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CHAPTER THREE Local Authority profiles

Introduction

3.1 A summary of the headline data on ISMS for each of the LAs is provided in Table 3.1 below, based on data supplied by the LAs. We also provide some headline statistics on intensive support service cases who are receiving intensive support without an MRC, but are nevertheless benefiting from some of the infrastructure that ISMS is funding. The data reflects the position at the end of April 2007 in each of the LA phase 1 areas (the agreed cut-off point for the evaluation).

3.2 Data on the ISMS cases is further broken down in Table 3.2 to detail the ISMS cases by area by sex and age profile and the length of time spent on ISMS and the MRC component. However, care is taken on reporting on cases by LA area to ensure that no individual young people are identified.

3.3 In the following sub-sections we provide much more detail on the implementation and delivery of ISMS in each of the phase 1 areas individually up to the end of our evaluation period. This information is summarised in Table 3.3, which attempts to compare implementation and operation of ISMS across each of the LAs. Care though does need to be taken in the interpretation of this table as each LA is implementing its own model of delivery and, as we will see, some of them are very different models from the others, making even broad comparisons quite difficult.

3.4 The fact that, in effect, we have seven different models of delivery, all at different stages, does make it difficult to address 'what works' in the ISMS programme. This is exacerbated by the fact that some of the phase 1 LAs have very few ISMS cases. However, we do fully explain the nature of each model and why it was chosen, as well as attempting to address the efficacy of each of the models and areas where good practice has emerged.

3.5 The main external provider of intensive support services is Includem in five of the seven phase 1 local authorities (Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh, Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire). Highland Council uses NCH, while Moray delivers these services through an in-house team. This support is complemented by other services such as education, social work, addiction services (where appropriate) and mental health services (where appropriate).

The support services provided in all areas vary depending on the needs of the young person and their circumstances.

3.6 This section has been put together through regular liaison with the LAs and analysis of their data. Each of the profiles provided has been agreed with the LA prior to reporting. As such, this section gives the LAs 'a voice' to explain why they implemented ISMS the ways in which they did as well as the issues and problems around implementation and operation.

3.7 Analysis of the headline data in Table 3.1 highlights that the number of ISMS cases has fallen somewhat short of estimates. There were only 63 cases up to the end of April 2007, whereas something between 176 and 194 had been expected.

3.8 However, there were considerably more assessments of ISMS (309), many of which converted to intensive support service rather than ISMS (179). All of the LA areas had considerably more intensive support service cases than ISMS with the exceptions of Glasgow and Moray. The reasons for this are explored in further detail for each of the areas, below, but, in general, there seem to be a number of main causes.

• Many of these cases were not suitable for ISMS because the intensive support that they received during the assessment phase rendered the MRC as no longer necessary, as the young people no longer met the Section 70 (10) conditions.
• There were other problems in moving many cases on to a MRC, such as a lack of suitable accommodation or difficulties in the young person's family relationships.
• In some areas, the estimates were not achieved because insufficient priority was given to the implementation of the ISMS programme and/or because of ideological concerns about the nature of electronic monitoring, i.e. some professionals had a view that the MRC, including the electronic monitoring, for vulnerable young people was inappropriate and unduly punitive.

3.9 In terms of who is receiving ISMS, Table 3.2 provides a profile. The vast majority are male and over 15 years-old. ⁷ The average length of the ISMS programme across the LAs varies from 17 weeks to 38 weeks. The average length of an MRC varies from 8 weeks to 17 weeks. This is broadly in line with initial expectation that anticipated assessments of 6 weeks, with around 12 weeks on the MRC with intensive support and 12 weeks on post- MRC support. Individually though some programmes only last a week whereas others are continuing way after 60 weeks. The range for an MRC is also highly variable.

3.10 The rest of this chapter explores the reasons for some of these differences within and between the LA areas. At the end of each sub section that profiles each LA, we present our own view on how each area has performed in delivering ISMS. This represents our own view only and has not been agreed with the LAs.

Table 3.1. Headline ISMS data (over a two-year period to 30 April 2007)

Source: Local Authorities

Table 3.2. Breakdown of ISMS data (over a two-year period to 30 April 2007)

Notes to table

* For completed cases

Source: Local Authorities

Table 3.3: Summary of phase 1 areas

Dundee

Context

3.11 Although Dundee City Council is geographically the smallest local authority in Scotland, the City is home to a population of 142,160 (2006 figures) ⁹, making it the fourth largest city in Scotland (and representing 2.8% of the Scottish population). Of this population, 10,028 (7.1%) are between 12 and 17 years of age, with 4,914 females and 5,114 males. Dundee City is almost exclusively an urban area, with 99.5% of the population living in urban areas and 0.5% living in accessible rural areas. With 2,376 persons per sq km, the City is also one of the most densely populated local authority areas in Scotland ¹⁰.

3.12 Deprivation in the City is higher than the Scottish average, with 21.8% of Dundee's data zones in the most deprived decile in the nation ¹¹. 18.6% of the local authority population is classed as income deprived ¹² and some 16.9% of the working age population are deemed employment deprived in Dundee. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole.

3.13 The deprivation is reflected in statistics from the education sector, with 2,891 primary school pupils and 1,646 secondary school pupils (29% and 21% of school roll respectively) entitled to free school meals in 2007 ¹³. According to Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, educational attainment for teenagers is poorer than in Scotland as a whole, with 85.5% of the S4 roll in Dundee attaining SCQF level 3 or better in both English in Maths in 2005, compared to 91.0% of S4 pupils across Scotland. In Dundee City schools, there were a total of 2,272 exclusions from school for 2005/06, 1,927 of which were from secondary schools ¹⁴. The exclusion rate for that year was 122 per 1,000 pupils and all exclusions were temporary.

3.14 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 15,593 recorded crimes in the city over 2005-06 (3.7% of the Scottish total) and more than 1,500 house breakings (again, 3.7% of the Scottish total).

3.15 The Scottish Executive indicates that Dundee had around 474 children being looked after in March 2006 ¹⁵, which represents 1.6% of the population under 19 years old in Dundee. Of these, 307 were looked after away from home, with 47 in residential care. 54% of care leavers beyond minimum school leaving age had at least one qualification at SCQF level 3 or above in Dundee in 2005/06.

Data on cases

ISMS cases

3.16 The high level data on the ISMS cases is provided in Tables 3.1 and 3.2. There were eleven ISMS cases in total in Dundee, ten of which were male. It appears that males are more likely to receive ISMS in Dundee whereas females are more likely to receive secure accommodation if they appear at risk to themselves or from others, e.g. around sexual exploitation. The programme seems to have demonstrated its ability to tackle the behaviour of those that are a risk to others, e.g. young male offenders, but has not yet demonstrated this ability to extend beyond this to other cases. However, the ISMS Team argues that this position may be changing as they and other partners become more comfortable and confident about assessing and managing risk. The Team points out that recent referrals, from practitioners and from Children's Hearings, have largely been for those who are at risk to themselves through absconding and at risk from other people rather than solely for offending reasons. Three of these referrals are vulnerable females. The Team believes that the programme is therefore adapting to the needs and the risks of the young people meeting the Section 70(10) criteria.

3.17 The vast majority of cases are older children, with only four cases under 15 at the start of their ISMS programme. The curfew times are usually some time from 2100-2230 up to 0700 each day.

3.18 The average MRC in place was for 62 hours per week, or 9.5 hours per day (9.30pm to 7am). As stated earlier, the maximum MRC was 7pm to 7am (12 hours per day) and the minimum 9.30pm to 7am on weekend nights. Nine out of eleven young people on ISMS received a curfew seven nights per week.

3.19 However, there was a definite trend for those subject to ISMS towards the end of this evaluation period whereby, if possible, the curfew was reduced and used on less than seven days per week. This variation in this use of the curfew reflects the attempts of those working with the young people to be more creative in the use of the MRC and impose the restriction around key offending times such as weekends, rather than imposing a blanket approach.

Intensive support service cases

3.20 There have also been 27 intensive support service cases. As ISMS has progressed, the rate of young people receiving ISMS has dropped (eight cases in the first year and three in the second), while the rate of those receiving intensive support only has accelerated. This, the ISMS Team puts down to more timely, preventative work being undertaken with young people before they start meeting section 70(10) criteria, meaning that an MRC is not needed for these cases and neither do they require the same level of intensity of support as may have been required without this early intervention.

3.21 However, despite this higher number of intensive support service cases, the ISMS Team in Dundee state that they remain fully committed to implementing ISMS for cases where it is felt to be required and deemed appropriate.

Motivation for participation

3.22 The motivation behind submitting the bid and implementing ISMS was two-fold. Firstly, Dundee (like other LAs), was using high numbers of secure places for young people either putting themselves and/or others at risk. ISMS was therefore seen as a viable alternative to the need for a secure placement. Secondly, Dundee had an existing support network of teams covering issues such as youth justice, supported education, supporting families, etc. What these existing supports did not have was the ability to implement the services on an intensive level and ISMS was seen as a catalyst to do this. ISMS was intended to build on this already existing foundation of support networks in Dundee.

Delivery

3.23 The Council admits to a cautious approach to the implementation of ISMS. Its bid was submitted in September 2004 and approved the following December. Committee arrangements for Council approval, e.g. commitments to posts and services, were made in January 2005 and recruitment started in February. Interviews for the ISMS Programme Manager position occurred in April 2005, with the Programme Manager starting in June 2005. The first ISMS assessments began in July 2005.

3.24 The Council argued that they had learned from their involvement in the Fast track Children's Hearings pilot ¹⁶ that people and an infrastructure had to be in place before a programme could get properly underway. It believed that this happened in the Youth Courts pilot elsewhere and that it worked more successfully as a result.

Funding

3.25 There was some uncertainty about funding before ISMS could be rolled-out in Dundee. The terms of the funding only came through in June 2005. The confirmation of funding meant all aspects of the infrastructure could be put in place, but by that time this had caused some delays with the implementation timetable. Continued doubts over funding has made the programme difficult to resource.

Delivery against expectations

3.26 In its original proposal, the Council estimated that about ten children a year would be placed on ISMS and another ten would be assessed with no disposal made. It has come close to meeting its original estimate for ISMS cases in the first year and exceeded its overall assessments estimate. However, as explained earlier, there has been a reduction in the number of ISMS cases in 2006-07. This reduction has not been reflected in an increase in secure places being used in Dundee. Secure places used by Dundee continue to fall.

Role of the Programme Manager

3.27 In our stakeholder survey, a number of stakeholders suggested that while they were supportive of the Programme Manager and his efforts in establishing the programme, they also felt he was too closely involved in cases so that the cases (and by extension the programme) was too heavily dependent on him. The Programme Manager accepted this criticism and said that over early 2007, he has scaled down his level of involvement. A social worker (with a residential background) has been tasked with undertaking a lot of the coordination and core planning activity, including attendance at Children's Hearings. The role of the ISMS Social Worker is to carry out a real hands on, specific and time-limited therapeutic work (e.g. anger management, consequential thinking) as well as family work, parental work and/or sibling work alongside the case-holding social worker. It is her role, together with the social worker, to help co-ordinate and plan the supports that continue to be in a position to manage the risks presented. A number of students have also been taken on to assist the ISMS Social Worker.

Referral and assessment

Multi-agency approach

3.28 There is a multi-agency approach to assessment in Dundee. To identify suitable cases for ISMS, there are multi-agency screening meetings, involving the ISMS Programme Manager, of young people in residential placements and other secure environments. Young people meeting the criteria for secure care are also subject to an ISMS assessment and this ensures that high tariff young people (who meet Section 70 (10) conditions) are being reviewed for suitability for ISMS on a regular basis. Panel Members have become more proactive in the process, e.g. asking for a Hearing to be continued for ISMS to be considered.

3.29 Work is also going on with other teams, such as the ASBOs Team, to examine cases where there may be crossover, e.g. in asking the ASBOs Team to hold off on an application for an ASBO for a young person until the ISMS Team has had a chance to look at the case.

3.30 The ISMS Team believes that the process from referral to assessment could become more streamlined. There is an attempt to move towards a single shared assessment and an acceptance of GIRFEC¹⁷ principles, but the system needs to become more integrated to do this properly and that means building trust across agencies, which is happening but still has some way to go.

Nature of assessments

3.31 The assessments are intensive, particularly as the young person has to engage with support during the assessment period. The young person can, however, be fast-tracked through the process, e.g. if assessments have been undertaken in the past. It is possible that assessments can be postponed, e.g. to see how the young person reacts in a foster care setting. Assessments can also be discontinued, e.g. if a parent refuses for the young person's tag to confine him/her to the house. ASSET is used if offending is an issue in the young person's circumstances.

3.32 On average, an assessment is taking around 4.5 weeks in Dundee, with a range of 4 days to 62 days. The length of the assessment depends on how confident the team is that they can manage the risk. This seems to demonstrate a flexibility in assessment approach that does not happen in other areas (where assessment tends to be more systematic).

Partnership working

Inter-agency approach

3.33 There is an inter-agency Steering Group for ISMS in Dundee that reviews the implementation of ISMS on a bi-monthly basis. The LA believes that the effectiveness of managing to sustain a multi-disciplinary approach across agencies and disciplines and a shared corporate responsibility in ISMS cases is a major factor underpinning what it considers to be a successful programme.

