The YJB acknowledges that there is always scope to improve the youth justice system.
However, the report published today by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies [opens in new window] fails to acknowledge some of the significant improvements delivered by the YJB and youth justice services over the last ten years.
These include:
- 5% reduction in new (first-time) entrants to the youth justice system is on course for achievement
- 17.4% fall in the frequency of reoffending between 2000 and 2005 following the introduction of youth offending teams and the YJB
- halving of the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders
- children and young people who offend are now more likely to receive an intervention after they have offended
- while the YJB’s challenging target to reduce the use of custody by 10% will not be achieved, but the use of custody has reduced as a proportion of all court sentences
- developing a more skilled and diverse workforce in the youth justice system
- involving more victims and 8,000 community volunteers in the youth justice system
- progress in meeting challenging targets to increase access to mainstream and specialist services for children and young people who offend, such as education, training and employment, substance misuse and mental health services
- development of targeted prevention programmes for children and young people likely to offend which engage around 25,000 children and young people and delivers 11,000 parenting interventions per annum
- child-centred regimes in custody that focus on holding vulnerable children and young people safely.
Frances Done, Chair of the YJB, said:
“Since its inception, the YJB has led fundamental changes to the youth justice system. The Audit Commission review, in 2004 [opens in new window], reported that the system was a considerable improvement to the old one and that improvements have continued. We deal with some of the most troubled and troublesome children in the country – there is no simple or easy solution – but great strides have been made in the community and in custody to hold young people to account for their actions and to protect the public.”