ListenUK
Youth Justice Board should use reprieve to lock child welfare into the system
A clear and concerted campaign has finally stopped the government from piling the Youth Justice Board onto its bureaucracy-busting "bonfire of the quangos".
The coalition announced it would abolish the body 13 months ago and incorporate its functions into the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Ever since then, YJB chair Frances Done has shown persistence and tenacity in putting across the central message that experienced youth justice specialists are far better placed to manage the youth justice system than generalist civil servants in Whitehall.
Add some notable objections to the plans from figures
outside the YJB, plus an imminent
revolt in the House of Lords, and the government was forced into a
climb-down. And for that we can be grateful.
Crucially, under-18s who are vulnerable, at risk
and who get into serious trouble
with the law need a system that
recognises them as young people.
The abolition of the YJB would have meant the welfare needs of those young people over time becoming subsumed in an adult-led system. But this isn’t the end of this saga. The MoJ says it still wants the YJB, which currently employs 234 staff, to reform and become more "efficient and directly accountable to ministers".
Whatever this means, the youth justice system and the now-safe YJB face some enormous challenges. The YJB has three main functions: to oversee multi-agency youth offending teams (YOTs); disseminate good practice in working with at-risk young people; and commission youth prison places.
The depressed economy and subsequent social hardship makes it difficult to keep offending levels in check and prevent teenagers entering the justice system. Funding cuts have hurt local YOTs, for which many agencies are withdrawing support.
So the make-up of YOTs is less uniform than it was, and fragmenting. This is likely to continue despite the YJB’s reprieve. But the body’s survival will ensure that good practice is captured, stored and shared.
With its existence secure, it should also set about changing the staffing culture in youth prisons so that more officers are geared up to work with young people, not just adults. This is a welfare concern that has gone neglected for too long.
Ravi Chandiramani
29 November 2011
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Justice/article/1106393/yjb-use-reprieve-lock-child-welfare-system/