3.34 Inter-agency protocols for a number of agencies (including Social Work, Education and Includem) have been devised by the ISMS Programme Manager. In doing this, the first ISMS cases were reviewed so that the expectations of the various agencies were refined and all of the agencies are effectively linked in to carry out the programme.

Linkages with Education

3.35 The Council believes that linking in Education and giving them funding in return for guaranteed services has been important in guaranteeing Education's participation from an early stage. Education has the resources to deliver what is required for ISMS. Each young person subject to ISMS is guaranteed a full-time and flexible education that fits their needs and stage/style of learning, as well as playing a fundamental part of the overall plan to manage the risks presented.

Role of feedback

3.36 Dundee City Council believes that ISMS started receiving positive feedback from the Children's Hearings System and from social workers when they began to see evidence of positive outcomes from the programme and the awareness of ISMS increased. Gradually, the monitoring element became seen as being appropriate for some young people. The ISMS Programme Manager provided a written review of ISMS that raised its awareness among social workers and their teams, across all levels including senior managers. This, it is argued, led to greater confidence in ISMS and more appropriate case referrals.

Linkages with the Courts

3.37 The ISMS Team has also attempted to build-up the credibility of ISMS with the Courts in an attempt to get older young people referred back to the Children's Hearings System so that they can be considered for ISMS.

Joined-up reviews

3.38 The young people on ISMS are also reviewed by Looked After Children ( LAC) Review officers on a monthly basis. The young people, their families, Social Work, Education, Health, Includem and other supports all play a part in this review system.

3.39 If needed, the care plans for young people subject to ISMS are formally reviewed by the ISMS core team on a weekly basis, whereby the care plan is amended accordingly. The Programme Manager and/or the ISMS Social Worker meets the Includem Senior Project Worker on a weekly basis to review each active ISMS and intensive support service case to see how the intensive supports need to be amended with the changing circumstances.

Service provision

Education

3.40 The Programme Manager sees full-time education to be a critical part of the ISMS programme. If the young person has an existing mainstream education place at assessment, the Programme Manager will decide, in consultation with the young person, their family and their school, whether this can be sustained with or without added ISMS support. If the young person does not have an existing mainstream education placement at assessment or a school place is not sustainable, the ISMS education worker will seek a full-time placement in a supported off-site environment. Education is the main element of an ISMS programme and is around 30 hours per week for those on the programme.

Includem

3.41 Includem is the main external services provider. Includem started work with the Council in October 2004 and brought a new kind of service to Dundee. The first three months was an induction with the Council. They started work in the city in January 2005 and a number of young people have received intensive support since then.

3.42 All young people receiving ISMS are supported by Includem (the level of support provided by Includem is dependent on their changing level of risk and need).

3.43 Includem provides tailored support, including structured work covering offending and related issues; social, life and survival skills; addresses social exclusion; provides social and leisure activity to develop relationships; provides structured work with young people and families; and provides structured work with key support workers.

3.44 Throughout the assessment period, Includem will meet the young person and his/her family on approximately four occasions per week. This level of contact continues if the young person is given ISMS and they will receive approximately ten hours of support from Includem each week, which continues on to the throughcare part of the programme that is now for double the length of time that the young person was on ISMS to build on the progress that a young person has made on the programme and to continue to work with them when they turn 16. The Programme Manager has purposely set Includem support at this level so that he has the flexibility to increase contacts during periods of lapse or relapse (as well as reduce contacts if the young person's circumstances begin to settle) and to allow the flexibility to increase other contacts on other core elements of support. This level of support from Includem is typically less than in the other phase 1 LAs in which Includem operates. This has caused some tension between the ISMS Team and Includem, but this has been discussed openly between the parties and is being managed.

Social Work

3.45 All young people receiving ISMS are also supported by Social Work. Social Work is also integrated into the programme in support, planning and delivery and a social worker sees the young person and their parents once a week to discuss their care and support and how their care plan needs to develop.

Housing

3.46 Accommodation has been a problem in Dundee. The LA said that more young people would have been made subject to ISMS and retained in their community if they had suitable accommodation, but some young people assessed had no family or carer in Dundee. The LA believes that additional carer type placements would allow ISMS to apply to more young people.

Other resources

3.47 There are also a number of other resources - health; alcohol and substance misuse; reparation and empathy development; education, training and careers; family work; social and leisure activities; and intensive support by NCH for 16 to 17 year-olds returning home from secure care or custody.

3.48 Some of the young people on the programme have received drug and alcohol counselling (approximately four hours a week) and a small number have received support from Child Psychiatry. The programme has used SACRO for some mediation work and most young people have linked into the community education department to secure appropriate community-based activities.

Matching supports with needs

3.49 The Programme Manager stated that in his first ISMS case, he believed that he overloaded the young person with support and this indirectly led him to breach his curfew. He thought then that the intensity of the programme was unsustainable. He now tries to ensure that the level of supports and intervention match the level of risks presented, e.g. if circumstances are settled, the level of intensity is less if the young person and his/her family are experiencing a crisis. This is intended to provide a level of stability for the young person and their family to start to resolve their problems over a longer period of time. With the doubling of the throughcare period, the average length of time of the programme from point of assessment to point of full exit is nine months.

Monitoring and evaluation

3.50 The ISMS programme in Dundee has developed and changed focus since becoming operational following ongoing review, examination and evaluation of the processes and levels of intervention and controls required on the programme. This process of evaluation and change is intended to continue throughout the lifetime of the programme.

3.51 The ISMS Team input information on all ISMS cases from initial assessment and update regularly. There is also historical data on those receiving intensive support.

3.52 There are activity sheets completed each week on what has been provided, including resources and costs.

3.53 There are protocols with the Police and the ISMS Team is informed of the number and nature of offences by the young person as part of their assessment. These are activated in the LAC system after ISMS is granted, and there are regular meetings with various agencies to update on progress.

3.54 There is also the corporate system that can provide information on those on secure, Young Persons' Units ( YPUs), etc.

3.55 To gain a full picture of the young person pre- and post- ISMS, the ISMS Team can log 'incidents of concern', e.g. type and nature of offence, care issues and absconding.

Success measures

An alternative to secure accommodation

3.56 The Council believes that ISMS is contributing to cost savings and good practice because ISMS is helping children to stay in the community rather than the high costs of keeping them in secure accommodation. There has been a reduction in the number of secure admissions, in the average length of stay and in the occupancy rates within secure accommodation. The number of secure admissions (into The Elms Secure Unit and to external providers) has usually been running in the high twenties for the previous four years, but dropped to 15 cases in 2006-07. This fall has been for both sexes, but it has been particularly pronounced for males.

3.57 This reduction was an expressed aim of the Council that it seems to be achieving. It suggests that ISMS is seen as being aimed at high tariff children involved in risk-taking behaviour who otherwise may be in secure accommodation. The combination of the possibility of lower costs and more successful outcomes is seen as very positive in Dundee.

Impact on offending

3.58 The ISMS Team report significant falls in offending behaviour before and after ISMS. ¹⁸ The reduction in offending of ISMS cases six months pre-assessment and six months post-assessment was 70%. 12 months pre-assessment and 12 months post assessment (for cases where there is information available), the fall was 52%. These large falls were experienced for a number of categories of crime, including acts of dishonesty, serious offences and antisocial offences. In two cases, the young person was subject to secure Place of Safety Order after a period of non-compliance, but returned to ISMS after a temporary spell (13 days and 21 days respectively). In another case, a young person was placed in secure on their throughcare phase for one day. Secure accommodation is therefore being used in conjunction with ISMS to manage young people at times when their behaviour is becoming riskier. This, again, demonstrates the flexibility of approach in Dundee. It also demonstrates that the falls in offending rates had little to do with the use of secure accommodation during ISMS.

3.59 The reduction in offending behaviour traits is also demonstrated by the reduction in ASSET scores. For those on ISMS, the average ASSET score was 29 at assessment, 20 on coming off the MRC and 20 on ISMS exit (after the throughcare phase).

Attendance rates

3.60 Education attendance has also improved for ISMS cases, with a 66% attendance rate after ISMS compared to a 37% rate before it.

Constraints

3.61 The Team believes that ISMS does work, but it is difficult to get favourable outcomes in cases where problems are more entrenched. Another difficulty is that many of the young people coming off the MRC are 16 and resources are not as available to help them afterwards, although the Team does try to help where it can.

Reasons for success

3.62 The Programme Manager is of the view that ISMS has been a significant success in Dundee for a number of reasons.

• The MRC - young people are saying that the MRC enables them to avoid their peer group and parents believe that it acts as a temporary means to control the whereabouts of their children that allows the ISMS team to work with the young people and their parents to provide them with the skills with which to impose this control when the MRC ends.
• Education - as a means of bringing structure and direction to a young person's life.
• ISMS being an alternative to secure - so that the young people have the responsibility and commitment to make the programme work.
• The crisis hotline run by Includem - parents say that during periods of hostility, the helpline is very useful to express concerns about behaviours and discuss methods to resolve the hostility with the potential of Includem visiting to support.
• The flexibility of Includem support - being able to increase or decrease contact hours depending on changing circumstances.
• Feedback from Serco on non-compliance - which assists the ISMS Team in terms of risk assessment and management.
• The temporary crisis accommodation facility - which can ease tensions at a young person's home and allow the ISMS Team to continue to work with the young person and their parents to help to get the programme back on track.

Evaluator's view

3.63 Dundee has been one of the better performing areas in implementing ISMS. It has been helped by a Programme Manager taking full responsibility for delivering and driving the programme from an early stage. However, there are dangers in a Programme Manager taking on too much of a 'hands-on' role. This has been recognised and more authority has been delegated recently.

3.64 There was a steady throughput of cases in the first year, but the number of cases has been dropping off since. It appears that the LA is now using intensive support only and more preventative measures more, but is still supportive of ISMS where appropriate.

3.65 The ISMS Team have done well to collect outcome data on cases, which have demonstrated the strengths of the programme.

East Dunbartonshire

Context

3.66 East Dunbartonshire is the 20 ^th largest local authority in Scotland, with a population of 105,460 in 2006 ¹⁹, which represents 2.1% of Scotland's population. Of this, there are 8,948 (8.5%) people between 12 and 17 years-old, of which 4,249 are female and 4,699 are male. East Dunbartonshire is defined predominantly as an urban area, with 59% of the population living in large urban areas, 27% living in other urban areas, 7% living in accessible small towns and 7% living in accessible rural areas ²⁰.

3.67 Deprivation in the area is lower than the Scottish average, with only 1.6% of the local authorities' data zones in the most deprived decile of data zones in Scotland on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2006. Approximately, 7820 (7.3% of the population) are deemed income deprived and some 8.1% of the working age population are deemed employment deprived in East Dunbartonshire. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole ²¹.

3.68 The relatively low levels of deprivation are reflected in statistics from the education sector, with only 8% of primary and secondary pupils entitled to free school meals in 2007. Educational attainment for teenagers is better than in Scotland as a whole, with 96.6% of the S4 cohort attaining SCQF level 3 or greater in both English and Maths in 2005 compared to 91% for Scotland as a whole. In local authority schools, there were a total of 710 exclusions from schools, which represents 1.7% of the Scottish total. The exclusion rate is equal to 40 per 1,000 pupils and, of the total, 708 were temporary ²².

3.69 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 4,622 crimes recorded by police in the local authority area (around 1% of the Scottish total) and 426 house breakings (1.4% of the Scottish total) in 2005/06. Alcohol addiction and gangs are particular problems in the area.

3.70 The Scottish Executive indicates that East Dunbartonshire had around 113 children being looked after in March 2005 (approximately 5 per 1,000 children aged 0 - 17), of which 55% were boys and 77% were under 16. 23 were being looked after in residential care. 63% of those aged 16 and 17 leaving care in 2005/06 had at least one SCQF at level 3 or above, and 38% of this group attained English and Maths at SCQF level 3.

Data on ISMS cases

3.71 As in Dundee, the focus has been more on older children, with all cases aged 15 years and older (two males and one female). The LA did expect to have younger cases as there were younger cases that met the Section 70(10) criteria. All of the MRCs were for between 13 and 21 weeks.

3.72 East Dunbartonshire has now had 17 intensive support service cases (without an MRC), including five early intervention cases ²³. These cases are between 14 and 17 years-old and were mostly females.

Motivation for participation

3.73 East Dunbartonshire's interest in ISMS stems, in part, from the LA having identified a gap in its provision of services to children. A review of the needs of children and young people meeting Section 70(10) conditions, the most vulnerable young people, has shown that resources for services in the areas of education and skills had been exhausted. ISMS, which offered an opportunity to partly to address this, was therefore incorporated into the LA's Youth Justice Strategy.

3.74 In addition, the LA viewed ISMS as a natural development in the direction of youth strategy nationally and some of its key partners, Includem and West Dunbartonshire Council, were also going to be participating.

3.75 Nevertheless, there is a concern within the authority that there still remains a gap in the provision of services for children and young people who do not quite meet Section 70(10) conditions, as well as for children and young people who do meet the conditions but where the benefit would be in the provision of intensive support rather than electronic monitoring. The latter are typically children and young people at risk of harming themselves or of being harmed (as opposed to being involved in offending) and for whom an electronic tag might cause unnecessary and additional stress.

Delivery

3.76 In the early months of the programme, much of the activity consisted of resolving staffing issues and developing policies, systems and procedures. This activity is now complete and ISMS have been available as a means of disposal in East Dunbartonshire since May 2005.

