court Orders, made to protect the public from behaviour which has led to harassment, alarm or distress. An Order may prohibit a named individual from engaging in particular behaviour or visiting designated geographical areas. The Orders last for a minimum of two years and can carry a custodial penalty if breached.
ASSET	A structured assessment tool used by Youth Offending Teams to consider how a range of factors, such as engagement with education or mental health issues, may have contributed - and continue to contribute - to a young person's offending.
CAF	Common Assessment Framework
CAMHS	Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
Children's Fund	This is a core part of the government's agenda to make a difference to the lives of children and young people at risk of social exclusion. Locally, the managing agent for the Fund is Barnardos, and it provides a range of preventative services for 8-13 year olds.
CYPSP	The Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership
CPN	Community Psychiatric Nurse
Compass	The Compass project, funded by the Children's Fund and managed within the Youth Offending Team, provides intensive support to children aged 8-13, who have been assessed as being at high risk of offending. The project is attached to a Youth Inclusion and Support Panel [YISP].
Connexions	A universal service to provide a wide range of support for 13-19 year olds, particularly regarding education, training and employment. It gives priority to those considered most vulnerable.
CJB	Criminal Justice Board, locally serving the Avon and Somerset area
Effective Practice Quality Assurance / EPQA	Effective Practice Quality Assurance - Youth Justice Board-validated self assessment of practice in a number of key areas, drawing on evidence of what is known to be effective with young people within the youth justice system. The ratings are as follows: 0 Little or no evidence of effective practice exists 1 Some evidence that effective practice is being followed, but not by all practitioners, managers and strategic partners 2 Evidence that effective practice is mostly being followed, but is not system-wide 3 Evidence that effective practice is being followed consistently and systematically by practitioners, managers and strategic partners
Final Warnings	Final Warnings were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, to be issued in place of cautions, to eligible 10-17 year olds who admit an offence to the Police. All young people who receive these Warnings are referred to the Youth Offending Team for help to tackle offending behaviour at an early stage.
ISSP	Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes provide a rigorous community sentence for eligible young people who have been convicted of an offence or a pattern of offences so serious that they would otherwise receive a custodial sentence. The Programme is also available as a condition of a Bail Supervision and Support programme or as a condition of the community element of a Detention and Training Order.
ITP	Initial Training Plan, prepared jointly by the secure establishment and the Youth Offending Team, when a young person is sentenced to a Detention and Training Order.
KPI	Key Performance Indicators - previously referred to as Performance Measures - are set and monitored annually by the Youth Justice Board.
MAPPA	Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements
Parenting Orders	Parents whose children offend or persistently truant from school can be made the subject of Court Orders, requiring them to attend parenting support, and sometimes, to exercise specific control over their child's behaviour.
POPO	Prolific and Other Priority Offender Strategy
Pre Sentence Report / PSR	Pre-Sentence Report, prepared to assist the Court at sentencing stage, by providing an offence analysis, in the light of risk of continued offending and risk to the public, and outlining suitable sentencing options.
Prevent and Deter	This is one of three key themes in the national Prolific and Other Priority Offenders Strategy. Locally, the Community Safety and Drugs Partnership has the lead for this work, including ensuring sufficient preventative services. There is also a requirement for the Youth Offending Team to identify those young people at risk of becoming prolific offenders.
Protective Factors	Aspects of young people's lives that mitigate against offending, such as consistent parenting, engagement in education or involvement in constructive leisure
Persistent Young Offender / PYO	Persistent Young Offenders are those aged 10-17 years, who have three or more separate sentencing occasions for one or more recordable offences and commit another offence within three years of their last appearance in Court.
Referral Order	Available since April 2002, these are mandatory sentences for all young people appearing in Court for a first offence and pleading guilty. They refer a young person to a Community Panel, led by trained members of the public and attended by their parents and the victim[s] of their offence[s]. The Panel agrees a contract for how the young person is to make amends for their behaviour. If they complete the contract successfully, the offence is not recorded; if they do not, they are referred back to Court for re-sentencing.
Recidivism categories: Pre-Court disposals First tier penalties Community penalties Custodial penalties	Used in relation to Reduce Offending KPI A Reprimand or a Final Warning, following admission of an offence to Police. A Court Bind Over, Compensation Order, Discharge, Fine, Referral Order, Reparation Order or Deferred Sentence Any of these Court Orders: Action Plan, Attendance Centre, Community Punishment, Community Punishment and Rehabilitation, Community Rehabilitation, Curfew, Drug Treatment and Testing and Supervision. A Detention and Training Order [up to 2 years] or a Section 91 Order [over 2 years] for grave offences.
Restorative Justice / RJ	Restorative Justice describes a range of approaches to resolving a situation where serious harm, usually an offence, has been caused. It focuses on victim satisfaction, offering a range of services by which the victim can gain an understanding of the offence, have a chance to be fully heard, and agrees to any suitable reparation.
Reprimand	These were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and are issued by the Police when a young person aged 10-17 who has not previously had a Final Warning, admits an offence that isn't serious enough to merit a Final Warning.
Tier 1- 4 Mental Health Services	Tier 1 level services are provided by non-specialists to identify mental health problems at an early stage and provide general information, support and referral on, as needed. Tier 2 level services are provided by health specialists, including training and consultation to staff working at Tier 1, outreach with families, and more detailed assessment. Tier 3 level specialist services are for more complex or persistent difficulties, including assessment and treatment of child mental health disorders. Tier 4 level, most specialist services, including in-patient treatment.
YISP	Youth Inclusion and Support Panels are made up of senior representatives of a range of agencies, including Police, Social Services, Education and Health, who meet to agree a programme of support for 8-13 year olds at high risk of offending, with a focus on helping them to access mainstream services.
YOIS	The Young Offender Information System is a standard database used for case management and monitoring.
Youth Offending Team / YOT	These multi-agency teams were established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, with a principal aim of preventing youth offending. They include representatives from Police, Probation, Health and the Local Authority, and their work is overseen by local steering group made up of key stakeholders.
Youth Justice Board / YJB	The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales is a non-departmental public body responsible to the Home Secretary for overseeing the youth justice system, including by monitoring performance, providing advice and guidance and disseminating good practice.

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CabinetWednesday, 3rd May, 2006

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Wednesday, 3rd May, 2006