Responding to the House of Commons Justice Committee’s report on Youth Justice, Joyce Moseley OBE, Chair of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance, commented:

“The Justice Committee’s findings further underline the importance of a commissioning strategy which reflects the very distinct needs of young adults in the criminal justice process.
 
“It’s particularly encouraging that the Committee has given such a strong endorsement to the necessity of maturity being considering in sentencing, and crucially to the need for more effective transitions between youth and adult services, both in the community and the secure estate.”

You can read the Justice Committee’s report in full here.

On Friday 22nd March Harriet Baldwin MP visited the West Merica Transition to Adulthood pilot project, delivered by the youth charity YSS, commenting afterwards: “It makes so much sense to work with younger offenders to try to address the problems that might lead to reoffending”.

She was joined on the visit by Barrie Sheldon, West Merica’s new Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, who added: “The Police and Crime Commissioner is fully supportive of the work being done in West Mercia to shape better lives for young people caught up in the Criminal Justice System and Care Farms such as the Fold are providing a key service to communities. The work of the YSS Transition to Adulthood project is both creative and innovative.”

The West Worcestershire MP, who is also Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Employment Minister, had the opportunity to hear first-hand the experiences of the service users on the project. A lively discussion followed, touching on accommodation issues, employment, part time courses, difficulties in accessing full time courses if receiving Job Seeker’s Allowance, the lack of things to do that are not expensive and transport issues.

Harriett Baldwin and Barrie Sheldon were also joined by Eric Wood, Deputy PCC for Warwickshire, and were hosted by Chair of YSS Trustees Lady Susanna McFarlane, Rob Smith, Chief Executive YSS, together with Les King, West Mercia Probation Trust Worcestershire Deputy Head and Keith Barham, Head of West Mercia YOS.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has today published its Report on the draft Anti-social Behaviour Bill. The Committee welcomed a departure from automatic criminlisation for breach of Injunction, and emphasised that officers must have discretion to choose appropriate Community Remedies. The Committee also calls for a stronger “community trigger” to ensure that authorities respond adequately to complaints.

In its submission to the Committee, that Transition to Adulthood Alliance made the case that Anti-social behaviour tools and legislation must be supported by services that give police more community based options, and support restorative solutions, specifically tailored for young adults.
 
The Alliance encouraged local working which supports diversion and more effective transitions between children’s and adults services, proposed that PPCs take a lead in tackling young adult reoffending locally and submitted that where community consultations occur, mechanisms in place that support meaningful engagement with young adults.

You can read the Home Affairs Committee’s Report in full on the Parliament website.

 
Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff has paid a visit to the Transition to Adulthood’s West Mercia pilot project, delivered by youth charity YSS.
 
Peter Luff was hosted by Lorraine Preece Director of Operations and Business Development YSS, alongside Manjinder Purewal, West Mercia Probation Trust Worcestershire Assistant Chief Officer and Phil Kendrick, YOS Performance Quality and Commissioning Manager, West Mercia YOS.
 
David Andrewartha, acting Team Manager YSS, and T2A Keyworker Alison Steedman together with three young service users gave the opportunity for the MP to hear first-hand some of the experiences of the young adults taking part in the programme.
 
They shared their views on a number of issues including employment, the lack of affordable rented accommodation, services for those with mental health issues and the need to provide better education on drugs in schools about the impact drugs.
 
Following his visit, Peter Luff commented: “I saw that it is perfectly possible to turn around young lives and give people who have fallen into bad company or made serious errors of judgement a completely fresh start. The testimony I heard from young offenders about the effectiveness and importance of this scheme was really impressive and I congratulate everyone involved.”
 
At a time when the future of probation is being much debated, it is particularly important for Members of Parliament to learn at first-hand about the results that can be achieved through holistic services, in which the third sector and statutory services work in partnership.

The Transition to Adulthood Alliance has welcomed the publication by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, of a new definitive Code of Conduct for the Crown Prosecution Service, which for the first time includes the concept of maturity in guidance on assessing culpability.

Sitting alongside the recent inclusion of maturity in the Sentencing Council’s guidelines, this represents a major step forward in establishing the concept of maturity throughout the criminal justice process.

The Criminal Justice Alliance, on behalf of the T2A Alliance, is shortly to publish a report including interviews with Crown Prosecutors, exploring their views on developmental maturity. The report will be published in full on the T2A Alliance website.

Robin Walker MP, Worcester’s Conservative Member of Parliament, has made a visit to the West Mercia Transition to Adulthood pilot project.
 
The project, delivered by the charity YSS, partners young adults who have come into contact with the criminal justice process with voluntary caseworkers who can help them to avoid reoffending and support them through the various challenges they face in their life.
 

 
Meeting young people who are currently participating in the project, Robin Walker MP heard how service users benefit from support in developing their confidence, finding work and gaining access to affordable housing. After the meeting, he commented:

“It is very clear that this is a scheme that works and makes a real difference to young people who want to get on the straight and narrow and avoid re-offending. I am delighted to see such clear proof that the voluntary sector can deliver in this area and I think it is vital that the new reforms are structured in a way that builds on this excellent work. It is absolutely right that the Government should be introducing reforms to improve the support available to all offenders and particularly those whose crimes are relatively small, but who might need just a little extra help. It is welcome that the public probation service will continue to deal with the most serious and high risk cases.”