3.77 The post of Programme Co-ordinator was been created for the day-to-day management of the programme and has been staffed on a permanent basis since late 2005.

3.78 The ISMS team in East Dunbartonshire won the Scottish Social Services Council ( SSSC) Care Accolades Award in 2007 in the category of 'initiatives that promote integrated working which improve services', as well as winning the overall title.

Multi-agency approach

3.79 A Joint Authority Multi-Agency Steering Group covering East and West Dunbartonshire was set up to oversee the strategic direction of the programme and advise the areas' respective youth justice organisations. In East Dunbartonshire, this is the Youth Issues Strategy Group. Recently, both LAs have begun to develop their own local strategies and this is viewed as a natural progression.

3.80 Overall responsibility for the programme within the LA rests with the Social Work Children & Young People Fieldwork Manager, the lead officer for Youth Justice. In addition to her regular lines of reporting, she reports directly to the Youth Issues Strategy Group and to the Multi-Agency Steering Group.

Assessment

3.81 ISMS is considered in all cases that meet the Section 70(10) criteria, however, the most common reasons for it being unsuitable are for vulnerable girls who may not be safe in their home (in these cases an MRC will not prevent absconding, but will cause additional stress for the young person). Other young people often do not have home environments that are able to support an MRC, although the LA is considering providing training for a small group of ISMS foster carers to address this issue.

Screening

3.82 Screening is carried out by the existing Authority Liaison Group, which meets regularly and brings together senior managers in Social Work, Education and Integrated Children's Services and the Principal Psychologist. This group also carries out secure screening.

Assessment methods

3.83 After screening, the young person attends the ISMS base and a variety of assessment methods are used, e.g. forensic assessment tools such as SAVRY (assesses risk of violent behaviour), the BarOn scale (provides an emotional intelligence rating) and SPSI (a social problem solving scale). These assessments are carried out by trainee forensic psychologists. In addition, the ISMS team uses YLS and the Adolescent Wellbeing Scale. These assessments indicate the areas on which the young person's care plan should concentrate as well as providing baseline measures and considering change.

3.84 The assessment also involves relationship building with the young person and their carers and getting their input into the process. Teen-Talk sessions ²⁴ are held to do this. The Programme Manager believes that more could be done, however, to extend the involvement of the young people and their carers in the assessment process.

Reporting

3.85 A report is produced by the ISMS Programme Manager after the assessment that goes to the Children's Hearing. At the last Hearing, a joint report was produced with Social Work (previously independent reports were produced). Feedback from the Panel was favourable and doing this for subsequent assessments is being considered.

Length of assessment

3.86 It is felt that 21 days is not enough for a full ISMS assessment and that the period should be extended to 6-8 weeks ²⁵. The Hearing can agree to return for a further review at an agreed time to allow the assessment to be completed.

Partnership working

3.87 East Dunbartonshire has agreed procedures and protocols with all its partners (police, Includem, Reliance, Education, Mental Health, etc). One of the focuses of ISMS in East Dunbartonshire is to integrate it with Youth Justice in general.

3.88 There has been multi-agency joint training, and joint service delivery for offending children, in the Step Out programme, which is a cognitive behavioural programme that works with young people in gangs with the aim of reducing gang violence. Gangs are a particular problem in the LA area. The ISMS and Youth Justice teams also jointly provided Panel Member training, which combined a session in the ISMS base and another session off-site.

Service provision

3.89 Individual ISMS programmes are delivered by ISMS core staff, Includem, the Intensive Family Support service (internal council service) and various other partner organisations as required.

3.90 There has been a learning curve in the introduction of ISMS, however, systems have been developed and put into place. Relationships with Includem, Education and the police are strong, but there is work to do to develop the relationships with Housing and Mental Health Services. The relationship with the monitoring provider was thought to be better when Reliance delivered this service than with Serco, which is not considered as responsive and less child-centred.

Education

3.91 The LA does much of the teaching itself and the ISMS Team includes two teachers and an auxiliary. Where the educational needs of ISMS children cannot be met by the ISMS Team, the Team either undergoes the relevant training (e.g. one Team member is now trained to deliver careers guidance) or develops linkages with other providers, such as colleges and schools (e.g. an ECDL course with Cumbernauld College). Given that the ISMS cases have been older than expected, this has been particularly important.

Housing

3.92 There is a shortage of supported and affordable accommodation in East Dunbartonshire. This has resulted, so far, in one person not being recommended for ISMS given the need under the programme for local accommodation, and it may affect numbers of recommendations in the future. Some other programmes within the LA are similarly affected. Support from Includem has helped to improve the situation, but it remains critical. Developing links with through care housing services and foster parent training mentioned above are the main steps being taken to improve this.

3.93 Establishing residential respite services within the area is being considered locally and jointly with West Dunbartonshire, but this may not prove possible within the budget approved by the Scottish Executive. For the moment, the LA has the option of using Includem's facilities in Beith and at Faifley.

Preventative work

3.94 In an effort to integrate the ISMS programme with the rest of the LA's social services provision, the ISMS Team is working cooperatively with the Youth Justice Team. Activity has focused on preventative work with children and young people to help prevent the escalation of problem behaviour.

Monitoring and evaluation

3.95 Monitoring and evaluation is being carried out internally by the ISMS Team, which has set-up a database that captures the monitoring and evaluative data required by the Scottish Executive. No substantial monitoring or evaluation activities beyond this are undertaken, although the Council has collected a certain amount of data that might provide further evidence of changes in behaviour, e.g. interviews with young people on covering outcomes and reflections. There has, however, only been limited analysis of this information.

3.96 The ISMS team received early assistance from the Council's Performance and Development Division in identifying sources for the data. Some of the data will be drawn from the CareFirst Social Work System, which East Dunbartonshire subscribes to and which captures information on all children receiving social services (e.g. age, gender and history of cases). Additional fields have been added to CareFirst to accommodate some of the additional data required under the ISMS programme. An ISMS database is being developed to collect detailed data, but IT problems have held back its development. Much of the data for the database (e.g. grounds for referral, school attendance and engagement with substance abuse services) will need to be drawn from a variety of sources, such as minutes of Steering Group meetings, the Strathclyde Educational Establishment Management Information System and, importantly, the Case Workers.

3.97 East Dunbartonshire has developed a list of indicators for predicting whether a child will meet Section 70(10) criteria. The list is based on existing research on children and young people that ended up in secure accommodation. The LA will use the indicators to correlate characteristics of children and young people receiving ISMS.

Success measures

3.98 The ISMS Team believes that ISMS has been effective. Two of the three cases have performed particularly well.

3.99 Since ISMS and intensive support services have been offered in the LA, there has been a reduction in the amount of secure accommodation time purchased and at least two young people have had an alternative to a Young Offenders Institution following a breach of bail conditions. Although the numbers are small, the outcomes for young people who have had ISMS as bail conditions or as an alternative to YOI are reported by the ISMS Team to have been similar to other young people on ISMS in terms of reducing offending, reducing substance misuse, etc.

3.100 More widely for ISMS and intensive support service cases, measures of success, such as risk assessment scores, assessment of emotional intelligence and periods of absconsion, have generally shown improvement and rate and risk of offending have been reduced without exception.

3.101 There is a worry that by the time young people reach the point of being considered for ISMS, it is already too late for some of them. Parental capacity to support a young person on ISMS is seen as critical to success. There have been attempts to engage with parents, with some success, but some parents remain unwilling to accept support.

Evaluator's view

3.102 The East Dunbartonshire team has worked hard to get all the arrangements in place to deliver ISMS from an early stage. The integration of services to deliver ISMS has been particularly good and has been commended.

3.103 However, there has been a clear lack of throughput of ISMS cases. It appears that there is greater preference for using intensive support only as there are concerns about using electronic monitoring, especially for cases where intensive support is needed but the young person is not a risk to others.

Edinburgh

Context

3.104 In terms of population, The City of Edinburgh is the 2 ^nd largest local authority in Scotland, with a population of 463,510 (9% of the Scottish total), of which 28,450 (6.1%) are between 12 and 17 years-old. Edinburgh City is defined as dense urban area, with 96% of the population living in large urban areas, 3% living in accessible small towns and 1% living in accessible rural areas.

3.105 There are proportionally fewer people affected by deprivation in the city than in Scotland overall, with 8.4% of the city's data zones in the most deprived decile of data zones in Scotland on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2006. Approximately, 11.4% of the population are deemed income deprived and some 9.6% of the working age population are deemed employment deprived in Edinburgh. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole.

3.106 Having said this, the numbers indicated above highlight that deprivation is a problem for a sizeable minority in the city. This is reflected in statistics from the education sector, with 21% and 16% of primary and secondary school pupils respectively entitled to free school meals in 2007. According to Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, educational attainment for teenagers is marginally better than in Scotland as a whole, with 91.1% of the S4 cohort in 2004 attaining SCQF level 3 or above in Maths and English, compared to 91.0% of the Scottish total. In the schools within the Edinburgh City LA, there were a total of 2,244 exclusions from school (a rate of 48 per 1,000 pupils), 2,180 of which were temporary exclusions.

3.107 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 49,848 crimes recorded by the police for 2005/06 (11.9% of the Scottish total) and 4,786 housebreakings (15.3% of the Scottish total).

3.108 The Scottish Executive indicates that Edinburgh had 1,196 children being looked after in March 2005 (1.4% of children aged 0 - 18), of which 54% were boys and 91% were aged under 16 years. 126 were being looked after in residential care. Some 51% of those aged 16 and 17 leaving care (2005/06) had at least 1 SCQF level 3 or above, with 33% attaining English and Maths at SCQF level 3.

Data on ISMS cases

3.109 The young person does need to be 15.5 years-old or younger at the start of the programme as it can last up to two years (none of the other areas had this stipulation).

3.110 During this evaluation period, there were only two ISMS cases in Edinburgh, one of which only lasted a short period of time. There were 28 intensive support only cases.

Motivation for participation

3.111 Edinburgh was keen to take part in phase 1 of ISMS to try out the new provision, which was seen as a useful alternative to secure accommodation. The intervention is seen as potentially being able to engage young people in the community, especially through the intensive support element. This is seen as crucial as the Secure Outcomes research ²⁶ suggests that there are a significant number of young people in secure accommodation who could be sustained in the community. While there was some agnosticism around the effectiveness of the electronic monitoring element, because of the lack of firm evidence of its impact, there was significant support for the use of the intensive support element.

Delivery

Problems in implementation

3.112 The team that was originally involved in drawing together the bid for ISMS and implementing the early phases of the programme, was transferred to a new lead as part of wider youth justice responsibility. The formation of a new Department of Children and Families, incorporating the Education Department and Children and Families from within Social Work, involved considerable organisational upheaval, which affected the pace of development of ISMS. The simultaneous reorganisation of the departments of Finance and Human Resources also led to vacancies in staff dealing with ISMS. The centralisation of the Human Resources Department meant that it took many months to acquire a grading for the Programme Manager. There were additional problems around recruiting key staff for much the same reason.

3.113 It took until April 2006 for an ISMS Programme Manager to be in post. Having an ISMS co-ordinator in post was the intention from the start, but the timescale slipped due to recruitment processes and the high workload of those involved in planning ISMS.

3.114 Having promoted ISMS at the early stage, the LA did not promote the programme actively again until the Programme Manager was in place, as there was no one to coordinate and drive it on a day-to-day basis.

3.115 The LA emphasised that this was a new initiative that challenged aspects of the Children's Hearings System and traditional Social Work methods. It believes that some recognition should have been given for the time it would take for Panel Members and professional staff to understand fully the nature of the programme and to buy-in to its development. The way the programme was rolled-out seemed to be suggesting that LAs would get "cash for tags" and it took some time to break down the resistance to this. Not having a Programme Manager in place to tackle some of these issues hindered the LA from being able to do this.

Role of Programme Manager

3.116 The Programme Manager appointed already had considerable experience of service development within the youth justice and integrated children services environment and was familiar with the ISMS processes and its challenges. His main priorities on appointment were to refocus the partnership and to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of the existing programme. This resulted in a process of service redesign that involved staff at different levels across the partnership, which ultimately led to an amended model, better integrated with existing Children and Families services, and one which the whole partnership could accept. Moreover, the re-modelled service was carefully set within the context of Scottish Executive guidance on ISMS (which meant that the focus was on high tariff cases). It is believed that a multi-agency approach to assessment, incorporating intensive support, enables greater stability for the young person at the very start of the process and leads to a more coherent understanding of need and ongoing care planning. Another feature of the new model was the establishment of an ISMS base from which to deliver a range of integrated programmes for young people and their families, both within the centre and on an outreach basis (rather than the dispersed services model that was previously followed). The LA began operating the redesigned model in late 2006.

Progress in Year 2.

3.117 The original bid was on the basis of 20 young people a year on the programme, including 10 on the full ISMS package at any one time. The LA advised that a lot of issues were not clear at that point. From the time funding was released until December 2006, there was only one MRC, although Includem had provided the external intensive support element for over 20 young people. From January 2007 to April 2007, there were a further two MRCs and it is noted that a further two are pending, with a further three assessments in progress. Because Edinburgh has a joint approach to the screening of secure care and ISMS places, the Council emphasises that all of these young people would have been placed in secure or residential school otherwise.

