Sheffield Youth Justice Service - strong staff and local partnerships

Inspectors have paid tribute to staff at a Sheffield service that works with troubled children and young people.

HM Inspectorate of Probation conducted a routine inspection of Sheffield Youth Justice Service (YJS), part of Sheffield City Council. The YJS works with 10 to 18-year-olds; some are serving court sentences, while others have been given conditional cautions or community resolutions instead.

The Inspectorate looked at 12 aspects of Sheffield YJS’s work and has awarded an overall rating of ‘Good’.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “Staff at Sheffield YJS are highly knowledgeable, skilled and well trained. They take the time to develop positive relationships with children and young people, and tailor work to meet individuals’ needs. As a result, we have rated this particular aspect of the service ‘Outstanding’ – our highest mark.”

Sheffield YJS is based at Star House in the city centre, alongside several other services for children and young people. Inspectors concluded the set-up was a child-friendly environment and helped the YJS to develop close ties with partners.

Mr Russell said: “Sheffield YJS is delivering good-quality work with children and young people who are serving court sentences or being diverted from the criminal justice system.

“The YJS has built up a strong network of partnerships. Children and young people have quick access to a wide range of targeted and specialist services to help them move away from further offending.”

Inspectors noted the YJS plays an important role in Operation Fortify, which tackles serious violent crime across South Yorkshire. Staff at the YJS have been trained to identify children and young people who are at risk of being exploited for criminal purposes. The YJS also works alongside other organisations to map and analyse patterns of criminal activity, and to develop measures to divert young people away from serious violent crime.

Inspectors identified two main areas for improvement.

Inspectors found too many children known to the YJS were not in education. At the time of the inspection, more than a fifth of children were excluded from school for a fixed term.

Mr Russell said: “We saw many examples of YJS staff supporting excluded children to take up other forms of education and learning. However, this does not tackle the root cause of the problem.

“Every child is entitled to receive an education and the YJS needs to address this at both a tactical and strategic level. We recommend the YJS work with education providers to reduce the number of exclusions. There needs to be a representative from the council’s education department on the YJS’s Management Board – there has been a gap of more than a year and this is hindering progress.”

The Inspectorate has also recommended the Board takes further action to improve staff safety and wellbeing. Better policies and equipment could help staff to deal with sometimes difficult young people and situations more safely.

Mr Russell added: “There is much to commend Sheffield YJS and, with some development, an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ is within reach.”

 

ENDS

 Notes to editor

  1. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 08 August 2019 00.01.
  2. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
  3. Sheffield Youth Justice Service supervises 10-18-year olds who have been sentenced by a court, or who have come to the attention of the police because of their offending behaviour but have not been charged and instead are dealt with out of court.
  4. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in May 2019.
  5. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications Catherine Chan on 07889 405930 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)