Following last week’s Government announcements on probation reform, the Worcester MP raised the successful model of partnership working between statutory services and local voluntary organisations with the Secretary of State for Justice. You can read that in exchange in full at the Hansard website.
 
Visit the YSS website to read about the visit in more detail.

A report published today by the Inspectorate of Probation, Ofsted and Estyn has found that few young people under the supervision of both the care services and Youth Offending Teams were well prepared or supported for transition to adulthood and that successful transition to adulthood is compromised by the disruption caused by frequent moves.

The inspectors sought to find out how effectively youth offending teams  worked with this small yet highly vulnerable group and how well they planned  and co-ordinated their work with colleagues in other agencies.

The report finds that, despite the hard work and effort of many YOT staff, the overall outcomes and future life chances for these children and young people are extremely poor. The fact that they were away from their home areas and were moved frequently militated against their chances of rehabilitation. The fact of being looked after could escalate a child into the criminal justice system.

Chief Inspector of Probation, Liz Calderbank, said on behalf of all inspectorates:

“This very specific group of children and young people are among the most damaged in the care system. By the time they are placed out of area it is likely that most will have had a number of placements fail. They are vulnerable and, in some cases, potentially dangerous. They need both protection and work to help them stop offending. At the same time, others may need to be protected from them. Work to engage, help and support them is difficult and is made significantly more so when they are moved around. While there is much commitment and hard work accorded them by YOT staff and others, agencies do not always work effectively together in the best interests of the child or young person. Despite the allocation of significant resources, they have poor initial and longer term outcomes.”

The report, entitled ‘Looked After Children: An inspection of the work of Youth Offending Teams with children and young people who are Looked After and placed away from home’ can be read here: http://www.hmcpsi.gov.uk/cjji/inspections/inspection_no/594/

On Tuesday 13th November members of the House of Lords debated an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill on dealing non-custodially with offenders. The amendment was tabled by former Chief Inspector of Prisons Lord Ramsbotham, who in advocating intensive alternatives to custody for young adults, cited the “remarkable work” of the Transition to Adulthood Alliance and commended the approaches set out in both Pathways from Crime and the Alliance’s most recent publication, Going for Gold.
 
The campaigning efforts of the Prison Reform Trust were praised by Baroness Howe, while Baroness Linklater, who spoke on an amendment about women in the criminal justice system, also welcomed T2A’s work.
 
Responding for the Government, Justice Minister Lord McNally noted that there were lessons to be learnt from successes in reducing offending among under-18s, saying:

“[Y]oung adult offenders are a very important group, and if we are going to succeed in a rehabilitation revolution it is in that group that we have to find our success. We must explore ideas to get effective programmes for them.”

 
Noting the recent introduction of the Youth Justice Board’s transitions framework for young adults being transferred to adult probation services, and forthcoming youth to adult portal, he went on to say:
 

“I can confirm that this Government share the concerns raised by the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, and are committed to ensuring we deliver services that take account of young adult offenders’ particular needs. We recognise that transition between youth and adult services is a potential point of vulnerability for young people and we are already working hard to ensure more consistent processes for supporting young people who are transferring between systems.”

 
The full debate can be read on the Hansard website.

Lord David Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons, has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill to further raise awareness of young adult issues. The amendment will be discussed in the House of Lords on Tuesday 13th November.

T2A has supported this amendment, which it hopes will achieve good discussion, drawing on the T2A ‘Pathways from Crime’ report.

The amendment is as follows:

A new report, Going for Gold – developing effective services for young adults throughout the criminal justice process, offers a step by step guide to developing young adult services based on the experience of organisations that have already done it.
 

 
In partnership with the three main T2A pilots and Social Justice Solutions, Clinks has developed a guide that shows why it is important to develop a unique approach for young adults as well as how local approaches could be implemented. Going for Gold provides senior strategic leads and commissioners with a benchmark from which they can develop effective, evidence-based approaches that have been proven to support young adults to desist from crime. Being mindful of diminishing local resources Clinks designed a “bronze, silver and gold approach” that offers practical ways services can be developed with very little resource, or when possible, with enough resources to commission a bespoke service.
 
Alongside the publication of Going for Gold, Clinks is offering the opportunity for five days’ free consultancy support to develop four new local strategies, initiatives, or services for young adults. Furthermore Clinks is offering up to £2,500 by way of an innovation fund to help provide capacity or buy in further expertise to support local developments. This has been made possible with the support of the T2A alliance and funding from the Barrow Cadbury Trust.
 
This project will focus on four geographical locations; Wales, the North West, Greater London and the South West. For the fund criteria and eligibility please download the application form below. You can find out more here.
 
Application form: download here.
 
Deadline for applications: 24:00 hrs on 14th December 2012