3.118 ISMS is now delivered by a multi-agency team at a co-located site for many, although not all, of its services at 'The Brae'. It officially opened in December 2006 and provides an integrated social, health and education service within and beyond the premises, and can operate from 8am to 10pm seven days per week, including public holidays.

3.119 The numbers on ISMS is expected to continue to increase as the Council now has its systems in place, but there are some difficulties around the rules guiding implementation, for example, the Section 70(10) conditions are a high hurdle to jump and many young people who might benefit from intensive support do not meet Section 70(10) conditions.

3.120 One of the obvious attractions of the ISMS programme, in the Council's view, is the scale of resources that are available to tackle the problems of young people who are at a critical phase. The key support that is now additionally available is the intensive support element. While the Scottish Executive insisted on the intensive support element being linked to electronic monitoring, Edinburgh thought that more flexibility would be useful. The allocation of funding from the Scottish Executive notes that the funding is on the basis of Edinburgh's bid and Edinburgh believes that it is important to assess each case carefully on an individual basis for suitability of ISMS or intensive support on its own. There is no longer significant resistance from staff to ISMS (or to the MRC itself), but each case is being weighed up individually to assess suitability.

Funding issues

3.121 One consequence of the staff vacancies was a large underspend in the first year of operation. Some of this funding went into support services for particularly vulnerable/crisis young people and some of it went into teaching. The LA also put in place supervision groups for young people so that they have somewhere to go. The LA says that it has funded the programme itself for 2006-07, but has put a claim into the Scottish Executive that it expects to be met. However, the Executive is witholding funding for 2007-08 until the issue of funding for 2005-06 has been resolved and so Edinburgh is currently having to find funding from its own resources. This, the LA states, has implications for the programme continuing. The Department has some budgetary problems and this could lead to cuts in services. Some of the voluntary providers, in particular, are carrying a significant risk in continuing to deliver services.

Referral and assessment

Start of the process

3.122 The process starts with a referral to the Joint Secure and ISMS Referral Group and, if a young person meets the Section 70(10) criteria, an Assessment Planning Meeting ( APM) is held to establish who does what, why, and when within the assessment process, which culminates with a multi-agency Assessment Conference 4-8 weeks later. The Assessment Conference identifies the wider needs of the young person and his or her family and Action Plan is agreed. Following this, a draft ISMS Care Plan is drawing up and these are incorporated into the Practice Team social worker's report to the Hearing.

Joint approach

3.123 There is a joint referral and assessment system with secure care. Additionally, every young person in secure care is screened for ISMS on a fortnightly basis by the Joint Secure and ISMS Referral Group. This provides a safe and effective route out of secure care and, currently, two young people in secure care are attending ISMS services on an outreach basis as part of the ISMS assessment process. Greater integration between secure services and ISMS is taking place. The LA is developing joint administrative systems between the services and early plans are in place to share resources. Already, the ISMS service has a worker seconded from secure care services and ISMS staff have had experiential placements within the secure care centres. There is a belief within Edinburgh that, "integration is what creates fundamental change", although there was also a recognition that this requires time to bring about.

Assessment issues

3.124 The new assessment process has been in place since the autumn of 2006. The LA believes that the lack of a proper and detailed assessment process was the main reason for the very low number of cases initially, although all the young people who received intensive support services were reviewed for suitability for ISMS.

3.125 However, the ISMS Partnership admits that it can be uncomfortable for professional social workers to be seen as "driving the tag" as it is quite alien to those who believe in a 'social welfare' model. Therefore, in assessment for ISMS, the Partnership has considered whether the MRC can complement the intensive support provision. ISMS is strictly targeted at those young people who meet Section 70(10) criteria, however, the Partnership feel that they can be seen as, "ruthless and not child centred" if they withdraw services from those young people who do not meet the criteria but who have engaged well with support. Under the guidance, they could have continued to provide intensive support to these cases but from their own funding.

Partnership working

3.126 Time has been spent in reconfiguring the ISMS service and this was achieved by October 2007. This period included supporting and reviewing 32 existing cases under the previous ISMS arrangements and developing a new integrated team, involving Social Work, Youth Justice, Education, the police, key local and national voluntary organisations and others. There is now a multi-agency ISMS Steering and Implementation Group that provides strategic oversight to the development of the service within the context of the wider integrated children's services agenda, including youth justice and community safety. It consists of the following stakeholders: Children and Families (Social Work, Education, Secure Care Services, Youth Justice, and Community Education), SCRA, Chair of the Children's Panel, Lothian and Border's Police, NHS Lothian (including CAMHS), 6 VT, Includem, NCH, Emergency Social Work Service, and Serco.

3.127 There is also a link to the wider Children's Services Strategy Group, the Youth Justice Strategy Group, and the service is firmly located within the Children's Hearings System. The LA advises that links to other bodies, such as Housing, Leisure Services, are in the planning stages.

Care planning arrangements

3.128 To ensure the ISMS care plan is not developed in isolation of the wider care needs of the young person, Edinburgh has integrated the ISMS care planning arrangements with the LAC Review system. This also ensures independent scrutiny of the plans and provides a greater degree of accountability for all the services involved. The LAC process begins with an initial LAC meeting soon after the supervision requirement is imposed and, thereafter, a review will be held monthly. Meetings will be chaired by a Review Officer from Children and Families and will consider progress in relation to the overall care plan.

3.129 To avoid drift with the care plan, the ISMS Partnership has developed a Core Support Group system, which involves the key people in a young person's care plan, including the young person and his/her family/carers. These weekly meetings drive through the work agreed upon at the LAC review, and are unique to the Edinburgh ISMS model.

3.130 Prior to each subsequent Children's Hearing, a LAC review is held and this helps to shape the social worker's recommendation, therefore maintaining multi-agency ownership of the care plan and decision making. This is to ensure a multi-agency perspective on issues associated with non-compliance of the MRC.

Training and development

3.131 Multi-agency training was conducted around ISMS at an early stage involving staff and Panel Members. A broad spectrum of people was trained, such as a number of staff from different LA departments and the voluntary sector. The training focused on key staff and managers, but later branched out to involve staff from all the partner bodies involved in the programme. However, with the redesign of the service, the Partnership has provided training on the new model to various professional groups, at both practitioner and managerial level, including social workers, teachers, health staff, youth justice staff, voluntary sector, Reporters, police officers, residential staff. Moreover, in collaboration with Queen Margaret University and the new chairperson of the Children's Panel, training has been delivered to over 170 Panel Members. Overall, the LA believes that response to the new model has been very positive and formal evaluation from Queen Margaret University regarding Panel Member training has been excellent.

3.132 Following a comprehensive training needs analysis exercise, this Sub-Group, practitioners and managers involved in the first tier service delivery of ISMS have undergone various training including ASSET, Child Protection Awareness, Groupwork, team/service development, and others to enhance their operating practices. The specialist Includem, 6 VT and NCH practitioners have been involved in every training experience. This training and professional development strategy is funded by the ISMS Partnership.

3.133 A multi-agency training and staff development sub-group of the ISMS Steering and Implementation Group has been formed to identify the training and development needs of the various professionals involved in the ISMS service and is led by a manager from the voluntary sector. A training and professional needs analysis exercise was completed in early 2007. From this, an agreed training and development strategy is being developed and funded by the Partnership.

Partnership difficulties

3.134 There is an issue with Serco only contractually able to come out up until 2200 hours (otherwise it would be disruptive to young people and their families). The LA also states that it has to chase-up fax notification of breaches and Includem is not being notified about non-compliance systematically by Serco either. There is also a belief that Serco do not attend as many partnership meetings as Reliance used to do. Serco have created new LA liaison posts to help to tackle this.

3.135 Uncertainty over funding has had consequences for effective partnership working, e.g. the ISMS Team has not been able to recruit a mental health worker. Operating the programme has relied on a lot of goodwill from partner agencies, which have tried to make services available despite the uncertainties over funding.

Shared services

3.136 Edinburgh ISMS could be used to provide services to other LAs if ISMS was rolled out nationally, e.g. to other Lothians councils. Shared service provision is already provided for secure accommodation.

Service provision

3.137 The ISMS Partnership has implemented an agreed four-phase model that includes transition arrangements and associated service provision.

3.138 Those organisations funded by ISMS have agreed to pool resources, integrate their practices and create a streamlined service with operational management arrangements to reflect this. A central plank of the partnership's approach is the development of a 'one stop' service centre where young people and their families have access to a range of meaningful education, social and personal development programmes and resources, delivered by an integrated team of workers and managers from different agencies; and operating under an agreed one-tier management system and a shared set of working methods, practices and policies. This base is accessible from 0800 to 2200 hours, 52 weeks of the year.

3.139 Young people and their families/carers also have access to a 24-hour helpline provided by the Partnership, delivered by Includem. Where necessary, immediate access to a dedicated Crisis Centre is provided. This Centre is located in central Edinburgh, and support to the young person is provided by Children and Families, Includem and 6 VT. A specialist Crisis Worker from Children and Families is available to ensure the rehabilitation plan is coherent and links with the wider care planning arrangements established through the LAC Review system.

3.140 The Programme Manager does not believe that programmes such as this can operate in "a box" and guards against policies and practices that separate youth justice issues and services from Scotland's unique Children's Hearings System. There is an admission that there is still a need for people providing different types of service to work across boundaries.

Education

3.141 Education support is provided in integrated form, alongside social and education programmes, and delivered on a multi-agency basis. A range of teaching is now provided that is tailor-made for each new case. Four teachers have now been appointed. The Partnership acknowledges that breaking down professional barriers is an ongoing process in Edinburgh, but is confident that it will continue to make progress as long as the key agencies involved in the service remain true to the model, are transparent in their approaches, and are willing to sacrifice self interest for the benefit of vulnerable young people, their families, and communities.

Evenings and weekends

3.142 In Edinburgh, the critical times to deliver services are seen as evenings and weekends. Includem and 6 VT provide most of this and there is an acknowledgement that statutory services, and other voluntary organisations, need to do more in this area.

Relapse Prevention

3.143 In addition to intensive support at assessment, ISMS provision and post- MRC support, the Edinburgh programme also involves a Maintenance or Relapse Prevention phase after the programme. This phase provides ongoing support on a maintenance basis, i.e. one or two contacts per week, possibly more where ongoing specialist work is being progressed. For some young people, contact might be less and the aim here is to be involved to a degree where agencies can monitor progress and respond quickly and appropriately to significant problems that are re-emerging. The minimum time a young person can be expected to be on the Maintenance/Relapse element of the programme is the equivalent of 50% of the total time already spent on the programme, beginning at the date of the Joint Secure and ISMS Referral Group meeting. LAC Reviews will continue to provide the quality assurance element of the care planning and ensure that a meaningful exit strategy is in place before the young person moves on to less intensive services. Reviews will be on a three-monthly basis and planning meetings involving the family and professionals will take place every month.

Other issues

3.144 The ISMS Partnership is looking at gaining accreditation for young people's efforts, e.g. certificates that could be acquired.

3.145 Supporting families and carers is seen as a crucial feature of the service and a number of the agencies are seen as doing good work in this area. However, the Partnership believed this needs to be built upon.

Monitoring and evaluation

3.146 The Council and its planning partners have stated their commitment to evidence-based approaches and Best Value and have circulated guidance to the various agencies involved in the delivery of the ISMS service with regard to collection of information and the purpose to which this information will be used. It has also established a Performance Management sub-group, led by Lothian and Borders Police, to develop data collection systems to evidence and report on the following quality outcomes.

• Reduction in offending
• Improvement in school attendance/training course/employment
• Improved educational attainment
• Improved behaviour at school
• Reduced level of absconding from care placement or home
• Reduction in episodes of drug and/or alcohol misuse
• Reports from family about improved behaviour/relationships
• Reports from young person about improved relationships at home/school/peers
• Evidence of improved mental health
• Evidence of improved physical health/fitness
• Reduction in missing person's reports
• Reduction in referrals to Reporter on welfare/protection/offending grounds
• Improved attendance for important appointments
• Reduced number of arrests/police warnings
• Reduced level of placement disruption (care or education)
• Improved participation in structured leisure/recreational activities.

3.147 There is weekly monitoring and evaluation of ISMS and intensive support service cases from point of referral to exit. This process considers performance of the young person over seven key themes and their associated performance indicators.

3.148 The intention is to have all ISMS cases formally reviewed within the LAC reviewing system on a monthly basis and the minutes of all meetings to state the views of the young people and their families or carers. This is intended to provide accurate reporting from service users. Recruitment of a LAC Review Officer has been hindered by the uncertainty of the funding for Edinburgh. Some cases are being reviewed, but this element of the service is not fully operational.

Success measures

3.149 The LA states that the data available on the young people who have undertaken the intensive assessment phase suggests that the approach that Edinburgh is adopting is having a positive impact upon their lives. There are reported to have been significant reductions in levels of absconding, substance misuse, offending and truancy. It is anticipated that the full implementation of ISMS (including the MRC element) will reduce further the level of risk these young people face and the amount of chaos created within the community.

An alternative to secure accommodation

3.150 Although there are no firm figures, the Programme Manager believes that the impact on secure accommodation of ISMS has been positive. Secure normally has greater levels of demand than can be supplied, but secure now seems able to respond better and quicker to bringing in young people when it is required. The level of external secure places being purchased by Edinburgh appears to have fallen. The LA is even now considering Edinburgh being a net buyer (instead of seller) of secure services. More accurate information is currently being sought to establish the size of this impact through capturing data on secure places.

