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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:15 am
Time: 1:15 am
Results for juvenile justice systems (u.k.)
6 results foundAuthor: Chambers, Max Title: Arrested Development: Reducing the Number of Young People in Custody While Reducing Crime Summary: This think tank report recommends that local authorities in the U.K. should pay the bill for youth custody places, thereby removing the existing perverse incentive in the system. At present, local authorities have a financial disincentive to keep young people out of prison. Youth custody is funded centrally, meaning that when young people are imprisoned, they are taken out of local agencies' caseloads and budgets. The report makes a number of recommendations to refocus efforts and budgets on keeping young people out of prison in the first place through crime prevention strategies. The report highlights the potential for a significant reduction in the youth custodial population through reduced youth crime. Details: London: Policy Exchange, 2009. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 17, 2018 at: https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/arrested-development-jul-09.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/arrested-development-jul-09.pdf Shelf Number: 117102 Keywords: Crime Prevention (U.K.)Juvenile Detention (U.K.)Juvenile Justice Systems (U.K.)Juvenile Offenders (U.K.) |
Author: Great Britain. Comptroller and Auditor General Title: The Youth Justice System in England and Wales: Reducing Offending by Young People. Ministry of Justice Summary: In England and Wales, young people between the ages of 10 and 17 can be 1 held criminally responsible for their actions. Provisional data shows that young people committed 201,800 offences in 2009‑10. Although they make up only 11 per cent of the population above the age of criminal responsibility, in 2009 people in this age group were responsible for 17 per cent of all proven offending. The youth justice system manages young offenders and contributes to preventing young people committing crimes in the first place. The system is overseen by the Youth Justice Board (the Board), an executive non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry). On 14 October 2010 the Ministry announced its intention to take over the functions of the Board. This is subject to Parliamentary approval. Some 60 per cent of proven young offending is dealt with in court, with the 2 remainder handled by the police through reprimands and final warnings. In 2009‑10, the cost of managing young offenders, not including police and court costs, was £800 million, of which £500 million was spent through the Board. Most is spent on young offenders with court sentences. Although only three per cent of offences by young people brought to justice result in a custodial sentence, in 2009‑10 38 per cent of youth justice system expenditure was incurred on custodial places in secure establishments. We estimate that, in 2009, offending by all young people cost the economy 3 £8.5‑£11 billion. Young offenders, as with adults, are most commonly convicted of theft and violence. Although they have had a shorter time to offend than adults, a third of those dealt with each year have previously been reprimanded, warned or convicted in relation to an offence. They also have a high reoffending rate: 56 per cent of those receiving court sentences are proven to reoffend within a year. For all young offenders – that is, those who are convicted in court or receive reprimands and final warnings, collectively known as disposals – the reoffending rate is 37 per cent. Family breakdown, educational underachievement, substance abuse, mental illness 4 and other problems commonly affect young offenders. They are also more likely to have difficulty controlling their behaviour and understanding its impact on others. The youth justice system works on the basis that addressing such risk factors during the course of a sentence is the best way to reduce a young person’s risk of reoffending. The overall goal of the youth justice system is to prevent offending by young people. Local and national government both play important roles in the system. There are 157 Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales, which are multi-agency partnerships with statutory representation from local authorities, the police, probation, health and social services. Youth Offending Teams are responsible for the delivery of youth justice services such as the assessment of offenders and supervision of community-based sentences, with the assistance of their statutory partners and other organisations. Details: London: The Stationery Office, 2010. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2011 at: http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1011/reoffending_by_young_people.aspx Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1011/reoffending_by_young_people.aspx Shelf Number: 121359 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticeJuvenile Justice Systems (U.K.)Juvenile OffendersRecidivismRehabilitation |
Author: Helyar-Cardwell, VickiTransition to Adulthood (T2A) Title: Young Adult Manifesto: The need for a distinct and radically different approach to young adults in the criminal justice system; an approach that is proportionate to their maturity and responsive to their specific needs. Summary: A report containing 10 recommendations aimed to make the way in which we deal with young adult offenders more effective, fairer and less costly. Details: London: T2A Alliance, 2010. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2011 at: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications Shelf Number: 119283 Keywords: Juvenile Justice ReformJuvenile Justice Systems (U.K.)Juvenile Offenders |
