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Press release: Young people leaving the justice system unprepared for outside world

Children and young people are suffering as a result of variable standards of support when moving into and out of custody, according to a report published today by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

While their achievements in custody provide the first experience of educational success for many young people, the report Transition through detention and custody highlights how poor initial assessment of learning needs and insufficient preparation for independent living leaves children and young people ill-equipped for outside life.

Poor arrangements to transfer personal information delayed the start of children’s and young people’s education programmes. Secure establishments and youth offending teams often failed to develop sustained effective links with mainstream schools, colleges and employers, and fell short in offering children and young people the right help to find jobs, accommodation, and training opportunities.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said:

'Young people moving through the youth justice system need well co-ordinated education, training and support if they are to reintegrate into the community. But too often information about young people entering and leaving secure establishments is not good enough to enable organisations to plan effectively and meet their needs. It is vital that youth justice teams, local authorities and their partners learn from the examples featured in this report and consider the recommendations for improvement we have made.'

The report found that children and young people gained a range of qualifications while in custody, being able to access a wide range of subjects in secure training centres and juvenile establishments. Secure establishments also placed emphasis on improving the children and young people’s levels of literacy and numeracy, and most made progress in their achievements.

However, young people who were transferred between establishments during custody were often unable to complete their programmes or progress to higher level courses because the subjects and qualifications offered differed across establishments. Some children of school age known to youth offending teams failed to receive an education or training programme matched to their needs while others did not their receive full entitlement to statutory education.

Support for children and young people moving back into the community was insufficient, with successes due largely to individual staff endeavour rather than an effective overall plan. A lack of integration between services and weaknesses in the planning of agencies, such as between social care staff in local authorities and youth offending teams in the young people’s home area, meant preparation for resettlement was often not effective. While young children benefited from some innovative placements, including partnerships with local colleges, and in one instance, a girl’s training scheme with the Football Association these opportunities were often undeveloped.

Weak relationships between the secure establishment and the local authorities in the young person’s home area often made finding accommodation on release difficult. Without an address, young people found it difficult to access bank accounts, and to take up training and education opportunities. Too many changes of care plans immediately prior to resettlement often left young people feeling unsettled, unmotivated and unwanted.

Notes For Editors

1. The report will be available on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/090115.

2. The term ‘secure establishment’ refers to secure children’s homes, secure training centres, and juvenile and young offender institutions.

3. Inspectors looked at the education and training arrangements for children and young people within the youth justice system, basing their findings on visits to 12 secure children’s homes, four secure training centres and seven juvenile establishments between May 2008 and June 2009. Inspectors interviewed children and young people, directors, managers and heads of learning and skills. The report also draws on evidence from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) inspections of the 139 youth offending teams in England, conducted between September 2003 and July 2008.

Between May 2008 and June 2009, inspectors selected 12 of the secure children’s homes, the four secure training centres and seven of the juvenile establishments for survey visits to gather evidence to support their judgements. They also held meetings with six partner agencies involved in the youth justice system: the Coventry and Warwickshire Connexions service; the Youth Justice Board, the Department for Children, Schools and Families; Estyn; the Ministry of Justice; the National Offender Management Service; and the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service. Inspectors visited seven juvenile establishments to track young people convicted of offences.

Between September 2003 and July 2008 Ofsted inspected the 139 youth offending teams in England with the lead inspectorate, HMI Probation, to evaluate the provision of education, training and employment for children and young people coming into and moving through the youth justice system.

4. All children of school age should receive their statutory entitlement to full-time education. For the purposes of inspection, this entitlement was interpreted as 25 hours a week of appropriate education. To determine whether there was sufficient provision for young people aged 16 and over, inspectors used the equivalent full-time further education college course of approximately 16 hours a week as a baseline.

5.The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

6. Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office through 020 7421 5866 or via Ofsted's enquiry line 0300 1231231 between 8.30am - 6.30pm Monday - Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359.

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