3.151 The ISMS Partnership believes that all ISMS cases would have gone to secure accommodation without ISMS provision. The demand for secure places previously meant that many young people went back home on secure orders without any support until such times as a secure place became available. ISMS provides a route back to the community and two cases are currently subject to this process.

Evaluator's view

3.152 ISMS in Edinburgh was very slow to get started properly and much of Year 1 could be seen as a 'write off' despite the throughput of intensive support service cases.

3.153 Year 2 has been considerably better and the LA now seems to have all the facilities and arrangements in place to run an effective programme. However, it must be able to resolve funding difficulties in order to be able to do this.

Glasgow ²⁷

Context

3.154 The City of Glasgow is the largest local authority in Scotland, with a population of 580,690 (11.3% of the Scottish total) in 2006 ²⁸. Of this population, a total of 39,774 (6.8%) are between 12 and 17 years-old. According to the Scottish Executive's definition of geographic areas, Glasgow City is urban, with 99.8% of the population living in large urban areas and 0.2% living in accessible rural areas.

3.155 There are significantly more people affected by deprivation in the city than in Scotland overall, with around 39% of the city's datazones in the most deprived decile in Scotland on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2006. 24.7% of the population are deemed income deprived and some 76,250 people (20.2% of the working age population) are deemed employment deprived in Glasgow. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole. While these figures suggest more deprivation than Scotland as whole, there has been an improvement on 2004 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation figures for Glasgow.

3.156 This concentration of deprivation is reflected in statistics from the education sector, with 38% and 31% of primary and secondary school pupils respectively, entitled to free school meals. Educational attainment for teenagers is significantly poorer than in Scotland as a whole, with 85.8% of the S4 cohort in 2005 gaining SCQF level 3 or above in English and Maths, compared to 91.0% of the Scottish total. In the Glasgow City LA area there was a total of 7,377 exclusions from primary and secondary schools (7,250 of which temporary and at a rate of 106 per 1,000 pupils) in 2005/06 ²⁹.

3.157 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 75,870 crimes recorded by police in 2005/06, which is 18.2% of the Scottish total. There were 4,894 housebreakings recorded by police, which represents 15.6% of the Scottish total.

3.158 The Scottish Executive indicates that Glasgow had 2,565 children being looked after in March 2006 (2.1% of children aged 0 - 17). 56% of which were boys and 86% were under the age of 16. 268 were being looked after in residential care. 45% of those aged 16 and 17 leaving care had some form of qualifications (52% of those who were looked after away from home), with 31% of this age group having English and Maths at SCQF level 3 in 2005 (39% of those who were looked after away from home).

Data on ISMS cases

3.159 There have been a total of 28 ISMS cases in Glasgow by the end of April 2007. Three cases have been females. Again, the majority are older young people, with only four cases under 15 years-old. The curfew hours vary, but are normally for 12 hours from evening to early morning.

3.160 There have been clear similarities between the young people that have been subject to an MRC. Common issues suggest a chaotic family background, with domestic violence, poverty, substance misuse of parents/carers and poor parenting skills. Not surprisingly, most young people were referred to social work at a young age (average age of 8) for a variety of welfare needs.

Motivation for participation

3.161 Glasgow City Council welcomed the opportunity to be involved in ISMS because it provided a real opportunity to test and shape service provision for some of the city's most vulnerable young people, especially given Glasgow's particularly concentrated problems in crime, deprivation and social exclusion.

3.162 Glasgow also has a breadth of experience in providing intensive and community-based services and, it believed, it had the necessary expertise to be an ISMS phase 1 area.

3.163 A reduction in the use of secure and residential placements for young people has been a long-standing policy and ISMS offered of an alternative to secure care. Glasgow also has a history of evidence-based practice and has embraced the 'what works' agenda. Evidence it considered showed that interventions delivered in a community setting facilitate learning and transference to the young person's everyday life.

Referral and assessment

Referrals

3.164 Although there are a number of referral routes into the service, most referrals have been generated by Social Work or the Children's Hearings System. Referrals to the service have increased steadily as the capacity has expanded.

Multi-agency approach

3.165 Requests for ISMS are made to the ISMS Team. Assessments are carried out following a multi-agency case conference model. A pre-existing multi-agency secure accommodation screening group screens the internal referrals before the assessment process begins helping to ensure appropriate targeting of the ISMS resource.

3.166 Policies and procedures regarding ISMS are developing in line with experience. A multi-agency case conference approach to ISMS assessment has been agreed by all agencies as being an effective mechanism for planning and agreeing interventions. For example, it has helped to give clarity and direction on the care plan and whether ISMS is needed. The ISMS teams have also regularly provided resources and advice for caseworkers and cases that do not progress to an MRC.

3.167 The emphasis in assessment is ensuring that resources and interventions meet the assessed needs. From a partnership perspective, attention has been paid to ensuring a consensus approach to intervention, thus respecting and giving regard to differing agency of professional perspectives. The Programme Manager believes that this is achieved in all cases. Where there is disagreement that cannot be resolved, this would be reflected in the report to the Children's Hearing.

3.168 For ISMS, Glasgow targets young people displaying high levels of risk who would probably otherwise be in secure accommodation. There has been engagement with secure accommodation and many of the young people discharged from secure over the year have had an ISMS assessment, with the vast majority of these cases going on to a full ISMS programme. However, some frustration continues to be expressed by the ISMS team about the number of young people on bail curfews that are being processed by the Courts. Policing and Court practices mean that bail curfews are being sought with little or no consideration of interventions like ISMS.

Length of assessments

3.169 Assessments are taking an average of 6.6 weeks to complete, higher than the four weeks anticipated. This could be down to a number of factors, including the challenges of the assessment process (e.g. the chaotic offending has in many cases led to periods of remand for young people, arranging Hearings and ensuring all aspects of the assessment are completed) as well as other problems such as the young person absconding during assessment.

Assessment issues

3.170 According to the ISMS Team, there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account in making decisions on the need for an MRC. It is not simply about assessment scores, but also other factors, such as the young person's family situation and accommodation. The number of recommendations for ISMS has been greater than the number of actual cases. The fact that these have not been converted into full ISMS cases is due to a number of factors, including the young person ending up in custody (as previous offences catch-up with them) or the young person showing improvements during assessment (to give the MRC in such a situation could be seen as punitive).

Delivery

3.171 The Glasgow service was in a position to accept referrals for ISMS assessment from 5 ^th April 2005. At this stage, the ISMS project team had been established, the youth justice staff had been briefed and trained, and Includem were in a position to provide support and crisis/respite care. Guidelines for the service's operation were in place and, together with Glasgow's pre-existing framework of services and partnerships to deliver intensive support, these provided the Council with sufficient assurance to start the service.

ISMS Team

3.172 The ISMS Team consists of four qualified social workers, three practice team leaders (all senior social workers) and eight FTE social care workers. One of the practice team leaders will run the Education Base. There are also possibilities of seconding other members to the team as and when required. This level of staffing is greater than was planned in the original submission to run the programme.

3.173 The ISMS Team was established to access and co-ordinate most of the support and other inputs for the young people. There has been organisational change in Glasgow since the implementation of ISMS, with the establishment of community and health care partnerships. There has been some changes to the planning of children's services in Glasgow, however, Youth Justice is one of five distinct planning groups.

3.174 There has been a recent change in the ISMS Programme Manager, but the programme is continuing as before.

Shared offices

3.175 The ISMS Project Team moved into new offices in the south of Glasgow in February 2006, together with the education, forensic mental health service and a city-wide vocational service. Includem is based in a separate location nearby.

Relapse Prevention

3.176 The LA would like to also deliver a 'step down' service post-aftercare to give the young people the maintenance and relapse prevention that 'what works' suggests is needed. It is trying to link-in with area-based resources and Includem to provide some type of service, but it struggling to meet this out of existing resources.

Other issues

3.177 The service continues to evolve. Project elements are being implemented in a phased and planned way, and practice and procedures will continue to be developed and adapted in response to the experience gained from handling the early referrals.

3.178 The implementation process has generally followed the programme as envisaged in the Council's original service proposal. The LA believes that the top-level management commitment to ISMS in Glasgow has been a feature in its success.

3.179 Glasgow is interested in providing shared services to neighbouring LAs if ISMS is rolled-out wider.

Partnership working

3.180 The overall responsibility for the development and operation of the ISMS previously lay with the multi-agency Youth Justice Forum, which was a part of the Children Services planning framework. A specific ISMS Steering Group has been established as a sub group of the Youth Justice Forum to take a more day to day oversight of the project's development.

3.181 Interagency/departmental working arrangements are being strengthened. Information sessions have been held with Children's Reporters and Panels and the profile of ISMS is being raised with the Strathclyde police force. The ISMS project team are also represented on the Glasgow ASB strategy group.

Raising awareness

3.182 Emphasis has been placed on raising awareness about ISMS within the youth justice service, where the media's focused attention on the punitive elements was detracting attention from the intensive support and welfare side. Briefing notes, training and road shows have all been used to inform and enlighten. Participation in the ISMS process (assessment and care management) has provided the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice and this has been thought to be a valuable learning experience. The LA is still actively marketing the programme and this is a significant communications task. It also monitors rates of assessments and ISMS cases in different parts of the city.

Addressing difficulties

3.183 Results from the local consultation suggest that the partnership approach to service delivery is also effective and that relationships and communication between agencies is good, with clear definition and understanding of each other's roles. However, not all agencies have drawn up clear service specifications about their roles and responsibilities in relation to ISMS and there have been occasions when there has been debate between agencies, e.g. ISMS social work and Youth Justice social work, and Social Work and Includem. The ISMS procedures manual has been developed to address this. The LA believes that these matters have improved over time and processes have been tightened up. Weekly meetings between those involved in cases helps to set responsibilities.

3.184 The relationship with Serco has improved. Serco is represented on the ISMS Steering Group and it has also appointed liaison officers, who have been actively engaged on ISMS cases. There were allegedly issues of Serco workers disrupting households by calling too late at night and their inexperience of dealing with young people, but the LA is now more satisfied with their performance. The LA is providing advance information to Serco on recommendation of ISMS to forewarn them of important issues on a case and to assist their advance planning.

3.185 However, there are areas where more work is needed. Despite attempts to boost its profile, there still appears to be a low level of knowledge about ISMS among Sheriffs, the Procurator Fiscal's Office and the police. ³⁰ Various meetings and events have been run to tackle this, but some poor practice continues in some parts of the city, e.g. use of bail curfews for the young people. The LA is exploring promoting ISMS as an alternative to remand as an extension of bail conditions. Persistent Offenders Forums, which are planned, will also help to share practice and knowledge on cases.

Service provision

3.186 The current needs of the young people show some similarities, with all young people having addictions issues. Education is also an issue, with all having high levels of non-attendance at some point and none of the young people in mainstream education at the time of referral. Offending is a common issue, with all young people picking up charges and nearly all of the young people who were made subject to an MRC were, or had previously been, persistent offenders (five or more episodes of offending in a six-month period).

3.187 There are seven key elements in the Glasgow ISMS model. ³¹

1. Social Work Youth Justice Teams, who provide case management (these workers are trained and in place).
2. The ISMS Project Team are responsible for co-ordinating assessments, accessing services and providing some limited direct work.
3. Includem, providing direct care, out of hours and crisis/respite care.
4. Educational/vocational training provision that will emphasise individual approaches to learning (their recruitment process has started). A specialist education resource was established at the ISMS base in April 2006.
5. Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services ( FCAMHS) - this service is being enhanced to offer specialist services or will procure more appropriate services from other city services.
6. Youth addiction services - support and intervention are guaranteed for up to five hours per week.
7. Restorative justice interventions - where these are considered appropriate.

3.188 ISMS delivery has focused on case management to fit complex packages around the needs of individual children in a tailor-made way. This is thought to have worked very well.

Average weekly interventions

3.189 The average weekly interventions by agency at the start of an ISMS programme were ³²:

3.190 The average total weekly intervention is 27.7 hours. The average MRC is for 70 hours per week. ³³

Housing

3.191 Particular difficulties have been identified with this group of young people in terms of housing and accommodation, especially for those aged 16 plus. This is important because the evidence suggests that ISMS works best in a stable base. The Programme Manager has highlighted this in a number of forums, senior management in Social Work are aware of this and it is regarded as an area of priority. The lack of appropriate accommodation is compounded by the lack of services who are willing to take on young people on an ISMS programme (e.g. for practical or operational reasons). The most supported accommodation for young people who have high level needs is shared accommodation and consideration is required as to whether this model of accommodation is the most effective. Glasgow Social Work Services is developing plans to house young people in small flats in communities with workers. A service is being piloted along with the local Housing Authority to provide wraparound accommodation services for young people leaving care in the city.

Education and training

3.192 Education is a major concern as exclusion can lead to poorer opportunities and offending behaviour and none of the young people on ISMS were in mainstream education at the time of referral. Existing daycare provision has often been used for ISMS cases to date, but the high needs and risks of the young people has meant that this has been a challenge and it has become clear that there is a need to fit education provision with the needs of young people on ISMS. An educational adviser and professional officer are linked to the Education Base and an educational curriculum has been running since September 2006. This is about providing holistic learning on an individual basis, with tailor-made programmes covering a range of subjects in a comfortable environment. Attendance rates for the young people participating in this part of the programme have been very good.