Author: Berelowitz, Sue Title: 'I Think I Must Have Been Born Bad': Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health of Children and Young People in the Youth Justice System Summary: This report illustrates the importance of addressing the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people in juvenile detention facilities in the UK. The report is based on a year-long observational study of 19 establishments and services. The report concludes that there is a lack of consistency and wide variation in the type, level and quality of measures put in place to support the emotional wellbeing and good mental health of children in the youth justice system and specifically, in the children and young people’s secure estate. It report recommends that: •children should be placed in units of no more than 150 •staff-child ratios should be small enough to ensure meaningful relationships with key workers •all children should have a health screening assessment on entering custody •re-settlement plans should ensure children are well supported when they leave custody •all children’s prisons should be inspected by an inspectorial body with expertise in inspecting closed institutions. Details: London: Children's Commissioner, 2011. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2011 at: Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 121885 Keywords: Juvenile CorrectionsJuvenile DetentionJuvenile Justice Systems (U.K.)Juvenile OffendersMental Health Services |
Author: Centre for Social Justice. Youth Justice Working Group Title: Rules of Engagement: Changing the Heart of Youth Justice Summary: The link between social breakdown and crime is well established. In the CSJ’s seminal report Breakthrough Britain, we identified five common drivers of poverty and social breakdown – educational failure, family breakdown, addiction, worklessness and economic dependency, and debt. Addressing these pathways must be a priority if offending is to be tackled successfully. Of equal importance is the successful rehabilitation of those who fall within the auspices of the youth justice system. Thus, in February 2010 the CSJ launched a review of the youth justice system to identify how it might be reformed to improve outcomes for young people, victims and society. We have spoken with over 200 professionals from the youth justice field, conducted many visits and convened over 70 hours of evidence hearings, ensuring that our findings and recommendations are robust and grounded in the experiences of those who work in youth justice on a daily basis. It is clear that there have been a number of improvements in recent years, yet there is still further work required to build on this progress and some glaring inadequacies remain. We have identified four key shortcomings, which must be addressed if outcomes are to be improved: The youth justice system continues to function as a backstop: sweeping up the problem cases that other services have failed, or been unable, to address; The system is often operating in a way which promotes rather than reduces offending; There continues to be too much focus on functional process at the expense of lifechanging outcomes; and The importance of relationships to preventing offending and facilitating rehabilitation, emphasised to us consistently in our evidence hearings, continues to be overlooked. Here we summarise the key messages and recommendations that have emerged from our evidence gathering across eight major aspects of the youth justice system: Prevention; Out-of-court activity; Court procedure; Community sentencing; Custodial sentences and the juvenile secure estate; Resettlement; Delivery; and The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR). Details: London: Centre for Social Justice, 2012. 241p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2012 at: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/CSJ_Youth_Justice_Full_Report_WEB%20(2).pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/CSJ_Youth_Justice_Full_Report_WEB%20(2).pdf Shelf Number: 124130 Keywords: Juvenile DelinquencyJuvenile Justice ReformJuvenile Justice Systems (U.K.) |
Author: Lord Carlile of Berriew Title: Independent Parliamentarians' Inquiry into the Operation and Effectiveness of the Youth Court Summary: The Parliamentary Inquiry into the Operation and Effectiveness of the Youth Court was launched in September 2013. It seeks to determine whether the system of criminal courts for children who offend is meeting its stated aim of preventing offending and having regard to the welfare of the children that appear before them. The inquiry received a total of 55 written submissions and heard from 43 witnesses; these included academics, practitioners, policy makers and young people. Challenges and opportunities - We heard that reductions in the number of children entering the system and coming to court as well as closures of courts has created particular challenges. A key issue of concern is that children are increasingly likely to appear in adult magistrates' courts when they are detained overnight and over the weekend, because there will be no youth court sitting. We were informed too that the youth courts are seeing a greater concentration of children with complex needs in court, likely due to the success in reducing the number of children coming into the system for low level matters. However, the decrease in critical mass offers an opportunity to better focus resources on improving the system for child defendants, victims and their families. Diversion - There was wide support for high levels of diversion among inquiry respondents, with many referring