Youth Justice Plan 2024 – 2025
Introduction from the Chief Executive
As the new Chief Executive of North Lincolnshire Council I am delighted to present the North Lincolnshire Annual Youth Justice Plan 2024/25. This comprehensive document sets out clearly how the council and partners will work together to support children who are in or on the edge of the youth justice system, reflecting our commitment to prevention, inclusion, and enabling resilient families. North Lincolnshire has a relentless focus on improving outcomes, and I am pleased to see this ambition reflected in the priorities of the North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Partnership for the year ahead.
We know that children who enter the youth justice system are far more likely to struggle to achieve their goals and aspirations, and experience poor long-term social and health outcomes. The North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board oversees the delivery of this plan which ultimately aims to ensure children are diverted away from crime and never enter the justice system – as children and also as adults. This Child First principle is closely aligned to our One Family Approach which sets out our local ambition:
Children thrive in their families, achieve in schools, and flourish in their communities.
Together, we will create the conditions that enable all children, regardless of their circumstances, to realise their true potential and to achieve successful outcomes.
Foreword by the Independent Chair, Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board (YJSPB)
In the introduction to the 2022-23 Plan, I mentioned that North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Partnership had recently been inspected by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), one of the last areas in the country to be considered under the current framework. The report and judgement were published in September 2023, and I am very pleased to say that the outcome was “Good”. HMIP requires an Improvement Plan to address any actions which have been identified in the inspection and this is reviewed at each Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board meeting.
One specific issue the Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board is addressing in the Plan is diversity. Board members attended a workshop in February which was thought-provoking and led to many changes. A Diversity Strategy has been developed as a result, now approved by the Board, with recognition that change is needed at every level which will require constant review and challenge. We have made changes to the Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board meetings to include further opportunities for challenge – as if they are not lively enough already.
There have been several significant changes in North Lincolnshire Council in the past year, although the commitment to the Youth Justice Partnership has been unwavering. A new Chief Executive took up the post in February, and I have met with her twice and we have meetings planned throughout the year. We were very sorry to lose Emma Young, who had done a great job as Partnership Manager, but we welcomed back Debbie Nikatsekpe into the role.
Attendance at the meetings has continued to be very good and there is a demonstrable commitment to multi-agency partnership working at all levels. We have reviewed our priorities and decided to maintain the same ones as last year as they are still relevant. The statutory partners (Humberside Police, Probation, the Local Authority, Integrated Care Board and Education) provide comprehensive information to each meeting in specific reports. The Partnership is well supported and can provide the performance information which is required by the Youth Justice Board and gives the Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board members confidence in the work which is taking place with children on a day-to-day basis.
I hope that you will share our confidence as you read this Youth Justice Plan, which is an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the last year and to set out our ambitions for 2024-25.
Governance & Leadership
Our statutory Youth Justice Partnership is part of the Children and Families arrangements within North Lincolnshire Council, and as a multi-agency partnership, it is an integral part of our integrated offer for children and families across North Lincolnshire.
The Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board meets quarterly and oversees strategic management, funding arrangements, partnership working and access to partner agency provisions.
The Board receives quarterly management reports and closely monitors performance against the key performance indicators, staffing arrangements, generic workforce issues, and specific projects. The Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board also oversees action plans, policies, procedures and partnership protocols. The Youth Justice Lead Officer reports quarterly and annually on new initiatives and financial issues that have budget implications for the overall expenditure. The line management of the Youth Justice Lead Officer falls within the remit of the Director of Children and Families.
The Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board interfaces with the wider strategic partnerships and boards within North Lincolnshire including the Children’s Multi-Agency Resilience and Safeguarding Board, the Community Safety Partnership, Violence Prevention Partnership Board and the Integrated Care Board.
Section 39 (1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires the co-operation of the named statutory partners to form a YOT. Section 38 (1, 2) identifies the statutory partners and places a duty on them to co-operate to secure youth justice partnerships appropriate to their area. These statutory partners are:
- The local authority (this includes children’s social care and education).
- The police.
- The probation service.
- Health (Integrated Care Board).
The Youth Justice Partnership workforce has practitioners seconded from or employed by the above agencies. To support the Youth Justice Partnership, additional partners may also be recruited to provide specific provisions and support to children.
