POP0069 |
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Evidence submitted by Youth Justice Board (POP0069)
Home Affairs Committee- Inquiry into Policing Priorities Youth Justice Board response, November 2022
Introduction
1. Youth Justice Board (YJB) is a non-departmental public body with a unique focus on children in the youth justice system. Our statutory responsibilities along with the expertise of our Board enable us to set standards for, and monitor the operation of, the youth justice system. Our work with the youth justice system gives us an operational focus, which allows us to inform national policy and maintain a focus on the continuous performance improvement. The YJB is the only official body to have oversight of the whole youth justice system and so is uniquely placed to guide and advise on the provision of youth justice services.
Vision
2. Working to ensure a youth justice system that sees children as children, treats them fairly and helps them to build on their strengths so they can make a constructive contribution to society. This will prevent offending and create safer communities with fewer victims.
Youth Justice System Aims
3. Our Board have established the Youth Justice System Aims which are not only for the YJB to work towards but for the youth justice community as a whole. They are:
1) To reduce the number of children entering the youth justice system
2) To reduce reoffending from children in the youth justice system
3) To improve the safety and wellbeing of children in the youth justice system
4) To improve the positive outcomes of children in the youth justice system
At YJB we are committed to our over-arching guiding evidence-based principle of Child First1 outlined below.
4. The YJB’s Child First vision is an evidence-based approach aimed at making society safer by enabling children to thrive.
5. The YJB has oversight of the whole youth justice system. It sets standards for, and monitors the operation of, the youth justice system. Our work with Youth Justice Services (YJS) gives us operational insight, which allows us to inform national policy and maintain a focus on the continuous performance improvement.
6. We are particularly interested in this inquiry into policing priorities. Police are vital partners in the youth justice system and have a pivotal role in creating a safe society in which children can thrive. This response seeks to provide responses to each area outlined in the Call for Evidence with a particular focus on the most pertinent areas relating to the relationship between the police and children.
7. A modern police service should be aligned with the evidence-based Child First principles. The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) have produced the Child Centred Policing strategy, which sets out an approach to policing which reflects the Child First approach. As the introduction to the strategy states: “Children and young people are not “mini-adults” and the better our policing for them is now, the less they may need us in the future. Every interaction leaves a mark, and we need to think carefully about what sort of mark that is”. The YJB welcomes this clear commitment to and supports Child Centred Policing as an approach that should shape the future priorities of policing.
8. The YJB collaborate with NPCC in promoting Child Centred Policing. On 28th March and 2nd August 2022, the YJB and NPCC chaired two pan policing roundtables with an aim to identify areas for improvement activity. Engagement has been strong with commitment to a further series of events in 2023 with targeted, measurable outputs. As part of these discussions, some key areas of improvement have been identified:
9. The YJB would support a clearer role for HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and Police and Crime Commissioners in scrutinising the implementation of Child Centred Policing. They could also play a role in sharing good practice. Their influence and expertise is a powerful driver of engagement.
10. More generally, the YJB has worked in partnership with NPCC to address inconsistent out of court disposal practice and review and update guidance documents for the operational sector. This will also the bring the guidance in line with the evidence base on effective crime prevention. Consequently, two revised guidance documents have been published to set clear expectations for practice within a modern service. Additionally, over the past eighteen months we have worked closely with NPCC and other partners to review and update the Gravity Matrix (a triage tool designed to support decision making for police officers on most appropriate outcome or disposal). This had not been updated since 2013. A final draft of this tool is now available for consultation ahead of publication. We welcome continued engagement with the YJB as part of the shaping the practices and future priorities of policing.
11. Disproportionality across the youth justice system remains a particular concern. Recent analysis by the YJB has shown that2:
12. We have worked with colleagues across the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) to encourage use of YJB tools to examine disproportionality at a local level. We have also promoted a focus on disproportionality within Police and Crime Commissioner Plans.
