Improving Practice
Case management
As part of Youth Justice: The Scaled Approach, the YJB is producing new case management guidance to assist case managers and frontline operational managers in YOTs at the key stages throughout a case, from dealing with a young person following arrest, to working in court and planning and managing interventions after sentencing. We expect it to be used in conjunction with the revised National Standards for Youth Justice Services as a ‘how to’ guide to delivering youth justice services.
We hope the case management guidance will be particularly useful for inducting new staff, as well as supporting those who are already case managers. It will also be a useful source of information for other partners such as those working in the secure estate for children and young people.
We recognise that local practice may need to differ in some cases from that set out in the guidance. However, where this occurs, we will expect YOTs to have a clear explanation of why, with assurances that their own practice is equally robust.
The guidance will incorporate the scaled approach model we have developed as a result of the pilot work we have undertaken, will include guidance on practice such as writing PSRs in relation to the Youth Rehabilitation Order.
Draft case management guidance was provided earlier this year for consultation and we received a great deal of useful feedback to enable us to refine and improve the draft. The guidance will be completed to reflect the practice requirements of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Publication will follow this during 2009.