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Youth Justice in Scotland
A progress report for all those working for young people

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This progress report highlights some of the work that you have been carrying out on youth justice. It is designed to help you to share examples of good practice and provide an overview of the achievements being made locally and nationally.

Contact details are provided at the end of the report if you require further information on any of the issues.

At the heart of our plans to improve youth justice is a 10 point action plan launched at the end of June. This builds on the success of existing approaches to youth justice. Early priorities include:

• pilot specialist children's hearings to provide a fast-track process for persistent offenders;
• develop standards for youth justice agencies and interventions;
• proposals to involve the victim at key stages in the youth justice process to be produced by October; and
• a youth court feasibility project, for serious and persistent young offenders aged 16 and 17.

There are four main challenges:

• developing appropriate preventative and early intervention strategies;
• diverting young people from a developing pattern of offending behaviour;
• getting effective programmes in place to challenge and reduce offending behaviour; and
• making sure local people know that action is taking place.

Progress has been made in Scotland's system of youth justice over the last year. In every local authority there is:

• a youth justice team that works with young people who offend to help stop them re-offending;
• a multi-agency team made up of senior representatives of the local council, the police, the children's reporter, the voluntary sector and others - pulling together the resources that can reduce youth crime and prevent it happening;
• programmes in place or in development to tackle offending behaviour or prevent it occurring; and
• support for victims of youth crime planned in every area by the end of 2002.

This report highlights the work of 12 local authorities that have demonstrated good practice in tackling youth crime. These authorities have identified their young offenders and have programmes in place to tackle their behaviour.

The priority groups we need to concentrate on are:

• reducing the number of persistent offenders - those who have committed at least 10 offences;
• providing more support for parents to help their child reduce their offending;
• promoting the involvement of victims in the Youth Justice process; and
• building confidence in the Youth Justice system in the community.

We need youth justice teams to listen to the concerns of local communities, to explain the measures in place to tackle youth crime and to work with communities to identify solutions to reduce crime and the fear of crime. All those who work with young people who offend will know that many young people can be diverted from crime if effective programmes are in place to tackle their behaviour.

I am confident that our approach is right and the crime figures suggest it is. But we can do so much better. Let's build on the progress already made and make a real difference to the lives of the young people who offend and of the communities where they live.

Cathy Jamieson, MSP

Minister for Education and Young People

Tackling Youth Crime in Scotland

Our approach to tackling youth crime in Scotland is to concentrate on community-based programmes - although the majority of serious crimes by young people are dealt with through the courts.

Properly planned and structured community-based programmes can be more effective than custody

All authorities have programmes for young offenders in place. The website www.childrens-hearings.co.uk/youthjustice.asp provides details of every authority's youth justice services and contact details.

• Analysis of such programmes (Lipsey 1992) involving 40,000 young people showed they can lead to a re-offending rate of between 10%-32% less than those who do not take part.

Some examples of programmes that tackle offending behaviour are:

• Freagarrach, Central Scotland. The overall rate of offending by the young people attending decreased by between 20% and 50%.
• New Directions: Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire - predicted offending behaviour has reduced three-fold and the Project has contributed to a dramatic reduction in numbers of children in secure accommodation (from an average of 11 at start to 2).
• Matrix is an example of an early intervention project for 8-11 year olds in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire identified as at risk of developing offending and anti-social behaviour patterns. A strong parenting focus, run by Barnardo's, funded by SE and local authorities.
• Breaking the Cycle, East Lothian's multi-agency Youth Justice team has helped achieve (so far with a sample group of young people who have received a second stage warning interview),
  9 out of 10 young offenders not re-offending.
• SACRO, Fife Victim Mediation Scheme. Independent evaluation found:
  • Of 87 referred to project, 62% not referred to Reporter again during the following two months.
  • Victims generally felt that traditional approaches neglected them, whereas SACRO allowed them to become directly involved.
• Barnardo's Bridges Project for adolescents from the Tayside area involved in sexual offending - a recent tracking exercise found that 95% of young people who had completed the programme had not re-offended.
• The Compass Scheme in Dundee diverts young people who offend into local community sports and leisure pursuits. Of 148 referred to the scheme since 1999, 81% have stayed out of trouble.
• The CHOICE Project in Dundee provided intensive programmes for persistent and serious young offenders. A recent tracking exercise of 22 young people showed a reduction in over 250 offences between actual and projected offending.

The Ten-Point Action Plan on Youth Crime

The Review undertaken by the Ad Hoc Group on Youth Crime recommended a tiered approach in tackling youth crime. On 27 June, Cabinet agreed the following:

To tackle persistent offending: A small number of persistent offenders are responsible for a disproportionate amount of youth crime. Action will be targeted at this group, including:

1 A pilot of Specialist Children's Hearings to fast-track persistent offenders under 16.

2 A Youth Courts feasibility project for persistent offenders aged 16 and 17, with flexibility to deal with 15 year olds.

3 Reviewing the scope for using Restriction of Liberty Orders, Anti Social Behaviour Orders and Community Service Orders for persistent offenders.

To promote community safety and order: Youth disorder blights our communities. We need a range of ways to deal with disorder and offending in the community. This will include:

4 A Safer Scotland police campaign on high visibility policing, covering Youth Disorder, to increase visibility and provide community reassurance.

5 Spread best practice, and establish firm standards, for community-based projects funded through the Action Programme, Better Neighbourhood Services Fund programmes and Making Communities Safer programmes.

6 Consideration of a Scottish-wide application of a system of Police warnings, and a detailed exploration of restorative cautions approach, perhaps through piloting.

7 Re-configuring the secure accommodation available nationally to provide groups of girl-only accommodation, further consideration of additional places and improving the range and provision of programmes in secure units.

To promote the effectiveness of the system: While many aspects of the youth justice system are working well, there are some key pressures which must be addressed:

8 A set of national standards to operate between local authorities, the criminal justice system and Children's Hearings, covering reporting, timescales and follow-up.

9 Promote parental responsibility, through voluntary measures and in the longer term to consider the feasibility of introducing further statutory obligations on parents.

10 Measures to increase the speed of referral to the courts will be considered, and introduction of specific targets discussed with the Judiciary.

Local authorities that have demonstrated good practice in tackling youth crime

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