Resettlement provision for children and young ... - Ministry of Justice

4.4 Four of the six learning and skills teams described links with local authorities in order to
monitor and manage the development of learning and skills provision. Some of these
relationships were in the early stages while others were more established. At these four sites,
staff reported attending the regular partnership meetings designed to monitor and develop the
14–19 agenda, a national drive to engage all young people in learning 33 , and to discuss best
practice, strategies and policies. These meetings were attended by various partners including
Connexions, contracted education providers, local head teachers, the local education authority
and the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA).
4.5 The collection of resettlement data to evaluate the implementation and impact of policies was
erratic. All establishments collected data on the numbers of young people released with or
without accommodation and whether external YOTs attended training planning meetings, as
required by the YJB and/or Prison Service, but the collection of other data was inconsistent.
Some establishments collected no other data, but others gathered details such as sentence
type and length, home location and ethnicity, although this was not monitored against
outcomes. The attendance of relevant staff and agencies at training planning meetings was not
routinely collected, except for external YOTs, so any issues with attendance were not noted or
addressed. No establishment collected qualitative data such as whether the accommodation to
which young people were returning was suitable and sustainable or followed up the outcomes
for young people following release. It was unclear how much of the data collected was able, or
used, to inform establishments of whether or not the activities/interventions they were
delivering would increase the likelihood of good resettlement outcomes for young people.
Case management
Initial information
Our expectations:
When a young person is received into an establishment all essential documentation should be
sent in advance or arrive with them. This should include all relevant information such as a presentence
report, a post-court report and a full ASSET, which is an assessment tool used by
YOTs. This documentation includes details of a young person’s offence, offending history, any
vulnerability and their circumstances such as their living arrangements and
education/employment history. The quality of information should be adequate to inform initial
assessments.
Our findings:
In most cases establishments reported that they received adequate information to inform initial
assessments but there were examples where information was incomplete or out of date. Case
supervisors were not confident that a young person’s care status was always accurately identified.
In our case sample, 84% of young men had an accommodation and/or ETE need identified in the initial
information received.
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