3.193 Other education opportunities utilised include the Enhanced Vocational Inclusion Partnership ( EVIP) and a course at Clydebank College that is delivered by a tutor from the College with an additional coach from Social Work. This will be of particular relevance to the older children on ISMS. However, the ISMS team recognises that there has been a shortfall in appropriate training, employment and educational opportunities in the last year and they are looking to rectify this.

Services targeted for improvement

3.194 The Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service ( FCAHMS) has had some recruitment problems that have now been resolved, but there are still issues here around its capacity to deliver given the demands of this service. The ISMS Team also believes that its addictions services need improvement. There is a case for further investment here as the ISMS cases tend to need a much more intensive intervention. Both of these services are thought to be functioning well, but need more consistency in terms of provision.

Monitoring and evaluation

3.195 The ISMS Team is co-ordinating the monitoring and evaluation arrangements and has produced two reports, one on the first year evaluation of ISMS in Glasgow and the second on the second year. This is the most comprehensive of the evaluations being done by any of the individual phase 1 LAs and the findings from these reports have been included throughout this profile of ISMS in Glasgow. ³⁴ The data on the success measures below are taken from this report.

3.196 The future focus on monitoring and evaluative work will be on tracking the longer term outcomes of the cases.

Success measures ³⁵

3.197 Glasgow believes that one of the successes of ISMS is that the young person receives direct support once the assessment begins and does not have to wait until the outcome of the assessment. This early work can often divert a young person away from needing a full ISMS programme, so the success of the programme cannot just be seen in terms of the numbers of ISMS cases affecting positive outcomes, but in the number of positive outcomes for those assessed.

Offending

3.198 The reduction in the frequency of offending prior and post ISMS in Glasgow, up to the end of March 2007, was 28% (more modest than the Dundee figure above, although, as already highlighted, these figures only give a partial picture). There was also a 14% fall in the seriousness of offending based on the scale developed by the Youth Justice Board and Oxford University, and an 8% reduction in YLS risk assessment scores.

3.199 At the end of March 2007, the majority of young people on ISMS³⁶ (63%) were still classified as persistent offenders (at least five episodes of offending in a six-month period), but this was a drop from 93% at the beginning of the programme. It would not have been possible for many of the young people to stop being a persistent offender as six months had not passed since the start of the programme.

Non-compliance and attendance rates

3.200 The rate of technical non-compliance with the MRC was low. When minor incidents are excluded, this reduces to one in five (or an 81% compliance rate), which is high and better than the team expected. Attendance rates for those on ISMS were also high, at 67% of timetable interventions.

Other measures

3.201 All staff consulted in the internal evaluation by Glasgow Social Work Services at the end of the Glasgow evaluation of ISMS thought that the programme had reduced young people's level of risk (to themselves and/or others).

3.202 The LA also believes that the success of ISMS has had wider consequences and the LA has used the lessons learned from ISMS to redesign service processes and delivery for young people and children across the LA. It wants to integrate children's services across the city, with a staged model for interventions and involving multi-agency screening, assessment and service delivery. ISMS is not a stand-alone service, but a very important building block in this whole system. These linkages greatly improve the value-for-money of the ISMS programme, the LA states, and there is a belief that the model works.

Evaluator's view

3.203 Glasgow has successfully introduced ISMS, with a steady throughput of cases and integration of services into the wider children and young people's network.

3.204 Of particular commendation is its own monitoring and evaluation work, which has allowed the performance of the programme to be assessed and lessons to be learned and implemented.

3.205 Glasgow is open about the remaining difficulties that it faces, e.g. in raising the awareness of Sheriffs and the police, but it is actively working on solutions to these.

Highland

Context

3.206 In terms of population, Highland Council is the 7 ^th largest local authority in Scotland, with a population of 215,310 ³⁷, which represents 4.2% of Scotland's total population. 16,536 (7.7%) of the Highland local authority population were between 12 and 17 years-old at the same count. Highland is predominantly a rural area, with 21% of the population living in other urban areas, 4% living in accessible small towns, 24% living in remote small towns, 11% living in accessible rural areas and 39% living in remote rural areas.

3.207 With only 2.7% of the local authority's data zones in the most deprived decile in Scotland, the area is relatively less affected by concentrations of deprivation than Scotland overall, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2006. Having said that, a sizeable minority of the population is deprived in one or more aspect. 11.3% of the population are deemed income deprived and some 13,555 people (10.6% of the working age population) are deemed employment deprived in Highland. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole.

3.208 Statistics from the education sector indicate that around 13% of primary school pupils and 10% of secondary school pupils are entitled to free school meals. Educational attainment for teenagers is better than in Scotland as a whole, with 93.4% of the S4 cohort gaining an SCQF level 3 or above in both Maths and English in 2004, compared to 91.0% for Scotland as a whole. In Highland local authority schools in 2005/06, there were 767 exclusions from school, which equates to a rate of 24 per 1,000 pupils. All but one of these exclusions were temporary.

3.209 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 12,854 crimes recorded by the police in the Highland local authority, which is 3.1% of the Scottish total. There were 381 housebreakings, which represents 1.2% of the Scottish total in 2005/06.

3.210 The Scottish Executive indicates that Highland had 454 children being looked after in March 2006 (1.0% of children aged 0 - 18). 55% were boys and 86% were under the age of 16 years, while 126 were being looked after in residential care. No information on the qualifications of looked after children in Highland is available, due to small numbers of children.

Data on ISMS/intensive support service cases

3.211 There have been two ISMS cases, both male, both 15 years-old at the beginning of the programme. The 72 intensive support service cases tended to be younger (an average age of just over 14). The bulk of intensive support only cases were again male (52), but there were still a sizable number of females (20).

Motivation for participation

3.212 ISMS became available at a time when the Council was intensifying and reorganising its range of support services for looked after children at critical times. The ISMS/intensive support service packages were seen as ways in which the Council could improve its services for these young people.

3.213 Residential places (especially secure places) are a problem in Highland and many young people have to travel considerable distances to take-up a place. This makes it very difficult to return them to the community, as they cannot make day visits. ISMS/intensive support service is key in a strategy to reduce the number of young people leaving Highland for these reasons.

Delivery

3.214 The Council offers intensive support services where children and young people require intensive support but where, after assessment, do not meet Section 70(10) conditions or are not suitable for an MRC.

3.215 Intensive support programmes have been available since January 2005 and the provision of electronic monitoring since April 2005. Because of geographical constraints, ISMS is only available in the Caithness, Inner Moray Firth and Greater Fort William areas. This is also the case with the intensive support service. Most of the cases are concentrated in the Inner Moray Firth areas and cases in the two more remote areas covered by ISMS/intensive support service have proved problematic.

3.216 Strategic development of ISMS rests with the Youth Justice Strategy Group. The Group works to ensure that ISMS is developed in a way that is consistent with the strategies for youth justice in the Highland area. It reports to the Joint Committee on Young People, the governance body for youth crime in the Highlands.

3.217 The Programme Manager works closely with NCH, which is sub-contracted by the Council to deliver the intensive support services.

Assessment

3.218 While 88 children and young people have been considered, only two have been recommended for ISMS. The LA considers that this results mainly from the apparent success of intensive support services to date in diverting children and young people from further offending following the assessment phase where intensive support is provided from the start. Other reasons put forward by the Council are the Section 70(10) threshold, a concern that the children/young people may not respect conditions associated with electronic monitoring, and uncertainty about the effectiveness of the provisions for those most at risk where the issues are the risk of the young person harming themselves rather than engaging in offending behaviour. It is considered that electronic monitoring may not always be a helpful option in these cases.

3.219 Consideration of ISMS is carried out by an inter-agency Children's Services Forum and subsequent screening and application of ASSET (along with a Child in Need Assessment where offending has not been an issue) by the Joint Committee's Residential Placement Group and Youth Action Team Workers respectively.

Partnership working

3.220 There are partnership arrangements formally in place (e.g. contracts and protocols) with all the agencies involved in delivering ISMS and intensive support services.

Service provision

3.221 Individual ISMS programmes are delivered by NCH and a range of other service providers according to the needs of the child or young person. The Social Work Standby Service is the first point of contact outside of normal working hours with an on call service available to support staff and for those young people who are undergoing programme work on either intensive support services or ISMS.

Mental health support

3.222 There is also mental health support built into the programme for young people who are presenting particular difficulties and who might need that intervention. This service offers advice and guidance to staff who are supporting young people and also a fast track consultancy for young people who may be in crisis and find the programme unsustainable without this intervention.

Residential unit

3.223 A residential unit that can be used for short 'time out' periods has proved a valuable part of the ISMS programme, and there are hopes to improve the facilities offered (particularly around staff accommodation). So far, this service has been used on 18 occasions, just over half of these have been for intensive support service cases and the remainder were for young people with no statutory order.

Monitoring and evaluation

3.224 Responsibility for the monitoring of ISMS rests with the Programme Manager, who reports to the Youth Justice Strategy Group. In doing so, it is intended that she will draw from data collected and maintained by the senior social worker from local youth action teams and that this data will correspond to the monitoring and evaluative data specified by the Scottish Government in its guidance material. Some of the data is maintained electronically within the Council's youth justice database. Other data has to be collected separately.

UHI evaluation

3.225 In addition to these monitoring arrangements, the Council has contracted the UHI Millennium Institute to evaluate the delivery of the programme. The evaluation, which is to focus on outcomes and processes associated with integrated service delivery, is part of a broader evaluation the Institute is doing for the Council on the integration of its services for children and families. Again, however, there has been no formal reporting yet specifically on ISMS, although extensive case study research has been carried out. ³⁸ A report has been prepared on community reactions to young offenders.

3.226 As a separate exercise, NHS Highland is carrying out a study of young offenders and their mental health.

Success measures

3.227 The two ISMS cases so far in Highland have presented a number of difficult challenges due to the rurality of the area and difficulties in compliance.

3.228 Intensive support service cases are considered to have been successful in terms of changing behaviour and early intervention is favoured by the Council and NCH.

Evaluator's view

3.229 Although there have been two ISMS cases, Highland has largely delivered intensive support only. It appears that this is because of the difficulties of electronic monitoring in a large and remote region and ethical/ideological objections to tagging.

3.230 Like Glasgow, it is to be commended in attempting to evaluate its service delivery proactively, but the lessons learned are not as clear yet.

Moray

Context

3.231 Moray Council is a one of the smaller local authorities, with a population of 89,030 (1.7% of Scotland's population) in 2006 ³⁹. Of this, 7,126 (8.0%) are between 12 and 17 years-old. The area is defined as a rural local authority by the Scottish Executive, with 24% of the population living in urban areas, 30% living in accessible rural areas, 18% living in accessible rural towns,14% living in remote small towns and 14% living in remote rural areas.

3.232 There are significantly fewer people affected by deprivation in the area than in Scotland overall, with none of the area's data zones in the most deprived decile of data zones in Scotland on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2006. However, a sizeable minority of the population are deprived in one aspect or another. Approximately, 9.3% of the population are deemed income deprived and some 9% of the working age population are deemed employment deprived. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole.

3.233 Statistics from the education sector indicate that around 10% of primary pupils and 9% of secondary pupils on the school roll are entitled to free school meals. Educational attainment for teenagers is marginally better than in Scotland as a whole with 91.7% of S4 pupils gaining SCQF level 3 or above in Maths and English, compared to 91.0% of Scotland as a whole. Schools in Moray had 491 cases of exclusion from school in 2005/06, of which 485 were temporary. The exclusion rate overall is equal to 36 per 1,000 pupils ⁴⁰.

3.234 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 5,655 crimes recorded by the police in the Moray local authority area, which is 1.4% of the Scottish total. There were 351 recorded housebreakings, which represents 1.1% of the Scottish total.

3.235 The Scottish Executive indicates that Moray had 191 children being looked after in March 2006 (0.9% of children aged 0-18). 59% of these were boys and 81% were aged under 16. Of the children being looked after, 21 were in residential care. 44% of those looked after away from home (aged 16-17) left care in 2005-06 with at least 1 qualification at SCQF level 3 or above. 33% had Maths and English at SCQF level 3 or above.

Data on ISMS/ intensive support service cases

3.236 Three of the four ISMS cases have been male and the ages of the young people have, on average, been younger than elsewhere (three 14 year-olds and a 15 year-old).

Motivation for participation

3.237 Moray decided to participate in phase 1 of ISMS to learn from and influence the eventual use of ISMS, and to enable it to provide a more comprehensive service to vulnerable young people. Despite reservations of using electronic tags on young people, ISMS was seen as a tool that could have value in some cases and, therefore, be in the young person's and the community's interests.

3.238 ISMS was also seen as a way of giving young people the level of support that they needed and many of the features required for ISMS were already in place in the area. There are also a relatively high number of persistent and serious young offenders in Moray. Police figures estimate that there were 878 young offenders in Moray in 2002-3, 116 of which were persistent offenders (five or more episodes of offending in a six-month period). ⁴¹

Delivery

3.239 The Youth Justice Team in Moray delivers ISMS in-house. The core Team consists of a Coordinator, a Senior Social Worker, two Social Workers, five Project Workers and a Team Secretary. A forensic psychologist and 4-5 regular sessional workers support this team.

