Youth justice vision and strategy: consultation - summary report

Appendix 2

Youth Justice Strategy: Stakeholder Engagement [online survey for adults]

Background

The Youth Justice Strategy Preventing Offending: Getting it right for children and young people was published on June 15, 2015 and launched by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice at the annual National Youth Justice Conference later that month. The Strategy was developed with partners including the Children and Young People's Centre for Justice (CYCJ), Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA), Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), Local Authorities and Police Scotland.

The Strategy promotes a child-centred, preventative approach and focused on three priority themes to be taken forward jointly with key partners over the five year period from 2015-2020:

• Advancing the Whole System Approach;
• Improving Life Chances; and
• Developing Capacity and Improvement.

The Strategy reiterated the importance of responding to deeds in the context of needs and the criticality of supporting young people in line with Getting it Right for Every Child.

In 2017 an update report was published, delivering the 2016-17 Programme for Government commitment: 'We will implement our refreshed youth justice strategy: 'Preventing Offending – Getting it Right for Children and Young People'. Our priorities will be to advance the whole system approach, improving life chances and developing capacity and improvement in the workforce. We will report on progress by June 2017'. The progress report of 2017 focused on the two years' work relating to the three priority themes detailed above. The report noted that, overall, progress had been sustained over those two years and that more broadly, over a ten year period, statistics had shown an 83% reduction in children referred on offence grounds, a 64% reduction in 16 and 17 year olds in custody and a 78% reduction in the number of young people prosecuted in Scotland's courts. Further key areas of progress included engagement with community based planning partners across Scotland to highlight the value of ongoing commitment to a preventative approach to offending by young people, drawing on the voice and experiences of young people and using data and research to drive further improvement.

Next Steps – 2020 -2022

The current Strategy comes to an end in June 2020. The Scottish Government Youth Justice team are now considering the future Youth Justice priorities and a proposed Vision and Action Plan for Youth Justice to be published in Autumn 2020. The new vision is likely to include a two year rolling action plan to allow for greater flexibility and scope for change in response to changes in the context and emerging evidence. The new Vision and Action Plan will take on board the Promises from the Care Review, the findings from Claire Lightowler's Rights Respecting paper, published earlier this year, and the soon to be published Youth Justice Standards, along with views from young people, stakeholders and partners.

Engagement events had been planned in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Polmont in order to capture the views of stakeholders and hear fresh ideas and concerns from stakeholders and practitioners in order to develop the new vision and action plan. Due to recent unprecedented circumstances around COVID-19 we took the decision to cancel these events. However, we still need to use alternative methods to engage with stakeholders in order to shape our priorities for Youth Justice over the next two years.

We therefore invite you to consider and respond to the questions that follow. Please note that the information you provide is completely anonymous and will only be used to inform the development of the next strategy. If you are happy to proceed please click below.

Alternatively if you would like to discuss this over the phone then we would be happy to set up a teleconference. Please contact the Youth Justice team by e-mail at Youth.Justice@gov.scot and we will be in touch.

• I understand how my anonymous information will be used and I am happy to proceed
• I do not wish to proceed

Questions

Question 1. What do you see as the top 3 priorities for Youth Justice over the next two years? The following list are priorities which have been flagged by the Care Review, Expert Review of Mental Health in Polmont, Right's Respecting paper (detailed above) and previous feedback from partners. We also intend to keep under review the advances that have been made in youth justice in Scotland, and be alert to any new priorities that emerge post COVID-19.

Please tick three boxes only. Please add further priorities if you feel these do not cover your interests:

☐ Children's Rights – Ensuring that all children and young people in Scotland have the right to life, survival and development; the right to non-discrimination; the right to express views freely; the right to have a child's best interests taken as a primary consideration in all matters affecting them.

☐ Data/evidence – Gathering data and evidence in order to learn more about young people in the justice system and ensure that developments are based on evidence.

☐ Speech, language and communication needs – Recognising the high incidence of communication disadvantage amongst young people in the justice system and the impact of this on their life chances.

☐ WSA to offending behaviour - The Whole System Approach (WSA) is the Scottish Government's programme for addressing the needs of young people involved in offending. Underpinned by Getting it Right for Every Child, this ensures that anyone providing support puts the child or young person – and their family – at the centre.

☐ Depriving young people of their liberty - Exploring alternatives to depriving young people of their liberty within secure care or a young offenders institute (YOI). Where someone under the age of 18 needs to be deprived of their liberty consideration should be given to the development of new models as per recommendations from the Justice Committee and the Expert Review of Mental Health in Polmont.

☐ Mental health – Reducing barriers to good mental health for children and young people in the justice system and taking action to promote their mental health and wellbeing. Promoting resilience among young people in and leaving the justice system, making sure young people are prepared for living independently.

☐ Support for victims - Ensuring victims of crime across Scotland are supported by key agencies such as Victim Support Scotland, and promoting restorative justice as an aid to rehabilitation through reconciliation with victims and the community

☐ 16 and 17 year olds in the hearings system - Examining current legislation with regard to 16 and 17 year olds in the justice system, and possible amendments to legislation to allow for ALL 16 and 17 year olds to be considered for referral to the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration on offence and care and protection grounds

☐ Other (please specify)

Question 2. What in your experience and knowledge are the main barriers to high-quality youth justice provision in Scotland? How might these change in the light of COVID-19?

Question 3. How do you think these barriers can be overcome and can your organisation support this work?

Question 4. Are there any other considerations we should be aware of when developing the new Vision and Action Plan?