‘We’re dealing with some of the most vulnerable children in Hull - they must come first’

The Guildhall

By Rick Lyon

Hull’s Youth Justice Service is working to identify as early as possible those children at risk of falling into a life of crime and anti-social behaviour.

The service, which works with those aged 10-18 either already in the youth justice system or at risk of becoming so, recently received an overall rating of ‘Good’ following an inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation.

Seven inspectors carried out a virtual inspection over the course of a week and concluded numerous areas of the service to be ‘Outstanding’, including implementation and delivery, information and facilities, planning, reviewing and joint working.

Categories rated ‘Good’ included assessment and staff. The area of governance and leadership was classified as ‘Requires Improvement’, as was partnerships and services, but inspectors said this was due to previous issues that are now being addressed.

The report stated the team and partners were carrying out effective work to keep children who have committed mostly low-level offences out of the formal criminal justice system and praised staff for developing and maintaining good working relationships with young people and their families.

The service received an overall score of 29 out of 36.

Rachel Roberts, Strategic Lead for Early Help and Prevention at Hull City Council, said the team was pleased with the inspectors’ findings and is now striving to make further improvements.

She told The Hull Story: “This inspection report provides a true reflection of our service.

“The assessment gave us the opportunity to showcase the good work being done here in Hull and the inspectors really recognised our engagement and development work with young people.

“The strength of delivery came out as ‘Outstanding’, which we were delighted with. There are areas we need to work on, but we already have measures in place to improve.

“For example, governance and leadership was highlighted as an issue but that’s because we’ve had several changes of leadership over the years. We had a review of the board last October and that’s now going from strength to strength.”

One priority for the service, which includes a seconded police officer and a seconded probation officer and works closely with all the local health services, is to now further reduce the number of first-time entrants to the justice system.

“The earlier we can capture them, the more we can do to get them back on track,” said Rachel.

“It’s about getting them onto a more positive path and we’ll do that by working more closely with the police and our partners in the community to identify at an earlier stage those children and young people who are at risk of getting into trouble.”

Another priority is to reduce the re-offending rates of some of the city’s most prolific young offenders.

To do so, it is important to understand the individual and their background, said Rachel.

“It’s necessary to have the whole social context,” she said.

Pauline Turner. Picture by Neil Holmes Photography

“We’re dealing with some of the most challenging, vulnerable and, at times, most damaged children in Hull.

“A lot of them have experienced significant trauma in their lives and have been let down time and time again. It’s then very difficult to repair them.

“Many of those we work with have speech and language issues that were never picked up properly, so they haven’t learned to communicate effectively.

“We have to think about the child first. They are at the centre of everything we do and we have to keep thinking of them and building on their strengths because every single one of them will have something great to share.”

The Hull Youth Justice Service team has specialist facilities to work with troubled children and young people in the city, including the Kastor Centre on Beverley Road, which was highlighted by inspectors as “an excellent facility that enables children who will not always access mainstream provision to have their own centre that they can use at their own convenience”.

The centre is available for a range of support services and is a major asset to the service, said Rachel.

“It provides a really positive experience for young people, providing access to services and facilities, as well as teaching and learning to develop life skills,” she said.

“We have a health nurse carrying out checks and offering advice every week. We also have substance misuse support available, as well as support for self-esteem and relationship building.

“The centre is also used for targeted interventions and restorative work with young offenders and their victims.”

Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell, said in conclusion: “Hull Youth Justice Service have achieved a great deal over the recent past and their success in improving the service was evident throughout the inspection.

“Specific areas of their work received an ‘Outstanding’ rating, such as their management of children on a court order.

“Though we have made recommendations for further improvements, they have much to be proud of.”

Pauline Turner, Chair of the Hull Youth Justice Management Board and Director of Children’s Services at the city council, welcomed the inspection findings.

She said: “I am immensely proud of the Hull Youth Justice team and our partners for achieving such a superb outcome from our recent inspection.

“It’s testament to the hard work, engagement skills and expertise of the staff team and managers that we were so highly praised by the inspectorate regarding our work with some of the most challenging and vulnerable children in Hull.

“It’s clear we have a service which works hard to help them improve their life chances through positive partnerships across the city.

“I know that myself and the board members are fully committed to progressing our good work even further.”