News
YJB welcomes report from joint Chief Inspectors on safeguarding
The joint Chief Inspectors’ report on safeguarding children published today has been welcomed by the YJB.
8 July 2008
However, much of what the report calls for is already in place as the Inspectorate's findings date back to 2005.
Safeguarding children and young people is at the heart of all the work undertaken by the YJB.
Since the YJB’s last safeguarding review in 2003, we have introduced dedicated social workers in young offender institutions (YOIs) to focus on the safeguarding needs of young people, established advocacy services so that youngsters in custody can voice their views and concerns, introduced safeguards managers in YOIs who co-ordinate and champion safeguarding both in practice and strategically, introduced JASP (the Juvenile Awareness Staff Programme) training for all YOI staff which includes child protection and safeguarding issues and invested in making the built custody environment safer.
And, last year we commissioned the National Children's Bureau (NCB) [opens in new window] to conduct a review of safeguarding to identify how successful the initiatives mentioned above have been and to identify what more needs to be done to ensure the safety of young people in custody. The NCB visited every establishment in the secure estate for children and young people. Their up-to-date findings will be available shortly.
Frances Done, Chair of the YJB, said:
"Our task is to ensure that children and young people are kept safe while in custody and that they are held to account for their offending behaviour. We have already made great changes to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable young people in society but we know that there is still much more to be done."