Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement Children

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement Children and Young People who commit sexual offences’ Thematic Inspection Julie Fox HMI Probation Publication: 7 February 2013

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement Ø Background Ø Ø Ø Sample Areas Ø Ø Thematic inspections as part of overall programme Led by HMI Probation with full involvement from CQC, HMIC and Ofsted Seven youth offending teams visited following a pilot Nature of Inspection Ø Ø Ø Examined individual cases Group discussion with representatives from all the involved agencies Spoke to young people and parents/carers about their experiences

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement 1. 2. 3. 4. There are effective national, regional and local strategic arrangements to ensure a coordinated multi-agency approach to the assessment and delivery of services There is an agreed inter agency framework for referral and assessment of C&YP who commit sexual offences which results in an agreed multi agency plan to manager Lo. R, Ro. H and vulnerability Effective use is made of a range of multi-agency interventions which are appropriate to the specific needs of young people who commit sexual offences, their families/carers and victims Multi agency interventions have had a positive impact on reducing reoffending, addressing safeguarding needs and protecting the public and victims

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement q To examine the quality of the assessment, planning, interventions and outcomes for children and young people who sexually abuse q Focus on the quality of the work undertaken with these children and young people – how the different agencies worked together and what had been achieved

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement q q q q Issues with the time between disclosure and conviction Missed opportunities for early intervention Reluctance to share information Issues with specialist assessments and multi-disciplinary meetings Underlying reasons for offending not fully analysed Lack of robust quality assurance of assessments Children and young people and parents/carers involved Diversity assessed but not always addressed

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement q q q Positive holistic interventions rare Work not delivered as identified in various plans Interventions lacked coordination Denial proved a major barrier to provision Good examples of health, education & family support work Variations in management oversight and supervision Good engagement and compliance Child-focused approach and commitment Progress on offending factors Little routine evaluation Variations in services to victims

Inspecting to provide assurance and promote improvement Ø Increase in monitoring and evaluation Ø Improve comprehensive, co-ordinated multi-agency work Ø Improve information-sharing Ø Close gap between policy and operational practice Ø Increase early intervention opportunities