Youth Justice: The Scaled Approach is a major project supporting major changes in youth justice practice and legislation.
The project has included:
Click to read the Equality Impact Assessment of the Scaled Approach project [100Kb PDF; opens in new window]. An Equality Impact Assessment summarises the research and processes done to consider a project's potential or anticipated impact on different groups to promote equality.
Implementation
We worked with YOTs and other partners to implement preparing for the Scaled Approach to be implemented alongside the Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) on 30 November 2009.
Click for information and resources that were used to assist YOTs prepare for the Scaled Approach and the YRO, many of the documents remain current to explain the YRO and Scaled Approach.
A range of frequently asked questions primarily based on feedback at briefing events in the regions and Wales can help understand the detail in the changes to youth justice practice.
We have produced practice guidance for YOTs on the YRO and other youth justice provisions of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. This guidance is non-statutory guidance for the Act. It outlines the YRO and other key youth justice related provisions of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act to enable YOT practitioners and managers to understand these legislative changes and prepare for their implementation.
National Standards
The revised National Standards for Youth Justice Services were signed off by ministers on 26 November 2009 and were published 30 November.
Case Managment Guidance
The revised Case Management Guidance is available to assist case managers and frontline operational managers in YOTs at the key stages throughout a case. The guidance incorporates the practice implications of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, Scaled Approach model and guidance on practice such as writing pre-sentence reports in relation to the Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO).
Scaled approach to interventions
The Scaled Approach aims to ensure that interventions are tailored to the individual, based on an assessment of their risks and needs. Evidence tells us that interventions are more effective when their intensity is matched to an assessment of the likelihood of the person reoffending, and are focused on the risk factors most closely associated with their offending. The key benefits are that interventions can be better targeted and, ultimately, offending and risk of serious harm can be reduced. This new way of working will also have the benefit of allowing youth justice services to direct time and resources to young people appropriately, in accordance with their risk assessment.
To prepare for this, we piloted scaled approaches to intervention in four YOTs and took the lessons learnt to draw up a proposed model for the Scaled Approach that was subject to a consultation process that ended in early 2008. Click for a full summary of the consultation responses [205Kb PDF, opens in new window].
Following this consultation process and after feedback received on an interim version published in September 2008 we published the refined model of the Scaled Approach in February 2009.
The concept of the Scaled Approach and the key elements of the model remained throughout. You can read more about the experience of the pilot sites and how that learning could help you embed the Scaled Approach locally by downloading Preparing for the Scaled Approach - learning from the pilot [102Kb PDF; opens in new window].
The model will complement statutory guidance and sentencing guidelines are completed in relation to the youth justice provisions of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
Evaluation
Click to download Process Evaluation of the pilot of a Risk-based Approach to Interventions [658Kb PDF; opens in new window], a report that presents the findings of a process evaluation of the pilot of the risk-based approach to interventions in four YOTs.
Guidance and standards
To achieve the aims of the project we developed and revised the following range of guidance for youth justice practitioners and managers to ensure a coherent and consistent approach to their work.
The Key Elements of Effective Practice and their accompanying source documents were published in July 2008.