Child First
The principle ‘Child First’ guides the work of the Youth Justice Board and underpins our work and values in North Lincolnshire. We recognise that children in the justice system often have multiple and complex needs and we will prioritise these needs and seek to identify any structural barriers they may face. Where possible, we seek to divert children from the justice system entirely and address these needs recognising that interventions focusing on the root causes of offending behaviour seeks to support safer communities with fewer victims.
For those who do offend, our core focus continues to be rehabilitation, tackling underlying causes of youth offending, and delivering a system that gives children the support they need to break the cycle of offending and build productive and fulfilling lives. ‘Child First’ is now an evidenced based approach to delivering youth justice and North Lincolnshire will continue to adopt and embed this approach across the partnership in line with our One Family Approach model.
Progress on the Previous Plan (2023 / 2024)
Prevention, Diversion & Out of Court
Most of the Youth Justice caseload consists of prevention, diversion and out of core. More young children are diverted from the criminal justice system via early intervention work. During the most recent HMIP Inspection (2023), it was recognised there is a high quality, evidence-based out of court disposal service in place that promotes diversion and supports sustainable outcomes.
Reduction of Child Exploitation & Serious Violence
The Child Exploitation Intervention Team (CEIT) continue to provide bespoke and innovative packages of support for children and young people who are at risk and/or vulnerable to Child Exploitation. This support is extended to other family members including parents/carers where needed.
In addition to holding cases, the CEIT team support with training and education and regularly go into schools to deliver bespoke group work and/or 1:1 intervention.
CEIT offer weekly group work sessions in the community predominantly for girls through the new programme “The Girl I want to be” aimed at improving confidence, self – esteem, body image and a great opportunity to meet new friends in a safe and supervised environment.
Engagement in Education, Employment & Training
Children in North Lincolnshire identified as having SEND are supported via one of two ways:
- SEND Support – this is where SEND needs have been identified which are typically provided by schools.
- Education Health and Care Planning – this is where more complex SEND needs have been identified, which has resulted in an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) statutory assessment, leading to an EHCP being agreed and developed.
We also have a dedicated Education Officer linked to the Youth Justice Partnership who supports children to obtain post-16 training and employment, including college places and apprenticeships.
Improve the Emotional & Physical Health of Children involved in Youth Justice
Children’s health needs are initially identified via the completion of a health screening tool. There Is a strong substance misuse offer within the Partnership, with all cases able to be heard at the multi-agency substance misuse panel. There is a dedicated health provision integrated within the Youth Justice Partnership, and this role is for a full-time paediatric nurse (RSCN). Where appropriate, the nurse facilitates the completion of the holistic Health Assessment Tool. (CHAT), which will contribute to a child’s holistic plan to support the reduction of further involvement in offending behaviour.
Children from groups who are over-represented (diversity & disproportionality)
All staff have received diversity & disproportionality training and the Youth Justice Partnership have ensured that there is a strong focus on embedding this within assessments, plans and all electronic records. Diversity is a standing agenda item during team meetings and staff are encouraged to share any learning and to offer peer-support. A bespoke diversity strategy has written been produced and agreed by the Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board (YJSPB).
Volunteers
The Youth Justice Partnership has worked to strengthen our volunteer offer, including the integration of volunteers into the service. There are comprehensive induction and supervision arrangements and regular team building activities provided.
Performance Monitoring
The progress and performance of the Youth Justice Partnership is reported to each Youth Justice Strategic Partnership Board for scrutiny, oversight and action.
Our data provides evidence of the impact our partnership approach to prevention and early help has had demonstrated by our increase in prevention and diversion programmes.
There has been further development of the YJP performance data through the use of Power Bi (an interactive data visualisation software product developed by Microsoft). The visual data displayed in this plan has been extracted from the live power bi report which enables you to ‘drill down’ into the data and identify case specific data in a timely manner.
Priorities for 2024 / 2025
- Improve the quality of statutory work.
- Reduction in child exploitation and serious youth violence.
- Specific provision for speech language and communication for Youth Justice Partnership children to be explored.
- Improve the engagement in education, employment and training for children and young people involved with the Youth Justice Partnership.
- Improve the emotional and physical health of children involved with youth justice.
- Embed the diversity strategy.