to the strong body of evidence that contact with the criminal justice system can increase the likelihood of offending. There was concern that out-of-court diversion schemes share some of the same negative features as formal system contact, such as Disclosure and Barring Service disclosures, and that this was often not made sufficiently clear to children. Most believed that diversion was effectively preventing children from entering the criminal courts system unnecessarily. However a number of responses argued that some children were still "falling through the net", leading to unnecessary prosecution, particularly children in care. Addressing underlying needs - Submissions emphasised that children's offending flows from a wide range of needs. There was a widely held view that welfare services are often failing to address such needs, which results in children falling into the youth justice system, and struggling to free themselves from it. Particular concern was expressed that resource constraints on children's social services are such that only the most acute cases receive support - typically babies and young children - while vulnerable older children are left out. Involvement of Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) frequently has the effect of further raising the threshold for support, as there is often a perception that YOTs should be the sole body tackling the welfare needs of children who offend. A number of organisations reported that there had been some improvement in children's services involvement with children who offend following the introduction of new remand arrangements. However, it is often the case that courts are only able to focus on the offence, and not the child and the wider circumstances contributing to their behaviour. Lack of engagement and understanding - Submissions highlighted young people's lack of understanding of proceedings or language, owing to the prevalence of neuro-developmental disorders and other problems, that hinder participation and the lack of any systematic court processes to identify these. Additional factors that impede child defendant's understanding include their young age and developmental immaturity and the fact that the cohort of children in the youth court have had fewer educational opportunities. Specialisation - Magistrates and District Judges in youth proceedings must undergo specialist youth training, yet there are no such requirements for defence practitioners or Crown Court judges. Youth specialist prosecutors are only used for part of the court process. To compound the issue, the youth court is often used as a place for legal practitioners to "cut their teeth" and Crown Court judges tend to have little experience of dealing with youth cases. Respondents were virtually unanimous in their belief that all practitioners in youth proceedings should have youth specialist training; many believed that this should be a mandatory requirement. Crown Court - The overwhelming majority of responses argued that the Crown Court was inappropriate for children; its intimidating nature and lack of youth specific expertise was said to prevent effective sentencing and participation and, ultimately, contravene the right of children to a fair trial. There was subsequently strong support for a presumption retaining youth cases in the youth court. The role of the youth court - The prevailing view was that youth proceedings are struggling to meet their principal aim of preventing offending and their duty to have regard to the welfare of the child. Criminal courts do not possess the means to address the wide range of welfare issues that so often underlie a child's offending. There was subsequently wide support for the adoption of a more problem-solving approach to children who offend. Key recommendations - - We recommend that Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service direct all magistrates' courts to introduce a rota system, to ensure that a senior youth magistrate or youth ticketed District Judge is always sitting in the adult magistrates' court when the youth court is not in session - Children who have committed non-serious and non-violent offences, who have stopped offending, should have their criminal record expunged when they turn 18. - We recommend that all legal practitioners representing children at the police station and practising in youth proceedings be accredited to do so. - There should be a clear presumption "in law" that all child defendants are dealt with in the youth court. - We recommend the piloting of a problem solving approach in court for children, which would include judicial monitoring and continuity in cases, and powers to ensure children's underlying needs are met. - We advocate building upon the existing referral order to place greater emphasis on the involvement of victims as well as the participation of families and wider support services to enable the process to address the harm of the offence as well as its underlying causes. The "Problem Solving Conference" would be available to under-16s coming to court and should be initially piloted. Details: London: National Children's Bureau, 2014. 85p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 25, 2014 at: http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/1148432/independent_parliamentarians__inquiry_into_the_operation_and_effectiveness_of_the_youth_court.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/1148432/independent_parliamentarians__inquiry_into_the_operation_and_effectiveness_of_the_youth_court.pdf Shelf Number: 134242 Keywords: Juvenile Court SystemJuvenile DiversionJuvenile Justice ReformJuvenile Justice Systems (U.K.)Juvenile OffendersProblem-Solving CourtsYouthful Offenders |