Partners of the Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service have welcomed the findings and recommendations of a government inspection which rated the service as ‘Good’.
Inspectors from His Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI) Probation recognised the strong foundations and high-quality work carried out by the Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service (YJS) to help keep children and communities across the county safe.
The Dorset Combined YJS is a multi-agency, pan-Dorset partnership made up of BCP Council, Dorset Council, Dorset Police, NHS Dorset, and The Probation Service Dorset.
The team works directly with young people who have committed criminal offences to help them make positive changes to their lifestyle, while providing security and safety to both them and their victims.
The team also work directly with parents and carers to help provide a positive support network.
The service was inspected over a three-week period in autumn last year. HMI Probation are inspecting all youth justice services over a six-year period (2018-2024)
Inspectors focussed on three areas in particular: arrangements for the delivery of the service, the quality of work carried out with children sentenced by the courts, and the quality of out-of-court disposal work.
Overall, Dorset Combined YJS was rated as ‘Good’. HMI Probation also inspected the quality of resettlement policy and provision, which was separately rated as ‘Good’.
Key findings were that the Dorset Combined YJS has a strong local partnership with contributions from the local authorities, police, health, and probation which was reflected in the inspection report.
The inspection found that children from the two local authorities, BCP Council and Dorset Council, had access to quality resources based upon their needs. The partnership board also made sure that performance, learning, and good practice are effectively shared across the two areas.
Inspectors found that in all the inspected cases YJS practitioners prioritised developing and maintaining an effective working relationship with the child and their parents or carers.
YJS case managers understood the dangers of county lines and recognised when children were at risk of, or were already experiencing, exploitation.
The inspection found that staff encouraged good engagement with the children. Staff and managers are child-centred and know their children well and that in all cases, practitioners
prioritised developing and maintaining an effective working relationship with the child and their parents or carers.
Recommendations were that the Dorset Combined YJS partnership board should:
- Review board arrangements to ensure effective strategic partnerships across the combined area and consider whether additional independent chairing arrangements could improve these.
- Develop a shared approach across the partnership to addressing child exploitation and county lines and put a framework in place which promotes effective practice.
- Continue to support and challenge all schools to ensure that YJS children receive their full entitlement to education
- Improve partnership working with children’s social care by ensuring YJS case manager involvement in all statutory multi-agency meetings and improve their direct access to children’s social care records.
BCP Council’s Director of Children’s Services, Cathi Hadley said: “An effective youth justice service is vital in helping young people make positive changes to their lifestyle, keep them safe and secure, and offer assistance and reparation to victims.
“We welcome the inspection findings and the recommendations which will enable us to build on the strong foundations identified by the inspectors.”
Theresa Leavy, Executive Director for Children’s Services at Dorset Council and chair of the Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service said: “We are pleased that the Youth Justice Service recently received a ‘good’ rating from the government inspection and that the inspectors recognised the high-quality work that helps to keep our children and communities safe in Dorset.
“The inspection was a good opportunity to recognise the strong partnership working that we have here in Dorset, and I’d like to thank everyone who delivers services for our children and young people.”
“As a learning organisation, we were pleased to get recommendations about areas where we could make improvements and we will be working on those over the coming months.”
Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya, said: “I am extremely proud of the hard work by our team and partners, which has been recognised by HMI Probation. Our work with the Youth Justice Service, which includes BCP Council, Dorset Council, NHS Dorset and the Dorset Probation Service, alongside members of the Youth Justice Board is ensuring we are making a difference to the children and young people of Dorset. Our efforts with partners in criminal justice are providing consistency to the children and young people of Dorset and also provide a positive impact for parents, guardians and victims of crime.
“I would like to recognise the hard work of our youth justice service officers, who received praise in the report for their hard work and the high regard partners and service users have for them.
“It is reassuring that this independent inspection has shown we are making a difference and we will continue to work with our partners to continually improve our working practices and provide a good service to all.”
Louise Arscott, Interim Head of Dorset Probation said: “We are delighted that the positive outcomes of the Dorset Combined YJS have been recognised.
“We were particularly pleased to see the good work of the seconded Probation Officer recognised to support smooth transitions to adult services where required and also supports engagement and concordance with the MAPPA process.
“We look forward to continuing to work positively with our partners to implement the inspectorate recommendations.”