Initial plan

3.240 The LA anticipated that there would be flexibility to use ISMS to meet needs. This may or may not have meant using electronic equipment to monitor movement. It was felt that this was not made clear by the Scottish Executive at the time the proposal was submitted that an electronic tag had to be part of the ISMS and this was only clarified after their proposal was accepted.

3.241 The LA began work on implementing ISMS in September 2004, with funding received in January 2005. The MRC was not available until mid-May 2005, but the intensive support element was available earlier. The original proposal for delivering ISMS is being stuck to, any variation would be consented with the Scottish Government in discussion.

3.242 The initial plan recognised that only a small number of young people in the area would meet the ISMS criteria. Moray anticipated providing intensive support to 6-8 young people each year.

Difficulties in delivery

3.243 However, the Team has found ISMS difficult to deliver given the demands of the programme and the other work commitments that members of the Team have had. With hindsight, they may have used the ISMS funding differently, especially in hiring new staff to deliver the programme.

Viewing of the electronic monitoring element

3.244 In general terms, the professional (operational) network had reservations about the electronic monitoring element and some people believed that the tagging of young offenders was ethically wrong. The Youth Justice Strategy Group had concerns, but wished to ascertain the benefits and utilisation of the approach and the Council committee (through accepting the Moray proposal without comment) can be seen to have been supportive.

3.245 As time progressed, the Youth Justice Team and the young people themselves became more supportive of the MRC. This is because it is seen as removing the need for constant monitoring and close supervision of the young people and they can now have some time to themselves. It also allows them to avoid their peer group/gang and not 'lose face', and for prompt warnings of crisis situations. The perceptions of staff are that parents of those on ISMS tend to be ambivalent about the MRC, finding it personally upsetting and intrusive while acknowledging that the whole package has helped to keep their child at home. There are circumstances in which a MRC is inappropriate, e.g. because of family problems. A young person's problems can also be very complicated and an MRC cannot solve, for example, difficult family problems.

Referral and assessment

3.246 Referrals to the Youth Justice Team usually come from Social Work or the police.

High-level assessment group

3.247 The system in Moray is for the assessment phase to be agreed by a high-level group in the Council including the Youth Justice Manager, Support Services Manager and Reporter. This reflects the seriousness of ISMS as a disposal and making sure only these young people who may require an MRC are assessed for it. If this group does not agree to go to assessment, then the assessment does not occur. This has prevented a number of potential assessments from going ahead.

Risk assessment

3.248 In the assessment of a young person for ISMS, a forensic psychologist undertakes a risk assessment. The assessment is about identifying risk situations and putting in place protective factors to reduce the risk. This assessment is tailored depending on the nature of the offence. Typically though, it will involve conducting or reviewing ASSET and other assessments (e.g. psychometric tests), reviewing other service provision, interviewing the young person up to three times and interviewing other parties (such as school, parents, care workers). ASEBA, a multi-informant assessment tool, is used. Cases to be considered for ISMS will have to score highly on risk factors, i.e. being a risk of serious harm to others or to themselves. It is not just about offending history. The initial risk assessment is just a snapshot and needs to be reviewed regularly.

3.249 It is accepted that the risk assessment process needs to be monitored and evaluated, but this is only likely to happen two to three years hence as there are too few cases just now.

Assessment period

3.250 The assessment period was initially for four weeks, but this was felt to be too short and has been increased to six weeks. An ISMS programme of three months is also felt as being too short to affect change. Instead, the Team favour a programme of around six months.

Partnership working

3.251 There is a multi-agency approach to ISMS in Moray, with processes written down so that each agency knows its and others' roles. This has maximised co-operation and minimised problems. There has been effective working between the Youth Justice Team and Education and the Police and the Reporter to identify, assess and provide support services to young people. Child and Family Psychiatry do not prioritise ISMS because of their workload, but the Youth Justice team has a Community Psychiatric Nurse on its staff. There is also a multi-agency Youth Offenders Review Group that discusses cases and has improved transparency and accountability across the system.

Targeting of ISMS

3.252 The detailed assessment s and ISMS programme for the young person are presented to a senior management group, which takes advice from the Reporter before making a decision. The Moray Youth Justice Team said that it has been trying to implement ISMS"to the letter" issued in the guidance. However, it still believes that the guidance as to whom ISMS should be targeted at is still not that clear. This has caused "heated debates" between Youth Justice, Childcare and Reporters in the area. This has been the main problem in reaching the estimated number of assessments and ISMS cases in Moray: Youth Justice thinks that the section 70(10) criteria may be met, but the Reporter disagrees. This is complicated because whether the young person meets the criteria can change over time (there is a need for them to show persistent behaviour of the type that meets section 70(10) criteria). Unless the Reporter agrees, the case does not go to assessment. The Reporter in Moray believes that their views are based on existing case law of young people who meet section 70(10) conditions.

3.253 Agencies and individuals interpret the guidelines differently. Some see ISMS as a last resort/high tariff measure while others would use it before the young person reached this position. Clear guidance from the Scottish Executive on this was thought to be necessary. There is a belief in Youth Justice that its ISMS communications strategy did not work from the outset and sufficient buy-in was not secured from key stakeholders. The continual evolution of the programme made it difficult to explain the concept of the programme. A lack of meetings with the Scottish Executive and other phase 1 areas restricted the ability to share experiences nationally and made it difficult for the team to address problems and dilemmas, although the recent use of professional advisers by the Scottish Executive has helped.

Education

3.254 There is a good relationship with Education, but there are some practical difficulties in terms of implementing the service (see next section).

Training

3.255 A lot of training was done with Panel Members when ISMS was introduced. This was thought to be important in effective targeting of ISMS resources. Reporters are believed to have engaged positively, but the Youth Justice team believes that other professionals and volunteers involved have struggled with the concept of ISMS.

Service provision

3.256 The programme is tailor-made, with the nature of the services provided dependent on the needs of the young person, identified at the assessment, and adapted as the young person and their needs develop. However, all of the young people receive an education programme, individually tailored to their needs. Practical work experience is built-in as part of the education programme. Other aspects of the programme may include life skills, practical skills, emotional and mental health, physical health, activities, cognitive behavioural programmes, restorative justice, reparative work, family work, victim awareness and drug and alcohol work. These are delivered individually or in small groups. There is a 24-hour support service for young people on ISMS.

Gradual engagement

3.257 There is a need seen for some flexibility at the beginning of the programme and the emphasis has been on gradually engaging the young people with the programme, e.g. through steadily increasing their hours in education and changing their lifestyle so that they can begin to attend earlier sessions. This, the Youth Justice Team believes, has been successful. Young people initially start on the full intensive support programme, which is gradually deceased in line with their increasing ability to cope and exercise self-control.

3.258 There is concentration initially in building relationships with the young people individually and then moving them into groupwork. The programmes used are partly adapted from external sources and partly internal. 'Time to Grow' underpins the approach. It has an anger management strand and these programmes have elements of peer groups resolving their own difficulties.

Education

3.259 Education is mainly provided through full-time education/social education programme and is tailored to individual needs. A special school makes available facilities, e.g. in evenings, holidays and weekends. The Education Department was brought on board quickly and this allowed the Youth Justice Team to access their facilities. The ASDAN⁴² Award Programme is used to improve educational and vocational opportunities. The Programme has different levels depending on abilities and needs, with one scheme being of university recognised entry level. The young person, therefore, has a wide range of choice as to the most suitable programme. However, there have also been problems with Education and pulling together a package that can last 25 hours per week. The last ISMS case only had six hours of education per week.

Housing

3.260 Accommodation support is seen as critical to the programme's success. The Youth Justice team has used ISMS funding to accommodate a young person on ISMS in a holiday cottage that was staffed throughout. This was felt to be the most appropriate accommodation available at the time.

Other services

3.261 Moray Outfit is a charity that provides outdoor activities and it is also part of the programme. It provides activity based outdoor education that lead to recognised qualifications for the individual and contribute to the ASDAN award. In addition to this contribution to the individual education programme for the young person, Outfit will also work with whole family teaching them new ways of enjoying the environment that Moray offers, through a range of activities.

Capacity issues

3.262 The Youth Justice Team accepts that there are capacity issues for the service, e.g. if there is more than one ISMS case in different parts of the local authority at any one time. The need for at least two people on call at any one time to deal with multiple cases stretches the team's resources.

3.263 A problem is that Serco is only contractually able to come out up to 2200 hours for tag violation. On one occasion, this forced the Youth Justice team to act as 'human tags' for a young person who had removed their tag.

3.264 There has been a large increase in demand for youth justice services in Moray since the introduction of ISMS. ISMS cases are getting the support because of the funding, but this has meant other cases and preventative work receiving less support when there is more than one ISMS case running concurrently.

3.265 To run an in-house service that integrates several functions lends itself to being overstretched compared to a stand-alone service that only performs one task. The budget for ISMS is seen as being "just enough".

Monitoring and evaluation

3.266 Evaluations are being conducted by Tim Chapman ( CTC Associates) and Dr. Mansoor Kazi (formerly of the University of Buffalo the State University of New York). The latter set up the SPSS database, which brings together all of the monitoring and evaluation strands.

Evaluations

3.267 Tim Chapman's work is a review of the Moray youth crime strategy. It scrutinises the quality of service offered in terms of meeting targets and meeting the needs of the young people and their families by gaining their views. There is also some tracking work done with the young people after the support is provided.

3.268 Manzoor's Kazi's work is an evaluation of the first three years of the Moray Youth Justice Team. It focuses on the effectiveness of support programmes.

3.269 Results from the evaluation activity has helped the Youth Justice team to recognise that peer pressure and substance misuse are the main factors underpinning youth offending. This highlighted the dangers of introducing these young people to each other, so has helped to change practices.

Monitoring data

3.270 Information is regularly updated on the database and it meets the monitoring requirements set by the Scottish Executive.

3.271 Moray has a system in place working with the police to track the offences of particular children accurately.

3.272 Persistent offenders are defined as those with five episodes of offending in the previous six months. ASSET is used to assess all young people referred to the Team and gives us an indication of the risk of future offending. The Team track a persistent young offender for up to 24 months after he/she finishes with them. They are aiming to instigate a system that routinely considers offending histories for all their current and former clients after 12 and 24 months. This will begin to answer questions about the validity of the risk assessments in the longer-term.

3.273 The management of data receives technical support from the University of Buffalo and Dr. Kazi visits three times a year. A Realist Evaluation team has been established under the leadership of the childcare Quality Assurance Manager to manage data analysis more effectively locally. It should allow better interrogation of data over time.

Success measures

3.274 The Youth Justice Team remains very supportive of ISMS. It believes that it provides the ability to fast-track provision for high priority cases. It also is supportive of its in-house model for delivery as this is seen as improving communication and readiness and helps the team to "get ownership of a case."

3.275 The Youth Justice Team believes that the lack of use of ISMS has hindered its implementation in terms of its profile with the wider stakeholders and Panel Members. It needs more 'good news' stories to tell to demonstrate that ISMS can be effective.

Outcomes of cases

3.276 Of the four ISMS cases, two could be seen as having successful outcomes in terms of reduced offending and the young people beginning to get some control over their lives, e.g. through education. The two other cases could not sustain the monitoring restriction and went to a secure unit after a short time on the programme.

Offending

3.277 The Youth Justice Team believes that because of the nature of the area (rural with small urban communities), there is a high detection rate of crime in Moray. This makes it very difficult for the Youth Justice Team to reduce the number of persistent offenders (five or more episodes of offending in a six month period). Its focus, instead, is on reducing offending. In addition to (and related to) the high detection rate, there is the issue of preventing progression to the persistent status. The tasks of picking-up young people with three episodes of offending was agreed with Moray Youth Action ( MYA) in the restructuring of the work of the Youth Justice Team to allow the incorporation of ISMS. The number of young people 'eligible' for the MYA service outstrips its capacity to meet this demand. Hence, some young people become 'persistent' without preventative measures being initiated. For those young people worked with at MYA or the Youth Justice Team, it is believed that there is clear evidence that this impacts on offending.

Evaluator's view

3.278 The Moray Youth Justice Team has been enthusiastic about the possibilities that ISMS funding brings to their services and has attempted to deliver the programme as outlined in its initial proposal.

3.279 However, the Team seems to have under-estimated the staff and resources required to implement the programme. There is nothing wrong with an in-house model per se, but it does need to be adequately resourced in order to be delivered effectively.

3.280 There are difficulties between the partners in terms of who ISMS should be targeted at. It would appear that only much clearer guidance from the Scottish Government is likely to be able to resolve this.

West Dunbartonshire

Context

3.281 West Dunbartonshire is the 10 ^th smallest local authority in Scotland, with a population of 91,240 in 2006 ⁴³, which represents 1.8% of the Scottish population. Of this, 7,164 people (7.9%) are between 12 and 17 years-old. It is an urban area, with 50% of the population living in large urban areas, 49% living in other urban areas and 1% living in accessible rural areas.

3.282 Deprivation in the area is higher than the Scottish average, with 14.4% of the local authority's data zones in the most deprived decile of data zones in Scotland on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2006. Approximately, 19.6% of the population are deemed income deprived and some 17% of the working age population are deemed employment deprived in West Dunbartonshire. This compares with 13.9% and 12.9% respectively in Scotland as a whole.

