ICT in the Youth Justice System
Case Management System
Case management system review
A review of case management systems used by YOTs across England and Wales has been commissioned by the Association of YOT Managers (AYM) and YOT Managers Cymru.
Case management survey
As part of the review an online questionnaire was made available to YOT managers. The results have now been passed to the AYM and YOT Managers Cymru so they can make informed decisions based on the views of YOTs.
Background to the review
In November 2007, the Association of YOT Managers and YOT Managers Cymru approached the YJB to ask if assistance could be provided by the Wiring Up Youth Justice programme [opens in new window] with their review of case management systems used by YOTs across England and Wales. There were two main parts to the request: to improve the usability of case management systems for YOT practitioners and to provide national support for relationships with suppliers.
A meeting was arranged in December at which the YOT managers articulated their vision for improved case management arrangements. The Wiring up Youth Justice team offered to commission a revision of the requirements specification for YOT case management systems, as a first step towards enabling this vision to be realised. A project board consisting of YOT managers from the Association of YOT Managers and YOT Managers Cymru provided support for this work.
The new requirements were developed through a series of eleven practitioner workshops where practitioners were asked how a case management system could most effectively support them in their work. A final workshop was held with YJB officers on the topic of national reporting requirements. A draft of the new requirements specification was presented to the annual general meeting of the Association of YOT Managers in June, and is currently with YOTs for consultation.
Communities and Local Government's Lifting the Burdens Task Force published its report on youth justice [opens in new window] in May. It recommended the development of a new case management system for YOTs: one that was as much focussed on the “qualitative aspects of case recording” as on providing “quantitive data collection”.
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) has given provisional approval to a capital grant, spread over three years, towards the development of a new shared service for YOTs: a national, centrally hosted case management system which can be more readily connected to other systems used in the criminal justice system. OCJR recommended that an application should also be made to the Department for Chidren, Schools and Families with a view to ensuring that any new YOT system can be more easily connected to other systems used in local authority children’s services.
The annual general meeting of the Association of YOT managers approved a motion from its executive instructing it to work with the Wiring Up Youth Justice programme on a business case to deliver the improvements to case management arrangements. The results of this survey will form a key part of the business case. It was agreed that the business case would be completed by 31 August 2008, so that YOT managers may consider their next steps at a special meeting, to be convened by the Association of YOT Managers and YOT Managers Cymru after the Youth Justice Service Managers Conference in Stratford on 16 September.