Youth Justice Board

Justice Awards 2008 - nominations open

webmaster — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:23:41 +0000

The nomination period for the 2008 Justice Awards has now begun and will run until 4 August 2008.

Anyone working at the front line of criminal justice with victims, witnesses, defendants, offenders and the local community is eligible for the awards, both individuals and teams. This includes people working in the Courts Service, the CPS, police, the Prison Service, the Probation Service and youth offending teams.

Awards manager, Helen Stear said: “We want everyone to tell us about the people they work with and the projects they work on, as there are so many stories of dedication and excellence out there.”

The Justice Awards are organised by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform to recognise outstanding achievement by staff from a criminal justice agency or from a voluntary sector organisation working with victims, witnesses, defendants or offenders.

Chief inspector of prisons slams closure of Thorn Cross unit

webmaster — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:24:00 +0000

The Youth Justice Board has closed England’s only open juvenile unit, at Thorn Cross prison in Cheshire, despite it being rated a beacon of good practice.

YJB and secure homes in row over transfer of 15-year-olds

webmaster — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:03:00 +0000

A row has broken out between secure children's homes managers and the Youth Justice Board over the removal of vulnerable 15-year-olds from secure children's homes.

YJB responds to Adam Rickwood verdict

webmaster — Wed, 30 May 2007 23:00:00 +0000

The YJB is grateful to the Coroner for investigating the death of Adam Rickwood.

Ellie Roy, Chief Executive of the YJB, said: “Once the Coroner’s formal written adjudication has been received we will look carefully at all the issues raised.
“Our heartfelt thoughts go out to Adam’s family.

“The YJB remains committed to working with everyone within the youth justice system to making custody as safe and effective as possible.”

YJB welcomes move to Ministry of Justice

webmaster — Tue, 08 May 2007 23:00:00 +0000

Graham Robb, Interim Chair of the YJB, said: “The YJB, an independent non-departmental public body, looks forward to working closely with our new sponsoring department, the Ministry of Justice. We will continue working closely with sentencers, the police and other government agencies with the aim of preventing and reducing re-offending by children and young people under 18.”

“We also welcome the Ministry of Justice plans announced today, to continue to invest in early interventions and prevention to reduce first-time entrants into the Criminal Justice System and to follow the successful multi-agency approach already adopted by the YJB.”

“We commend the commitment of the Ministry of Justice to develop more personal approaches to sentencing and pre-court work which holds young people to account for their behaviour as well as protecting communities and individuals.”

YOT Inspection Programme Phase 3 inspection criteria

Andrew Blyth — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:24:43 +0000

HM Inspectorate of Probation have released th final inspection criteria for phase three of the YOT inspection programme

Guidance on Criminal Justice Act 2003

Andrew Blyth — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 09:05:39 +0000

Youth Justice Board guidance on the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and the key elements which are enacted on 4th April 2005 has been published.

From 4 April 2005, key aspects of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (the Act) will come into effect. The majority of the changes that it introduces will apply to adult offenders only.

These include the introduction of a new community sentencing framework that removes the current range of adult community sentences, and replaces them with one generic Adult Community Order (ACO), alongside changes to existing adult custodial and suspended sentences.

Youth Justice - Annual Statistics 2003/04

Andrew Blyth — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 06:10:00 +0000

This document presents detailed information gathered from Youth Offending Teams (Yots) on the offences committed by young people, the remand decisions made, the sentences given and the performance of the services available in the community and secure estates both nationally and regionally.

Youth Justice Board Annual Review 2003 - 2004

Andrew Blyth — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 16:15:00 +0000

The Youth justice Board has officially launched the its, which sets out the key developments in the youth justice system in 2003/04. There has been real progress ? the Audit Commission concluded that ?the new arrangements are a significant improvement and a good model for delivering public services?.

Examples of the progress identified in the Annual Review include:

In 2003/04 the average time form arrest to sentence was 65 days.

The involvement of victims: 16,421 victims were consulted by Youth Offending Teams and participated in restorative processes, and over 90% said they were satisfied with them.

The literacy and numeracy attainment target for juveniles in Young Offender Institutions was exceeded by 16.7%, with a total of 4,582 basic skills qualifications gained.

The creation of 90 Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISPs) to identify children at risk of offending and engage with them to keep them away from crime.

Rod Morgan said:

?I?m delighted to be able to launch our annual review today. The Youth Justice Board and the youth justice system that it overseas have come of age, and we have now settled into more consistent and sustained progress. We are consolidating the lessons we have learnt, and are continuing to build on areas that are in need of further improvement.

?There are challenges ahead, but we have a solid base from which to overcome them. There should be no doubt that we have achieved great things together and we have much to be proud of.?

Youth Justice Board reviews custody policies

Andrew Blyth — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 15:21:14 +0000

The Youth Justice Board is consulting on its strategy for secure accommodation for young offenders.

The board aims to tackle uneven distribution of beds across England and Wales and the fact that too many prison service units are large traditional cell blocks shared with adult prisoners.

Staff also need more training in positive, child-centred care and control methods, says the YJB.

Meanwhile, the board has announced that last year the average time from arrest to sentencing for young offenders was 65 days ? achieving the government?s 71-day target.

However, the target was not achieved on a regular basis in seven of the 42 criminal justice areas, says the report.

Young offender institutions also exceeded the government?s literacy and numeracy target by 16.7 per cent, with a total of 4,582 basic skills qualifications gained.

Although the juvenile prison population fell significantly last year, there was a rise above predicted seasonal trends in the first half of this year, much of it due to custodial remands, says the report.

The Board is seeking views from interested parties on how juveniles are detained in secure accommodation in a bid to build trust within the sector and focus attention on the vital need for further improvements.

The draft strategy sets out the Board?s views on custody, detailing the principles on which its vision for the secure estate for juveniles is based and the steps it intends to take in the next three years to deliver these within the available resources.

The principles include that all institutions should have a child-centred approach, minimise the likelihood of harm to young people and employ a behaviour management approach that emphasises positive encouragement rather than physical interventions and negative sanctions.

The consultation period is 3 November 2004 to 28 February 2005.