This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Blueprint for youth justice
09/10/2006
A blueprint that aims to deliver more consistent, co-ordinated and effective youth justice services was published today.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson unveiled the Youth Justice Improvement Programme in Paisley where she met staff and young people involved in an award-winning project working with offenders and supporting parents.
Drawing heavily on the Youth Justice Improvement Group (YJIG) report, also published today, the Programme outlines detailed actions to be taken at a local and national level, with timescales, to deliver:
- improved practice
- improved evaluation and performance
- more effective management
- greater information to victims, communities and offenders
- appropriate capacity and skills
A team of professional advisers has been preparing over the summer and is ready to start working directly with agencies to encourage best practice across the country and improve local performance and outcomes.
Ms Jamieson said:
"The vast majority of Scots, regardless of age, want and expect to see offending behaviour challenged and changed. They want fewer crimes committed against themselves, their families or the wider community.
"Overall crime is falling, including violent crime - good news for us all, not least our young people who often bear the brunt of such offending.
"Since we published our first Youth Crime Action Plan in 2002, considerable work has been done across the country and much has been achieved, including the implementation of National Standards.
"We have significantly increased investment in youth justice - now at 63 million a year - and the Antisocial Behaviour Act has provided agencies with a range of new tools and helped concentrate and focus local action.
"But local success in tackling the disproportionate harm caused by a minority of persistent youth offenders is not being replicated everywhere.
"As the Improvement Group states, there is no single solution to reducing offending, but a range of family, community and individual approaches.
"Greater, joined-up efforts are needed to target these young people, to bring relief to hard-pressed communities and improve outcomes for all.
"In acknowledging the Group's proposals to achieve this, I've outlined additional steps to ensure we tackle all the issues effectively.
"Building on the achievements of recent years, this Programme points the way ahead for local agencies, working more closely together and with the Executive, to drive down youth offending across the country.
"Where local areas are on track, we will support them to continue good work. Where others are off the pace we will ensure they learn from good practice.
"A Youth Justice Improvement Team, drawn from leading professionals with frontline experience, will provide support and advice to ensure agencies are collectively addressing and improving all indicators on youth crime. They have a national remit but I expect them to concentrate initially on helping areas with most still to do.
"As a Minister I'm not prepared to write off any young person. But neither will I allow anyone's unchecked behaviour to write off their community."
The YJIG included a wide range of interests, including representatives from local authorities, police and the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA).
The YJIG report outlines in some detail the root causes of offending and antisocial behaviour and suggests that to improve the quality of provision and the experience of those affected by youth crime and antisocial behaviour, there are six broad areas where action is needed and where it will now be taken:
- to tackle problems caused by a small number of troubled and troublesome families, providing support at an early stage
- to stop persistent offending
- to ensure young people involved in offending cannot refuse to engage in programmes to change their behaviour
- to reduce specific risks to communities, other young people, and themselves, posed by a very small number of high risk offenders
- to ensure the workforce has the capacity and skills to deal with this challenging agenda
- to build community confidence that effective action is being taken
Councillor Eric Jackson, Social Work & Health Improvement spokesperson for COSLA and YJIG member, said:
"The report published today is as a result of the hard work of all the professionals, organisations and agencies that help support the youth justice system in Scotland.
"It is aspirational, but represents a commitment to attaining successful outcomes for our young people. We can only do that through working together and taking joint responsibility for this crucial service."
Assistant Chief Constable Maureen Brown, who leads on youth issues for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), said:
"The Scottish Police Service is committed to providing a high quality of service for all communities, increasing confidence in policing and working with partner agencies.
"Scottish police forces will continue to work with partners to create a responsive service, which strikes a balance between addressing the needs of communities and the need to engage with young people to understand their concerns."
Fellow YJIG member Margaret Cox, the Principal Reporter, added:
"The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration fully supports the Executive's commitment to deliver further improvements in youth justice across Scotland.
"We will continue to work with our partners in the Hearings System to deliver better outcomes for young people, their families and the communities in which they live."
Among the various strands of work included in the YJIG report are proposals to strengthen the monitoring and supervision of high risk young offenders.
This was undertaken by an expert group, set up following the HMIC/SWIA report into the killing of Karen Dewar by 18 year old Colyn Evans, in Fife, in January 2005.
Members of the Improvement Team will now take forward this work, including the development of a system to approve approaches and programmes for use with sexual or violent young offenders and models of practice for the management of these high risk offenders.