3.283 This deprivation is reflected in statistics from the education sector, with 25% of primary and 20% of secondary school pupils on the school roll entitled to free school meals ⁴⁴. Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate that educational attainment for teenagers is very slightly higher than the Scottish average, with 91.4% of S4 pupils attaining SCQF level 3 or above in English and Maths in 2004, compared to 91.0% of the Scottish total. In local authority schools, there were 2,146 exclusions from schools in 2005/06, all of which were temporary. This equates to a rate of 105 per 1,000 pupils ⁴⁵.

3.284 The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics indicate there were 9,101 crimes recorded by the police in 2005/06, which is 2.2% of the Scottish total. There were 607 recorded housebreakings, which was 1.9% of the total for Scotland.

3.285 The Scottish Executive indicates that West Dunbartonshire had 350 children being looked after in March 2006 (1.7% of children aged 0-17). Of these, 60% were boys and 91% were under the age of 16 years. 56 were being looked after in residential care. Some 59% of those aged 16 and 17 leaving care in 2004-05 had at least one qualification at SCQF level 3 or above. Of those who were looked after away from home, 67% of those aged 16 or 17 and leaving care in 2005/06 attained at least one SCQF level 3 or above, with 48% of this group (32% of all looked after children) gaining this level of qualification in both Maths and English.

Data on ISMS cases

3.286 There have been 12 ISMS cases in West Dunbartonshire. Most of the cases have been male, although two females have received ISMS. The ages of the cases vary more than elsewhere (13-16 years-old).

Motivation for participation

3.287 West Dunbartonshire's stakeholders were generally keen to take part, seeing ISMS (and especially the intensive support element) as a possible intervention to prevent some of the young people from going into secure accommodation.

3.288 ISMS also appeared to fit well with ongoing work between the LA and Includem. West Dunbartonshire worked jointly with East Dunbartonshire, facilitated by existing arrangements for joint working such as a joint Criminal Justice Partnership.

Delivery

3.289 An ISMS Co-ordinator is driving forward ISMS, coordinating with social work area teams and residential units. Protocols of interaction have been finalised (with all agencies within the Youth Justice Forum) and all relevant staff and panel members have received the necessary training.

3.290 The delivery of the service is co-ordinated by the ISMS Council Staff Team and Includem's dedicated ISMS team. Referrals are filtered in relation to assessment. Where appropriate, they are secure screened prior to any imposition of an MRC. Core council staff includes the ISMS Co-ordinator, the Assistant Coordinator (who has a social work background), another social worker who carries cases, support staff (family support and admin support) and one teacher. Delivery of the service is determined by the ISMS Co-ordinator, involving others as appropriate. However, all full ISMS assessments are multi-agency.

Delays in implementation

3.291 There were delays in getting the team into place that delayed implementation and the team only started in September 2005 assessing young people for suitability for the ISMS intervention. Part of the recruitment difficulty has arisen because ISMS is only at phase 1 and people needed reassurances about permanency and possible redeployment if necessary.

3.292 ISMS took time to 'bed in' in the area, but it needed time to start-up and expectations needed to be adjusted.

Training and awareness

3.293 Implementation has also been intensive in terms of training staff and informing everyone about the programme. This includes making sure that staff recognise that intensive support is only appropriate for those young people fulfilling Section 70(10) conditions.

Assessment

Early phase

3.294 A number of young people were referred to ISMS initially, but, quite often, were referred back to other parts of services because they did not meet the Section 70(10) criteria. This was perhaps a symptom of initial enthusiasm for the programme following introductory training.

Multi-agency approach

3.295 Where assessments are requested, the ISMS Co-ordinator determines the nature of the referral. Assessment planning meetings identify the focus of the assessment, key issues and delegation of tasks for fuller assessment. Assessment includes all agencies known to the family. Assessments are divided up for staff to pursue, involving all of the key agencies.

Nature of assessments

3.296 YLS is used for offenders. Other assessment tools used are Richter scale and Teen Talk.

3.297 All assessments include:

• review of case file;
• historical chronology;
• identification and exploration of key issues;
• analysis of family background;
• assessment of suitability for intensive supports;
• assessment of suitability for MRC;
• assessment as to meeting legal criteria for secure;
• view of secure screening; and
• full risk assessment as to danger to self and others.

3.298 Assessments often include using the council ISMS base to assess educational needs where the client has no school place. This can occasionally cause blockages in places.

Flexibility

3.299 Refinements have been made to allow the assessment process to be undertaken in the appropriate timescale. Often the assessment period can be critical in the decision to use an MRC as the assessment intervention itself has, on occasion, been enough to stabilise the young person. Sometimes, the assessment period is extended to demonstrate level of cooperation and prevent the necessity of an MRC if appropriate.

Integration with secure

3.300 There are attempts to integrate ISMS more with secure accommodation (before and after admission). The LA is working with secure providers, but agrees that more work needs to be done to link with ISMS. There has been some progress, but some secure providers remain unwilling to build on existing assessments or to allow young people to receive intensive support services while in secure accommodation. It is hoped that this might be part of a strategy to get young people, especially girls, out of secure accommodation using short length MRCs.

Partnership working

3.301 Protocols are in place to ensure all intensive support and MRC clients are given extra priority across departments and agencies. All agencies are believed to contribute well to the assessment and delivery processes.

3.302 A summary of some of these partnership arrangements is provided below.

• Includem. Is fully involved in all appropriate referrals and progressing joint assessments with family sessions and direct family intervention. Co-working family support night for parents and carers. The Includem and ISMS teams will be imminently located in the same building.
• Joint Education Social Work Committee. Involves senior managers from Education and Social Work. Tracks and authorises residential school placements and alternative to mainstream placements. All young people discussed at secure screening are presented to this meeting.
• Case Progression Meetings. Fortnightly meetings that include: area Reporter; Inspector community safety police; Education Department; Social Work area team leaders; Restorative Justice Co-ordinator; Youth Justice Co-ordinator; ISMS Co-ordinator; Groupwork and family support team seniors. At alternate meetings, the ISMS programme is a standing business agenda item. Includem is also involved in this monthly meeting to review and evaluate ISMS programme.
• Youth Justice/Restorative Justice. Regular communication on cases. Currently considering how best to use restorative justice programmes within the ISMS base.
• Pulse Plus. £12,000 from the police via community safety partnership to offer art and cultural activities on Friday evenings for ISMS clients.
• Skillseekers. Post 16 years-old, young people can use time at the ISMS base to legitimise skillseekers placement and payment.
• Careers. Fast response for key worker allocation.
• Police. Help in compiling offending profiles. Examination of crime reports in order to complete full profile and risk assessment.
• Children's Reporters. Assist in the assessment process by discussing history of referrals and outcomes. Offer ongoing advice on legal matters.
• Access to 'C'Tec. Can integrate ISMS clients into alternative provision where appropriate. Voluntary providers of training (vocational and non vocational) on practical subjects.

3.303 Some issues in FCAMHS provision were identified. There has been significant change within the health boards that served the area, and one has recently subsumed the other. This makes it difficult to create and maintain links.

Service provision

Includem

3.304 The external intensive support element is provided by Includem, building on services provided by Includem prior to ISMS, such as the Home Team working with around 15 families (25 children) at any one time, the core offending team working with 6-8 young people, and crisis intervention services for two or three young people. Includem's additional services have been in place since December 2004 and have picked up a number of young people, providing intensive support (25 hours per week) and crisis support to high tariff, persistent young offenders. Includem is sometimes augmented by ISMS day unit.

Other services

3.305 Other services are referred to in the above section.

Other issues

3.306 Accommodation for the ISMS Team is felt to be too small to provide a full programme, however, the accommodation is well-situated and of a high standard. Increasing use of external education providers, such as 'C'Tec, has helped to mitigate space constraints. It is also clear that demand is variable and it would be difficult to justify accommodation large enough to cope easily with peak periods.

3.307 There were some concerns over communications with Serco, but these have been resolved and the LA considers that it gets a good service from Serco.

3.308 The aftercare period is felt to be insufficient and this has been extended in some cases. Generally, it is felt that the aftercare period needs to be longer than the period of the MRC, with support being gradually reduced.

Monitoring and evaluation

3.309 The monthly meetings on Case Progression (referred to in Partnership Working, above) is the main way of monitoring what is happening on the cases and the programme in general. There are also regular discussions with senior management and cooperation with external auditors, but the ISMS Team would welcome some advice and assistance on how best to do this. They would like to capture data on attendance and achievement.

3.310 An important consideration will be the influence of the assessment process on the behaviour of young people. There are some indications that the process alone can result in positive outcomes, for example in reducing absconding.

Success measures

Offending

3.311 The ISMS Co-ordinator believes that there has been a substantial reduction in offending among those on the ISMS/ intensive support service programmes and it is preventing the necessity for ASBOs. However, this has taken place against a backdrop of increasing persistent offending rates overall (five or more episodes of offending in a six month period), perhaps caused by increased police activity to clamp down on minor offences like drinking in the streets, driving quad bikes in residential areas, etc.

Alternative to secure

3.312 The overall attention to anti-social behaviour and the increase in secure accommodation bed spaces makes it difficult to assess the reduction in secure numbers, i.e. due to the strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour and an increase in the available number of secure places, it is difficult in isolation to say how ISMS is working to provide an alternative to secure as these other factors may have impacted on that. However, on occasion, secure accommodation has been used only for the short-term.

3.313 In the long-run, the ISMS Co-ordinator believes, there should be a reduction in number of young people in secure accommodation, but it is too early to be definite about this at this stage.

Referrals from the courts

3.314 There are close links with Procurator Fiscal's office and the court, and the ISMS programme has allowed the Procurator Fiscal to agree bail in several cases due to the intensity of the programme, when serious crimes have been alleged.

3.315 More cases are being returned by Sheriff to the Children's Hearings System for disposal in recognition of level and degree of service, and Panel Members are referring more cases for assessments.

Other measures

3.316 It is also argued that there has been significant improvement in the self-esteem of clients. They are better motivated and have increased likelihood of employment, through better links to employment opportunities. The ISMS Team suggests that there have been no negative outcomes from the programme, but acknowledge that ISMS/intensive support service is not a panacea.

Evaluator's view

3.317 West Dunbartonshire made a relatively slow start in introducing ISMS. However, it's preliminary work in getting arrangements in place before rolling-out now seem justified in terms of the numbers on the programmes and the quality of the services.

3.318 The extent of partnership arrangements and services in the area, including links with training and careers, is particularly impressive.

Discussion

Need for physical infrastructure

3.319 Clearly a lot of effort has gone in to introducing ISMS in each of the phase 1 areas. However, putting all the infrastructure in place to deliver this programme has proven to be a difficult exercise.

3.320 It is a matter for debate whether all of the physical infrastructure is required for an effective ISMS programme, e.g. co-location, new offices, etc. All we can say is that the LA areas that either had or developed this physical infrastructure at an early stage seemed to implement the programme more quickly and effectively.

Need for effective partnership arrangements

3.321 Effective partnership arrangements with all the delivery bodies would also seem to be required and much work has to be undertaken with other key stakeholders, particularly within the Children's Hearings System to ensure that ISMS is known about and used appropriately.

3.322 Difficulties in achieving all of these requirements has led to delays in implementation of ISMS and a lack of throughput on ISMS cases.

Reasons for not meeting initial estimates

3.323 However, it is also worth noting that a low number of cases (less than estimated levels) should not necessarily be seen as a failure. The estimates were not targets, but rather represented approximate throughput levels that the LAs believed that they could achieve. In some areas, the estimates were not achieved because insufficient priority was given to the ISMS programme and/or because of ideological concerns about the nature of tagging. However, other areas clearly prioritised and approved of the programme.

3.324 It does seem that the number of cases was over-estimated at the outset, but there have also been a larger number of intensive support service cases. Many of these cases were not suitable for ISMS because the intensive support that they received during the assessment phase rendered the MRC as no longer necessary. There were other problems in moving many cases on to an MRC, such as a lack of suitable accommodation or difficulties in the young person's family relationships.

Factors needed to successfully implement ISMS

3.325 From the above evidence, there appear to be a number of major factors that need to be in place before a programme such as ISMS can be successfully implemented. Any national roll-out of ISMS should take account of these factors. The lack of some of these factors in some of the areas has hindered the implementation of ISMS.

1. The programme must be driven forward from an early stage by a suitably skilled individual who takes responsibility for the organisation and implementation of the key elements that need to be in place to provide a service to meet local need. S/he should be appropriately supported to do this.
2. There needs to be high level management support for the programme within the LA.
3. Effective partnership arrangements need to be built early on, especially involving Education, Social Work, external providers and others as appropriate. The different agencies and workers need to be aware of their and other's roles and responsibilities.
4. There needs to be a supply of suitable accommodation for young people in an area. The lack of this in some areas has been a significant problem.
5. The programme needs to be marketed effectively, especially to the police, the Courts and the Children's Hearings System so that the ISMS will actually be used. Its profile also needs to be raised in the wider community so that people are aware of it and what it is intended to do.
6. There needs to be an effective link-up with secure providers to ensure that those young people in secure are assessed for ISMS and that work (such as assessment work) is not being duplicated.
7. The case conference approach to assessment seems to be the best way in which to gather all of the opinions of the professional staff involved in a case and discuss and debate the issues surrounding a young person and what they need.
8. There needs to be flexibility in programme construction and delivery so that the needs of different types of young people are met.

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