Desistance and young people

Summary of findings
The inspection
The purpose of this inspection was to assess the effectiveness of practice in YOTs across eight domains
which desistance research has highlighted as being significant in supporting children and young people’s
journeys away from offending. The eight domains are not necessarily mutually exclusive. They are:
1. building professional relationships, effective engagement and re-engagement, evidence of genuine
collaborative working
2. evidence of engagement with wider social contexts, especially the family, but also peers, schools,
colleges, work etc.
3. the active management of diversity needs
4. effectiveness in addressing key ‘structural barriers’ (exclusion from education, training or employment,
lack of participation, lack of resources, substance misuse deficits, insufficiency of mental health services
etc.)
5. creation of opportunities for change, participation and community integration
6. motivating children and young people
7. addressing children and young people’s sense of identity and self-worth
8. constructive use of restorative approaches.
This inspection comprised of three main components:
• interviewing children and young people who had not reoffended for a period of 12 months or more
after the end of their statutory supervision (desisters). This was to ascertain their perspective on what
elements of supervision had been most and least helpful in achieving and maintaining a crime free
lifestyle
• interviewing children and young people who had reoffended within 12 months of receiving a community
or custodial sentence (persisters) and their parents/carers and key workers. The purpose of these
interviews was to learn what elements of their supervision had acted as barriers to achieving a crime
free lifestyle
• the assessment of existing service users’ case records and documentation.
These sources of information and evidence were analysed in reflective case summaries which formed the
basis for inspectors’ judgements on the effectiveness of practice across the eight desistance domains.
Over the course of the fieldwork, inspectors met with 16 former service users. A total of 37 current
service user cases were inspected with face-to-face meetings with 34 children or young people. We also
interviewed 21 parents/carers and 2 key workers from children’s homes.
Key findings
Former service users identified the following aspects which had been most important in helping them move
away from offending:
• a balanced, trusting and consistent working relationship with at least one worker. This was not
necessarily the assigned case manager but was, in a number of cases, another professional within or,
less frequently, outside the YOT
• meaningful personal relationships and a sense of belonging to family
Desistance and young people
7