Thematic report |
Meeting the learning needs of children and young people who offend - June 2008
Overall, local authorities don’t do enough to ensure that Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) secure full-time education, training or employment for children and young people in the Youth Justice System.Local authorities in Wales proportionally give less funding to YOTs than partners in England. This limits the range of services and educational opportunities available to children and young people.There are generally not enough educational and training places to meet the individual needs of those who offend, and there are too many gaps in provision. Finding suitable provision is an ongoing problem. This is also the case for Welsh-language provision.
Recommendations
The Welsh Assembly Government should:
- ensure there are enough appropriate work-based training places to meet the needs of all young people;
- collect national data on the attainment and achievements of children and young people supervised by YOTs in the community; and
- monitor the use of individual learning plans for all children and young people who offend, as required in the All Wales Youth Offending Strategy.
Local authorities should:
- participate in YOT management boards at a senior enough level, ensuring that there is representation at a high enough level from education services; and
- review the level of funding contribution to YOTs.