13. As part of our statutory duty to maintain oversight of the youth justice system, YJB invited stakeholders to consider its current strengths and limitations. Between October 2021 and February 2022, a series of workshops with almost 300 people including children with experience of the system to youth justice practitioners to charities to government departments, including police colleagues. From those workshops, we produced a system map of youth justice for England and Wales and have analysed the content. This deep consultation provides qualitative evidence of the current strengths and limitations of the system and includes specific suggestions for improvements. YJB is sharing these recommendations so that they can be considered as part of business and strategic planning in youth justice organisations. The suggestions regarding policing can be found in detail in Annex A.
14. Whilst we recognise that this is a difficult balance to get right, the YJB’s approach is based on evidence that demonstrates that focussing on prevention and diverting children away from the justice system, will ease the pressure on forces downstream and their ability to focus on other crimes.
15. In many cases, children can be prevented or diverted from harmful behaviour through non-criminal justice interventions such as support from families, schools, health services and community groups. Escalating harmful behaviours caused by trauma or unmet needs, or through coercion, grooming and exploitation can lead to children committing offences. If early support and intervention is offered to children (and their parents and carers) to address unmet needs and safeguard them, this can prevent the onset or escalation of behaviour and entry into the youth justice system, reducing the need for police intervention and reducing the number of victims.
16. Promoting diversion and minimising criminal justice intervention does not mean advocating a system whereby no children can enter the youth justice system or be held in secure accommodation. For some children, it is necessary and appropriate for them to be dealt with through the youth justice system and provided with interventions and support by Youth Justice Services. Our approach is, however, based on the evidence that when necessary children should be been diverted from the youth justice system into child-appropriate, holistic support and services that seek to mitigate trauma and address unmet needs to prevent reoffending, i.e., through out of court disposal, which will ultimately decrease the pressure on police resources as a whole.
17. As mentioned previously, we would be keen to see the embedding of Child Centered Policing becoming a focus for all forces. The NPCC have worked in collaboration with stakeholders to create and update the key principles and framework for Child Centered Policing, as follows:
• Child Centered Policing Principals - principles were created by using the 4 pillars of procedural justice and the views expressed by children based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children
• Child Centered Policing Best Practice Framework – a framework that forces can use in developing a child centered policing approach.
20. We would raise similar concerns when dealing with children who have been involved in serious violence; i.e., carrying knives, having been criminally exploited and by extension, children who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Through our work with partners and children within the justice system, the YJB understands that many children carry knives through coercive control and/or in response to feelings of fear and the need to protect themselves. Children involved in serious violence are increasingly likely to be victims of crime themselves – 44% of teenage children who had perpetrated violence in the last 12 months were victims of violence themselves3. They may not recocgnise they have been exploited for criminal purposes and they may not see themselves as victims of exploitation. Though this does not mitigate the action, police forces should work to understand the reasons why a child may be behaving in a certain way to avoid unnecessary criminalisation and perpetuating mistrust of the police.
21. The deployment of police into schools has become more common. The role of these police officers is, however, diverse. Some focus on investigation and intervention, while others are involved in education and prevention. There are no clear standards for the practice of police in schools and there is not a strong evidence base for this work. We would support further research in this area and the creation of an evidence base that can inform effective practice.
22. Through our Youth Advisory Network children have been able to voice their own opinions as to how the relationship with police could be improved, with some overall themes as follows:
Annex A - Systems Mapping findings: Policing
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Environment Physical Environment |
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Environment Policy & Guidance |
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Collaboration Cross Sector
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Review of current process Cross Sector | Assess current practice and implement changes to improve safeguarding when police raid a property where they know a child will be held.
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Review of current process Internal Reviews | Undertake a review of community police officers in schools |
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Accountability Training & guidance | Consider training and onboarding activities across the sector. Ensure inclusion of an understanding of roles of key players in the system. Training for police on the long term benefits on prevention and diversion.
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November 2022
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